Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century

Wolfe, David

Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century

dc.contributor.author	Wolfe, David
dc.date	2014-04-01
dc.date.accessioned	2014-09-29T19:36:44Z
dc.date.available	2014-09-29T19:36:44Z
dc.date.issued	2014-09-29
dc.description.abstract	The distinction between natural philosophy and modern science is a subject of much debate amongst scholars. One of the most significant elements concerns the important place that theology and the belief in God played in natural philosophy for many centuries. The tendency of historians to label periods with terms such as ‘the Dark Ages’, ‘the Middle Ages’, ‘the Renaissance’ and ‘the Enlightenment’ has had the effect of leading us to think that nothing worthwhile could have happened in a ‘Dark Age’, while an era of ‘Enlightenment’ must surely be a positive thing. That this is not true is confirmed regularly, for instance by recent discoveries of lovely art work from the Dark Ages and by clear threads leading from the eighteenth century Enlightenment to various rigid dictatorial regimes. But one cannot understand modern science or modern philosophy without looking at their roots from 400 ADE. This course will explore key periods which created the questions, the search for answers, the theology and the technology that allowed modern science to flower. LECTURE TITLES 1. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Arab conquest of Spain 2. Philosophy from the neo Platonism of Plotinus to Abelard 3. The rediscovery of Aristotle and the birth of scholasticism 4. Late Middle Ages, Buridan, Oresme, Duns Scotus, Swineshead 5. The Renaissance and the growth of humanism Recommended reading Collins, R. 1999. Early Medieval Europe 300–1000. 2nd ed. New York: St Martin’s Press. Hannam, J. 2009. God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science. London: Icon Books. Russell, B. 2004. The History of Western Philosophy. London: Routledge This lecture series was part of the 2014 UCT Summer School programme http://www.summerschool.uct.ac.za/ Image details: "Portrait of Aristoteles" (2005) by Eric Gaba on Wikimedia Commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aristoteles_Louvre.jpg	en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitation	2014. <i>Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century.</i> http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7745	en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitation	. 2014. <i>Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century.</i> http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7745	en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation	Wolfe, D. 2014-09-29. Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century. Recorded lecture. UCT Summer School Lectures 2014. University of Cape Town.	en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris	TY - Other AU - Wolfe, David AB - The distinction between natural philosophy and modern science is a subject of much debate amongst scholars. One of the most significant elements concerns the important place that theology and the belief in God played in natural philosophy for many centuries. The tendency of historians to label periods with terms such as ‘the Dark Ages’, ‘the Middle Ages’, ‘the Renaissance’ and ‘the Enlightenment’ has had the effect of leading us to think that nothing worthwhile could have happened in a ‘Dark Age’, while an era of ‘Enlightenment’ must surely be a positive thing. That this is not true is confirmed regularly, for instance by recent discoveries of lovely art work from the Dark Ages and by clear threads leading from the eighteenth century Enlightenment to various rigid dictatorial regimes. But one cannot understand modern science or modern philosophy without looking at their roots from 400 ADE. This course will explore key periods which created the questions, the search for answers, the theology and the technology that allowed modern science to flower. LECTURE TITLES 1. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Arab conquest of Spain 2. Philosophy from the neo Platonism of Plotinus to Abelard 3. The rediscovery of Aristotle and the birth of scholasticism 4. Late Middle Ages, Buridan, Oresme, Duns Scotus, Swineshead 5. The Renaissance and the growth of humanism Recommended reading Collins, R. 1999. Early Medieval Europe 300–1000. 2nd ed. New York: St Martin’s Press. Hannam, J. 2009. God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science. London: Icon Books. Russell, B. 2004. The History of Western Philosophy. London: Routledge This lecture series was part of the 2014 UCT Summer School programme http://www.summerschool.uct.ac.za/ Image details: "Portrait of Aristoteles" (2005) by Eric Gaba on Wikimedia Commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aristoteles_Louvre.jpg DA - 2014-09-29 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - scholasticism KW - Plato KW - humanism KW - philosophy KW - renaissancs LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century TI - Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7745 ER -	en_ZA
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7745
dc.identifier.vancouvercitation	. 2014. <i>Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century.</i> http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7745	en_ZA
dc.language	eng	en_ZA
dc.publisher.institution	University of Cape Town
dc.relation.ispartofseries	UCT Summer School Lectures 2014	en_ZA
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International	en_ZA
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/	en_ZA
dc.subject	scholasticism	en_ZA
dc.subject	Plato	en_ZA
dc.subject	humanism	en_ZA
dc.subject	philosophy	en_ZA
dc.subject	renaissancs	en_ZA
dc.title	Natural Philosophy into Science: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 17th Century	en_ZA
dc.type	Other	en_ZA
uct.type.filetype
uct.type.filetype	Image
uct.type.publication	Teaching and Learning	en_ZA
uct.type.resource	Recorded lecture	en_ZA