Maxwell, N;
(2012)
In praise of natural philosophy: a revolution for thought and life.
Philosophia
, 40
(4)
pp. 705-715.
10.1007/s11406-012-9376-3.
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Abstract
Modern science began as natural philosophy. In the time of Newton, what we call science and philosophy today – the disparate endeavours – formed one mutually interacting, integrated endeavour of natural philosophy: to improve our knowledge and understanding of the universe, and to improve our understanding of ourselves as a part of it. Profound, indeed unprecedented discoveries were made. But then natural philosophy died. It split into science on the one hand, and philosophy on the other. This happened during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the split is now built into our intellectual landscape. But the two fragments, science and philosophy, are defective shadows of the glorious unified endeavour of natural philosophy. Rigour, sheer intellectual good sense and decisive argument demand that we put the two together again, and rediscover the immense merits of the integrated enterprise of natural philosophy. This requires an intellectual revolution, with dramatic implications for how we understand our world, how we understand and do science, and how we understand and do philosophy. There are dramatic implications, too, for education, and for the entire academic endeavour, and its capacity to help us discover how to tackle more successfully our immense global problems.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | In praise of natural philosophy: a revolution for thought and life |
| Location: | Israel |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11406-012-9376-3 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11406-012-9376-3 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com |
| Keywords: | Natural philosophy, split into science and philosophy, impact of Newton, metaphysics and science, physics and experience, aim-oriented empiricism, recovering natural philosophy |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Science and Technology Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1344129 |
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