Block, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, rollback
14,707
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: − + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − The term ''scientist'' only emerged in the 19th century. Prior to this, scientific study was called ''natural philosophy'' and scientists were ''natural philosophers.'' It entailed a broad areas of study of the universe, including [[mathematics]], [[chemistry]], [[physics]], [[anatomy]], and so forth. +
+ definition, scope and method of natural philosophy
'''Natural Philosophy''' is a term applied to [[scientific]] study which was used extensively before the 19th century.
'''Natural Philosophy''' is a branch of metaphysical philosophy treating the natural world, that is, real entities belonging to grades of being inferior in power to man, the angels and God.
"Metaphysical" is a word meant to distinguish an anciently established division between two different types of knowledge. In Western Civilization's earliest surviving complete philosophical work, the ''Charmides'' by [[Plato]], the distinction is drawn between bodies of knowledge that produce a physical result, and those that do not. Natural philosophy has been categorized as a theoretical or "metaphysical" rather than a practical branch of philosophy (like, for example, ethics). Bodies of knowledge that guide arts and draw upon the philosophical knowledge of nature may produce practical results, but these subsidiary sciences (e.g. architecture or medicine) go beyond natural philosophy.
==Methods of natural philosophy==
Natural philosophers render account of nature by
*observing and describing nature including the gathering of observations and descriptions of others
*attempting measurements of physical quantities in order to compare and contrast various phenomena
*arranging reasonings from known facts into arguments, proving or explaining things less known, while refining definitions of the arguments' mediating ideas to ensure the judgments composing the arguments work together logically
*testing one's arguments by applying them to further cases and comparing them against the ideas of others.
==Natural philosophy and science==
Natural philosophy also applied to [[scientific]] study which was used extensively before the 19th century.
The term ''scientist'' only emerged in the 19th century. Prior to this, scientific study was called ''natural philosophy'' and scientists were ''natural philosophers.'' It entailed a broad areas of study of the universe, including [[mathematics]] and the subjects that are now covered under the disciplines of [[chemistry]], [[physics]], [[anatomy]], and so forth.
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]