Mechanical Explanation in Ancient Greek Philosophy

古希腊哲学中的机械解释

• 批准号: 0240316
• 负责人: Sylvia Berryman
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Ohio State University Research Foundation -DO NOT USE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-08-01 至 2005-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0240316&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mechanical; Explanation; Ancient; Greek; Philosophy

PROJECT ABSTRACTSES 0240316Sylvia Berryman, Ohio State University"Mechanical Explanation in Ancient Greek Philosophy"This project aims to develop a new characterization of mechanistic explanation inancient natural philosophy. It has been recognized that the current practice of applying the terms mechanical or mechanistic to characterize ancient natural philosophers is problematic. This project argues that the applicability of the term mechanistic does not depend on necessary and sufficient conditions, but rather on a method of understanding natural processes by analogy to mechanics as that is understood. Understanding the term in this way draws attention to developing ideas about the mechanical art in the ancient world, and the application of these to the understanding of the natural world. An alternative way of characterizing the significance of ancient atomism is offered, namely, the presence of conservationist assumptions about causation.The project begins from an argument to the effect that attempts to define mechanistic conceptions by a single characteristic are wanting. Both the many different ways in which the mechanistic is typically characterized, and the frequency of open-ended lists, indicate that the term refers, at heart, to the use of analogy to the discipline of mechanics as a guide in investigating the functioning of natural processes. As such, the development of mechanistic thought requires a developed mechanical art to serve as a point of reference: comparisons to real working artifacts play a role quite different from that of imaginary conceptions. There is evidence in late antiquity that at least some thinkers adopted the approach that proved influential in the early modern world, namely, the attempt to understand nature as working like constructed devices. This work examines evidence that ideas from the mechanical art were applied to the understanding of natural processes, and that mechanics was understood as a part of natural philosophy. So understood, the term mechanistic has little relevance to understanding ancient atomism. It offers a proposal towards understanding the feature of atomism that has lent credence to this usage: the principle that nothing comes from nothing justifies the assumption that causation ought to be answerable to certain quantitative restrictions. This seems to have developed independently of the idea that nature works like a machine.This proposal aims to develop a new conception of the terms in which the study of ancient natural philosophy is framed, and thereby to help foster philosophical interest in the development of ancient mechanics and its impact on ideas about the understanding of natural processes. It is hoped that this research will help foster the renewed interest among scholars of ancient philosophy in the interactions between the scientific work of the Hellenistic period and philosophical ideas about nature and its explanation.

sylvia Berryman，俄亥俄州立大学“古希腊哲学中的机械解释”项目旨在对古代自然哲学中的机械解释进行新的表征。人们已经认识到，目前使用机械或机械论的术语来描述古代自然哲学家的做法是有问题的。该项目认为，“机械性”一词的适用性并不取决于必要和充分条件，而是取决于一种理解自然过程的方法，这种方法通过类比力学来理解自然过程。以这种方式理解这一术语，将人们的注意力吸引到古代机械艺术的发展理念上，并将这些理念应用于对自然世界的理解。另一种描述古代原子论意义的方法被提出，即关于因果关系的保守主义假设的存在。这个项目从一个论点开始，大意是试图通过一个单一的特征来定义机械概念是不够的。机械论典型特征的许多不同方式，以及开放式列表的频率，都表明，这个术语在本质上指的是，在研究自然过程的功能时，使用力学学科的类比作为指导。因此，机械思想的发展需要一个发达的机械艺术作为参考点：与真实工作的人工制品的比较所起的作用与想象的概念完全不同。有证据表明，在古代晚期，至少有一些思想家采用了对现代早期世界产生影响的方法，即试图将自然理解为像构造装置一样运作。这项工作考察了机械艺术的思想被应用于理解自然过程的证据，力学被理解为自然哲学的一部分。所以要明白，机械论这个词和理解古代原子论没什么关系。它提出了一种理解原子论特征的建议，这种特征为这种用法提供了依据：无来自无的原则证明了因果关系应该对某些数量限制负责的假设是正确的。这似乎是独立于自然像机器一样运转的观点而发展起来的。本提案旨在发展古代自然哲学研究框架中术语的新概念，从而帮助培养对古代力学发展的哲学兴趣及其对理解自然过程的想法的影响。希望这项研究将有助于培养古代哲学学者对希腊化时期的科学工作与关于自然及其解释的哲学思想之间的相互作用的新兴趣。