UGFN1000

In Dialogue with Nature

與自然對話
David Lindberg, The Beginnings of
Western Science
Richard DeWitt, Worldviews: An Introduction to the
History and Philosophy of Science
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Are you inside the cave?
Are you outside the cave?
 Or are you still on the way to outside?

Cave
A. Are you inside the cave?
B. Are you outside the cave?
C. Are you still on the way to outside?

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Core Question

What is truth?

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 Course design of UGFN1000
• Part 1. The pursuit of truth
– Text 2a: David Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western Science
– Text 2b: Richard DeWitt, Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and
Philosophy of Science
– Text 3a: I. Bernard Cohen, The Birth of a New Physics
– Text 3b: Isaac Newton, The Principia
(Texts 2a, 3a and 3b about motion)

How to explain
projectile motion?
Not an isolated question…

Aristotle Isaac Newton

(384 BC – 322 BC) (1643 – 1727)
Radical change of worldview!
 Text 2b: What is truth?
• The nature of truth
– What makes true statements or true
beliefs true?
– What do true statements (or beliefs)
have in common that makes them true?
• Two major theories of truth
– Correspondence theories of truth
真理符應論
– Coherence theories of truth
真理融貫論

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Correspondence theories of truth
• A belief is true if it
corresponds to reality
• Reality
– Independent, objective
– Physical world for
scientists

Correspondence
The belief corresponds
to reality
The cat is on the mat.
[sense involved]
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 Coherence theories of truth
• A belief is true if it coheres, or ties in, with other beliefs
• Other beliefs
– Some overall collection of beliefs
– We have already accepted as true
• Coherence: All of these beliefs form a related group of
consistent beliefs

Coherence The cat is on the mat.

The belief coheres
with other beliefs
[reason involved]

My cat loves to rest

I do have a cat.
on the mat.
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 What is truth?
• What kind of truth did the natural philosophers or the scientists
pursue?
• A simplified view (an extension from Text 2b) …
• A belief is justified to be true if
(i) it corresponds to reality, and 與真實相符
(ii) it coheres with other beliefs. 與其他信念一致
• Pursuit of truth  Aims at fulfilling both
correspondence and coherence
• We use correspondence and coherence to analyze the work of
Aristotle and Newton. They did NOT explicitly use these terms!

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 Correspondence
The belief corresponds
to reality
[sense involved]

Coherence The cat is on the mat.

The belief coheres
with other beliefs
[reason involved]

My cat loves to rest

I do have a cat.
on the mat.

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(Adapted from (Solomon & Higgins, p. 175))
 Text 2a
• David C. Lindberg (1935 – 2015)
• The Beginnings of Western Science: The
European Scientific Tradition in
Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional
Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450
• Put the history of Western science into
context
• Aristotle’s philosophy of nature and his
worldview
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 The Beginnings of Western Science
Content of the book Text 1b Text 2a: three parts

Chapter 1: Science Before the Greeks

Chapter 2: The Greeks and the Cosmos 1. Aristotle: life and philosophy*
Text 2a, Ch. 3, para. 1-22
Chapter 3: Aristotle’s Philosophy of
Nature
2. Aristotle: cosmology & motion*
Chapter 4: Hellenistic Natural Text 2a, Ch. 3, para. 23-41
Philosophy
……
3. Medieval physics
Chapter 11: The Medieval Cosmos Text 2a, Ch. 12, para. 1-2, 33-55
Chapter 12: The Physics of the
Sublunar Region
……
 Aristotle’s work
• Aristotle 亞里士多德 (384 BC – 322 BC)
– Cf. Plato (428 BC – 348/47 BC)
• A student of Plato and teacher of
Alexander the Great
• The Lyceum: Aristotle’s school and
library

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Archaeological site of 16
Lykeion (Lyceum) From our textbook
17
 Aristotle’s work
• Aristotle systemically and comprehensively addressed the
major philosophical issues of his day
• Writings cover many subjects, including physics,
metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric,
linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology
• Logic: Aristotle also was the first to formalize the process of
deduction 演繹法 , in the form of the syllogism 三段論法 .
• Logical reasoning
– Deduction 演繹法
– Induction 歸納法
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 Logical reasoning
• Deductive reasoning 演繹法
– From one or more general statements (premises) to reach a
logically certain conclusion. (Wikipedia)
• Examples
– Syllogism 三段論法
• All men are mortal.  Premise (universal property, ch. 3 para. 10)
Socrates is a man.  Premise
Therefore, Socrates is mortal.  Conclusion
– Mathematical proof
• If A > B and B > C  Premises
• Then A > C  Conclusion

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 All men are
mortal
Socrates is
mortal
Socrates is
a man
Deduction

Coherence

Belief 20
 Logical reasoning
• Inductive reasoning 歸納法
– The premises seek to supply strong evidence for (not
absolute proof of) the truth of the conclusion. (Wikipedia)
• Examples
– Generalization
• Example 1: All men that we know of are mortal.  Premise
• Therefore, all men are mortal.  Conclusion
• Example 2: Law of universal gravitation
– Inference of the best explanation
• Lecture and tutorial on Text 4 (Darwin)

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 Induction
10000 men All men are
are mortal mortal

Coherence

Belief 22
 “Once we grasp the universal properties or
10000 men are definition, we can put it to use as the premise of
mortal deductive demonstrations.” (Ch. 3 para. 10)

Induction
10000 men All men are
are mortal mortal
Socrates is
mortal
Coherence
Socrates is
a man
Correspondence
Deduction
Observation
Socrates is a
Belief man 23
Plato and Aristotle
• Believed an orderly world
• “Aristotle, no less than Plato, was
determined to grasp the universal
traits or properties of things” (Ch. 2
para. 10)
• “True knowledge must be
knowledge of truly real things”
(Ch. 2 para. 9)
• But different views on reality…

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The School of Athens (1511) - Raphael

They are Plato

and Aristotle.
Which is which?

A B

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 Hint
• Their arms.

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• Plato
– World of forms
• Aristotle
– Sensible world
• Answer:
– Left: Plato
– Right: Aristotle

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 Plato vs. Aristotle
• Plato
– True reality is only located at the world of Forms
• Aristotle
– Refused to accept the world of Forms
• No perfect form of a dog
– Reality in sensible, corporeal objects
– A world encountered through the senses  Observations!
– “The process of acquiring knowledge begins with sense
experience… In that sense knowledge is empirical; nothing can
be known apart from such experience.” (Ch. 3 para. 10) Agree?

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 Aristotle’s philosophy and
Aristotelian worldview
• Theory of nature 本性論
• Teleology 目的論
• Cosmology
• Motion

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 Aristotle’s theory of nature
Why does an acorn ( 橡子 ) grow
into an oak tree ( 橡樹 )?

Every natural objects has a “nature” ( 本性 ).

All change and motion in the universe can be traced
back to the nature of things (ch. 3 para. 17)
Nature, according to Aristotle, is an inner principle of change and being
at rest (Physics 2.1, 192b20–23).
This affected his practice of studying nature – How?
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(ch. 3 para. 17-19) e.g. rocks fall. Absence of experimentation
 Final cause
What is the purpose?

Aristotle argued… that many things cannot be understood

without knowledge of purpose or function (para. 21)

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 Teleology
Teleology 目的論
Aristotle’s world is not a world of chance and coincidence, but an orderly,
organized world, a world of purpose, in which things develop toward ends
determined by their natures. (Para.22)

o se
r p

Pur
Pu

pos
e
ose
rp

Purp
u

ose
P

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 Aristotelian worldview
• Worldview
– A system of beliefs that are interconnected in some like
the way the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle are interconnected
• Aristotelian worldview
– The dominant system of beliefs from about 300 BC to
about 1600 AD in the western world
– Largely based on Aristotle’s beliefs
– Developed and modified after the death of Aristotle
– Beginning with sense experience

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Aristotle’s “jigsaw puzzle” of beliefs
• The beliefs were not
random
• Interrelated,
interlocking, coherent
system of beliefs
• Correspondence +
Coherence
– Not stated by Aristotle
explicitly
– Our analysis and
interpretation

(DeWitt p. 10)
 Aristotelian worldview
• The Earth is spherical (not flat!)

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Stars rise and fall…

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Night Sky – Timelapse: https://youtu.be/PIedt8uOxCE
 Aristotelian worldview
• The Earth is spherical (not flat!)

• Question: does the Earth move?

• Choices: Yes or No
• “The process of acquiring knowledge begins with
sense experience” (Ch. 3 para. 10)
• The Earth is stationary

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 I don’t feel the
Earth in motion

When we jump,
the Earth does not
move away
X
A thrown object
X goes straight up
X and then straight
Correspondence down
The Earth is
moving
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 I don’t feel the
Earth in motion

When we jump,
the Earth does not
move away

A thrown object
goes straight up
and then straight
Correspondence down
The Earth is
stationary
40
If the Earth is stationary, then…

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 I don’t feel the
Earth in motion

When we jump,
the Earth does not
moves away

An thrown object
goes straight up
Correspondence and then straight
The Earth is down
stationary
Coherence

The Earth is located

The Earth is
at the centre of the
spherical 42
universe
 Aristotelian worldview
• The Earth is spherical.
• The Earth is stationary.
• The Earth is located at the centre of the universe.
– Not based, at least not originally, on the view that
humans were special.
– If the Earth is spherical and stationary, the moon, sun,
stars and planets all appear to revolve around the Earth.
 The Earth as the centre of the universe

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• Aristotle believed in a geocentric model of the universe.
56 crystalline spheres were rotating around the earth.
Below is a simplified version. Two regions. What are the
fundamental stuff?
Celestial region
(superlunar region)
•The region beyond the moon
including the moon, sun,
planets, and fixed stars
•There is only the fifth basic
element aether (ether).
Sublunar region
(terrestrial region)
•The region between Earth and
the moon (including the Earth
itself).
•Objects made of the four
elements
(Fire, air, water, earth)
 Aristotelian worldview
• The Earth is spherical.
• The Earth is located at the centre of the universe.
• The Earth is stationary.
• Sublunar region (terrestrial region)
– There are four basic elements: earth, water, air and fire.
• Celestial region (superlunar region)
– There is only the fifth basic element aether (ether).

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Four elements
•The sublunar world is composed of
mixed bodies.
•Earth and water are heavy, but the earth
is heavier.
•Air and fire are light, but fire is lighter.
•Each of the basic elements has an
essential nature.
•The element earth has a natural tendency
to move toward the centre of the Earth. Ideal case only!
•The element water has a natural (only pure
tendency to move toward the centre of the elements exist)
universe, but its tendency is not as strong
as that of the element earth.
•~ air, fire.
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 Aristotelian worldview
• Motion: change of location
• Two most fundamental claims of Aristotle’s
theory of motion:
1. Two types of motion: natural motion and violent
motion
2. Motion is never spontaneous; there is no motion
without a mover.
An object that is stationary will remain stationary, unless
there is some source of motion (either natural motion or
violent motion).
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 Aristotelian worldview
• Motion
– Natural motion ( 自然運動 ): either
“up” or “down”. To go the natural
place, earth and water usually go
down towards the earth’s centre,
while air and fire up.
– Violent motion / forced motion
( 受迫運動 ): that of objects being
continually pushed or pulled and
projectile motion.
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 Why does a stone fall?
(Natural motion)

Centre: A stone goes to

Natural place its natural place,
of the stone, hence falls.
which is made Aristotle’s world is
of the element goal-directed. (a
earth. Earth world of purpose!)

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Why does fire go up?
(Natural motion)

The fire goes to its

natural place

Surface of the
lunar sphere:
natural place
of fire
Earth

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 Aristotelian worldview
• Celestial motion (natural motion in the sky):
all celestial objects move in circles.
(Celestial objects are perfect  Perfect things do not change 
Circles do not change.)

It does not change

upon rotation. They change as they rotate. 51
 Aristotelian worldview
• Two most fundamental claims of Aristotle’s
theory of motion:
1. Two types of motion: natural motion and violent
motion
2. Motion is never spontaneous; there is no motion
without a mover.
An object that is stationary will remain stationary,
unless there is some source of motion (either natural
motion or violent motion)
Daily examples?
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 What is the mover of projectile motion?

• After the object has left the hand, no force is

acting on it. (Ch. 2, para. 34, ch. 12, para. 51)
• Against “no motion without a mover”?
 Projectile
motion

Correspondence X
No motion
Natural motion,
without a
violent motion
mover
Coherence

54
 Projectile
motion

Correspondence

No motion
Natural motion,
without a
violent motion
mover
Coherence

Medium (air)
as mover 55
 No motion without a mover
• A reasonable claim! Forget Newton!
• Why does a body to continue its motion after losing
apparent contact with its initial mover?
– The belief “no motion without a mover”: Right or wrong?
– If the belief “no motion without a mover” is right, how to
explain the motion?
• How to make choices!
– Difficulties in the pursuit of truth

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 Aristotle’s “jigsaw puzzle” of beliefs
Medium (air)
as mover
• Interrelated, interlocking,
The Earth is
stationary
Natural motion,
violent motion
Motion requires
a mover
coherent system of beliefs
The Earth is located
• Correspondence +
The Earth is
spherical
at the centre of the
universe Coherence
• Against a single Aristotle’s
belief 
Against the Aristotelian
worldview!?
• Urgent warning:
Only spherical Earth is
correct!!!

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 Summary and tips
Aristotle’s view on reality 
“The process of acquiring knowledge begins with sense
experience” 
Aristotle’s cosmology   
Aristotelian worldview: Interrelated, interlocking, coherent
system of beliefs corresponding to reality
•If you don’t understand a difficult passage, skip it and read on
•Go back to the difficult passage if necessary
•Get the main arguments
•Reading guide and mobile app DiaNable (outline and study questions
for Text 2a)
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 Tutorial discussion
1. What are the differences on the view of reality between Plato and
Aristotle? How do these differences affect their processes of acquiring
knowledge? Whose method is a better way to search for the truth?
2. How did Aristotle use his theory of nature 本性 to explain why a stone
fell? Do you regard it as an explanation? Why? Why does Lindberg say
that “with this theory of nature in mind, we can understand … the absence
from [Aristotle’s] work of anything resembling controlled
experimentation”?
3. What phenomena can be explained by the Aristotelian beliefs? How are
beliefs related to each other? Can we remove one of these beliefs without
affecting the others?
4. How did Aristotle explain the projectile motion? If you were Aristotle,
you found that some of your beliefs conflicted with observations, would
you refute the conflicting belief or modify/improve your beliefs? Why?

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 Major references
• Lindberg, David C., The Beginnings of Western Science. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2007.
• DeWitt, Richard, Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of
Science. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
– Chapter 1 Worldviews http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/62/EHEP0022/EHEP002262.pdf
– Chapter 2 Truth (excerpt): Text 2b
• Grant, Edward, Physical Science in the Middle Ages. New York: John Wiley & Sons,
1971.
• Cohen, I. Bernard, The Birth of New Physics. London: Penguin Books, 1985.
• G. E. R. Lloyd, Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle. New York: W W Norton,
1970.
• Solomon, Robert C., and Higgins, Kathleen M., The Big Questions: A Short
Introduction to Philosophy. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2014.
• Velasquez, Manuel G., Philosophy: A Text with Readings. Boston, MA: Wadsworth,
2014.

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 PASS session today
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Peer Assisted Study Session

PASS session: NZ (for UGFN1000Z)

(Cantonese)
Date & time: 22 Jan (Fri) 15:30-16:30

Zoom: https://cuhk.zoom.us/j/96626013580 (Code:

348469)
 PASS Leader: Kelly Lam ( 林嘉妍 )
Main discussion questions in PASS
1.What are the differences in the view of

reality and the acquisition of knowledge

between Plato and Aristotle?
2.What is Aristotle’s theory of nature?

3.What is the cosmology of Aristotle?

 Other PASS sessions
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 Timetable of PASS:
http://pass.oge.cuhk.edu.hk/
 See the mass mail for the
passwords
 Announcement
• Read
• Aristotle: his life and philosophy: Text 2a Ch. 3, para. (1-2), 3-11, 13-14,
17, 19-22
• Aristotle on cosmology and motion: Text 2a Ch. 3, para. 23-38, 41
• Truth: Text 2b Ch. 2, para. (1-12), 13-21
• Question bank on Text 2: Available on Blackboard
• Reflective journal writing workshop (online or in-person)
• Discussion Forum: Round 1 starts
– Due date: 28 Jan 2021 (Thu) 23:59

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Discussion forum schedule
Round Due date
1:Plato/Lindberg 1 1 28 Jan 2021
2:Lindberg 2 1 4 Feb 2021
3:Cohen/Newton 1 11 Feb 2021
4:Darwin 1 25 Feb 2021
 Discussion Forum on Text 1
• After discussing Text 1 (Plato/Lindberg) in the tutorial, one should contribute to the extended
discussion in this forum in English/Chinese by
– responding to a discussion question or a classmate’s response. (Some discussion questions
have been posted by the discussion leaders without stating their views), or
– posting a new topic (including both discussion question(s) and your view(s))
• One can post more than once, but the maximum mark is still 2.
• The grading rubrics include the following two aspects:
– Articulation and Communication: (a) whether your arguments and views are clearly and
fluently articulated; and (b) whether you can attentively read others’ posts before making a new
post.
– Intellectual Performance: (a) whether you can demonstrate a thorough understanding of
the assigned text(s) and/or the tutorial discussion; and (b) whether you can provide
insightful analyses and raises new perspectives and/or critical points.
• For details, please refer to Grading Rubrics for Discussion Forum
• General guideline: English: about 200-(400) words; Chinese: about 300-(600) words. (About 2-4
paragraphs).
• Please read others’ topics before posting a new topic to avoid duplication.
End

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