PHILOSOPHERS OF NATURE: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS - PHILOSOPHY - 2025

The philosophy of nature or natural philosophy is the name given to the wide variety of beliefs about nature that existed before the development of what is now known as science. In other words, anyone who contributed to the scientific field before modern sciences existed is called a natural philosopher.

This term refers to philosophical thinking about nature and the physical universe in ancient times. Physics has also been referred to as natural philosophy as recently as the last century, but it is not the most common way to use the term.

Aristotle is considered to have laid the foundations for the philosophy of nature

However, today the University of Oxford continues to refer to its physics courses as modern philosophy. The ancient thinker who is most related to natural philosophy is Aristotle, who gave the basis for the creation of this term, since natural philosophy encompasses a large number of ideas that this thinker categorized as physical sciences.

Origin

The history of natural philosophy is closely related to the emergence of natural science. The term "science" was recently coined (on a historical scale), as it began to be used in the 19th century.

Before its use, the current philosophical thinkers known today were acclaimed for their contributions to natural philosophy. This philosophy comprised the entire series of questions that were asked in ancient times, which are now defined as sciences.

Although the term natural philosophy after the fourteenth century has been used to refer to the scientific contributions of chemistry and physics, during the Golden Age of Greek thinkers it included all the inquiries that were made about the natural world.

The term arises in the pre-Socratic era, when the first philosophers began to try to give a logical explanation for why natural phenomena occur.

In this case, they investigated the facts without relying on religion, which gave a more "scientific" air to their thoughts and separated them from the myths of the Greek gods.

characteristics

Since the days of Plato, the philosophy of nature has been categorized as a theoretical branch of philosophy. The other type of branch is practice, which is made up of other types of methodologies such as ethics.

However, the results that natural philosophy produces are practical. The reason why it is considered a theoretical branch is because the results themselves fall into other types of more complex categories. The main purpose of this philosophy is to understand the universe, regardless of what means must be used to do so.

The philosophical belief is that change is a reality in the cosmos; everything is in constant motion. However, some natural philosophers differ from this idea.

The philosophy of nature, like many branches of social science, is vulnerable to the individual beliefs of each person who practices it.

The systems of every natural philosophical thinker shape their ideas and characterize this practice. For example, there are thinkers like Descartes who define two components that make up people: the body and the mind.

According to this system, the philosophy of nature encompasses all the beliefs that fall on the natural component. Everything that is located in the component of the mind is considered volitional (which is related to the desires of people) and, therefore, does not fall into the category of natural philosophy.

What do you study?

The branches of the philosophy of nature encompass practices that are defined today as pure sciences. Astronomy and cosmology are part of natural philosophy, as they are defined as the study of the whole on a broad scale.

Other branches of natural philosophy are:

- Mechanics and the laws of motion and aerodynamics.

- The study of the physical and chemical properties of objects.

- Statistics, to determine the probability of events.

- The etiology, the study of the causes of the events of the universe and the world.

- The study of the elements of nature such as fire, water, particles, molecules, etc.

- The study of what is or is not infinite.

- The study of matter and its components.

- The study of space and time.

Main philosophers of nature

Plato

Plato is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of mankind. He was the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle.

While the authorship of his works has been disputed by experts for years, he worked with various branches of philosophy, combining ethics, political philosophy, and moral psychology.

Aristotle

Along with Plato, Aristotle is considered one of the fathers of the philosophy of his time. Today's philosophy inherited almost all the terms that are widely used today from the creations of this thinker.

Aristotle's capacity for inquiry generated a boom in logical thinking and it is thought that with this he influenced all areas of knowledge.

Rene Descartes

Descartes is considered the father of modern philosophy. Most of the works that emerged in the western part of the world are based on his thoughts, which are still closely studied today. He profoundly influenced philosophy worldwide and also contributed to mathematics.

Isaac Newton

Newton is recognized as one of the most important scientists of all time, after having coined the term science.

However, before this he was considered a natural philosopher. He wrote the book called Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and contributed a great source of knowledge to the scientific field.

Charles Darwin

Darwin was a philosopher entirely dedicated to the study of nature and his studies are still used today as scientific references.

He was the one who developed the theory of evolution through natural selection, and who first theorized the idea that man is the product of a series of changes that occurred over millennia.

References

1. Philosophy of Science, Encyclopaedia Britannica, (nd). Taken from Britannica.com
2. Natural Philosophy in the Renaissance, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015. Taken from Stanford.edu
3. Natural Philosophy, Wikipedia in English, February 23, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
4. Isaac Newton, Biography Website, 2017. Taken from biography.com
5. Charles Darwin, Biography Website, 2017. Taken from biography.com
6. René Descartes, Biography Website, 2016. Taken from biography.com
7. Plato, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (nd). Taken from utm.edu
8. Aristotle, Anthony JP Kenny and Anselm H. Amadio, March 28, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com