Chapter 9 Flashcards
(10 cards)
What were the two components of the Scientific Revolution?
1) Revival of Pythagoreanism/Platonism
2) Mechanical philosophy
What topic did Newton write more on than any other?
theology
How did Newton solve the problem of change?
He invented calculus, the mathematical language of change and motion, to deal with it.
What was so surprising about Newton’s laws? Why was it so surprising?
They not only worked on earth, but they worked in the heavens as well. That was surprising because before the Scientific Revolution, people thought the celestial realm had very little in common with the terrestrial realm.
How did people think of the universe before the Scientific Revolution? How did they think of the universe afterwards?
Before the scientific revolution and Newton’s laws, people thought of the universe as a living organism. After, they thought of it as a machine.
What are the three Puthagorean beliefs held by the Scientific Revolutionary thinkers?
1) The universe is ordered by perfect mathematical laws,
2) Divine reason is the organizer of nature,
3) Human reason can understand this divine pattern
What does Newton call “the main business” of natural philosophy?
To argue from phenomena without feigning hypotheses and to deduce causes from effects till we come to the very first cause - God.
What does Newton have to say about that Aristotelians’ “occult qualities”?
Hw says they put a stop to the improvement of natural philosophy.
According to Newton, what is included in the method of analysis?
Analysis consists in making experiments and observations, drawing general conclusions from them by induction, and in admitting of no objections against conclusions except those taken from experiments or certain truths.
What subject did Newton believe would be “enlarged” if natural philosophy ever becomes perfected? Why?
Moral philosophy. The more we learn about nature, the more we learn about the One who made it, and consequently, our duty to Him and to one another.
