Greece is the origin of modern scientific spirit
Around 2000 BC, the Greeks invaded the eastern Mediterranean and settled there, and continued to expand overseas, in the east and west Many colonial city-states were established. The ancient Greeks crossed the Aegean Sea to the east and established the Greek colonial city-state of Ionia on the western coast of today's Turkey. They crossed the Ionian Sea to the west and established colonies in what is now the Apennine Peninsula and Sicily in southern Italy. Therefore, the ancient Greece mentioned here includes the Greek Peninsula, the Ionia region on the east coast of the Aegean Sea, Crete in the south, and southern Italy.
The significance of ancient Greek science
Greek philosophy began to appear in the 6th century BC. Early philosophers engaged in a serious, critical search for the nature of the world in which they lived—a search that has continued ever since. They ask questions about its ingredients, its makeup, and its workings; they question whether it is made of one thing or many; they explore its shape and location and speculate on its origin; they seek to understand how things came into being and The changing process of transformation; they meditated on abnormal natural phenomena such as earthquakes, solar eclipses, and lunar eclipses, and sought universal explanations that applied not only to one specific earthquake or eclipse, but to all earthquakes or eclipses; they began to think carefully about inferences and proofs rules.
The world in the eyes of philosophers is an orderly and predictable world, in which things act according to their nature. The Greek word used to refer to this ordered world was kosmos (universe), from which we derive the term "cosmology" we now use. Because of their focus on nature, these philosophers who introduced new ways of thinking were called natural philosophers by Aristotle.
From the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD, a large number of philosophers and scientists with outstanding talents appeared here. They were the originators of many subsequent disciplines. We can list a long list, such as the natural philosopher Thales, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Zeno, Democritus, the humanistic philosopher Socrates, the systematic philosopher Plato, Aristotle, astronomers Meton, Eudoxus, and Ptolemy, mathematicians Euclid, Apollonius, and Diophantus, physicist Archimedes, and medical scientist Hippocrates Di, Galen, geographer Hicitas, Eratosthenes, biologist Theophrastus and so on.
Many of these geniuses not only made their pioneering work in one field, but also made outstanding achievements in many fields. Like Aristotle, his research scope covers many fields of modern natural sciences and humanities. The following list is only a part of his works:
Philosophical works: "Metaphysics",
Physics works: "Physics", "On Life and Death", "On Heaven", "Astronomy", "On the Universe",
Biology works: "Animals", "On the Universe" "On the History of Animals", "On the Soul",
Logic works: "Categories", "Analysis",
Ethical works: "Nicomachean Ethics" ", "Great Ethics", "Eudemus Ethics",
As well as "Politics", "Poetics", "Rhetoric", etc.
He wrote almost every chapter He has expressed his outstanding insights in every field of knowledge and is an out-and-out encyclopedic scholar.
Ancient Greek science can be said to be the true pioneer of modern science. In almost every field and every issue, the Greeks left behind their thoughts. Ancient Greek thought still attracts the interest of many scientists today because nowhere in the world has such a highly developed and clearly expressed system of knowledge and thinking been established as theirs, and the object of study of this system is science as a whole. Science there did not fragment into isolated, narrow fields of scientific knowledge as we do today. Of course, another very important reason is that more and more scientists realize that there is a serious crisis in our current basic science. To completely solve the existing crisis in science, the theoretical basis of its early founders must be revised.
Therefore, this further encourages people to make new efforts to study ancient Greek thought, hoping to discover the errors that have been formed for a long time from the source and then correct them.
A passage in "Greek Thinkers" by Theodor Gomperz, an ancient history scholar, illustrates the importance of reviewing Greek thought:
Reviewing must considered to be of great significance. Indirect application or utilization is very important. All our knowledge and education originated from the ancient Greeks. The complete knowledge of these origins is an indispensable prerequisite for our freedom from their irresistible influence. Ignoring the past is not only undesirable but simply impossible. You don't have to understand the doctrines and treatises of the ancient masters, nor do you have to understand Plato and Aristotle. You can never hear their names, but you are still under the spell of their authority. Their influence was not only passed on by those who accepted their views, both ancient and modern. The whole of our thoughts, the kinds of logic that operate in them, the forms of language that are used (which are manipulated by them) - all of this is by no means an artifact, and is basically the product of the great ancient thinkers. Indeed, we must examine this process of change in its entirety, lest we mistake the results of growth and development for primitiveness. Mistaking something for natural that is actually artificial.
Thus John Burnet also said that "Science is an invention of the Greeks; it has never existed except among those who were influenced by the Greeks."
If we look at early Greek philosophy from the perspective of modern science, some chapters seem familiar. The research of the Presocratic philosophers on the shape and arrangement of the universe, its origin, or its basic ingredients reminds us of questions still being investigated in physical physics, cosmology and particle physics. However, other parts of early philosophy are rather unfamiliar. Today, tireless scientists no longer ask whether change is logically possible, or where true reality can be found. It is no small feat that one can still find any physicist or chemist who bothers to balance their respective claims to reason and observation. These things are no longer talked about by scientists, but does that mean that the early philosophers who spent their lives studying these issues were "unscientific" and perhaps even misled into being intellectually retarded?
The natural philosophers of ancient Greece were concerned with topics such as what ultimate reality is, the difference between nature and supernatural, the origin of cosmic order, the nature of change and the basis of knowledge, etc., which are consistent with several issues since the Renaissance. Century scientists focused on very different topics to explain specific observations (such as weights falling, chemical reactions, and psychological processes); but different does not mean unimportant. At least until Isaac Newton, these big questions demanded the same attention from naturalists as those that populate today's university natural science courses. These questions are interesting and fundamental, they are questions about foundations; and the fate of foundational questions is often seen as meaningless by those who later take the foundations for granted. For example, today we find the distinction between the natural and the supernatural obvious; but until this distinction can be carefully made, the study of nature cannot be properly conducted.
Thus, the early philosophers began their exploration from the only possible place, which was the origin. They created a view of nature that has been the basis of scientific research and belief for many centuries—a view of nature that has more or less become the presupposition of modern science. In the meantime, many of the questions they raised have been solved, often crudely rather than definitively, but enough that they are no longer at the forefront of scientific attention. When they disappear from view, their place is replaced by a batch of more detailed studies. If we want to understand the richness and complexity of this scientific enterprise, we must see that its two components: the base and the superstructure, are complementary and reciprocal.
Modern laboratory research occurs within a broad conceptual system. Without expectations of nature or basic reality, it cannot even start. In turn, the correctness of experimental research results makes us reflect on these most basic concepts and promotes them. Be refined and (accidentally) corrected.
Aristotole (384 BC-322 BC) said at the beginning of his book "Metaphysics" that there are three conditions for the birth of philosophy and science: The first is "surprise", which is people's surprise. Confusion and surprise expressed by natural phenomena and social phenomena. When people are surprised, they feel their own ignorance. In order to get rid of ignorance, people will thirst for knowledge. But seeking knowledge is not for practical purposes, but purely a love of wisdom and a pursuit of truth. In layman's terms, the first condition is that people are required to be curious and thirsty for knowledge. The second condition is "leisure." The intellectual class does not have to work hard to make a living, because people who are engaged in heavy physical labor all day long and have no leisure are unable to engage in complex mental work such as seeking knowledge. The third condition is "freedom". Philosophical knowledge is self-sufficient. It does not exist for any other purpose, but exists purely for itself. It is a free knowledge, which requires free thinking and free expression of opinions without being subject to other purposes and interests. of domination.
In general, Aristotle emphasized the non-utilitarian nature of the source of philosophy and science, and also explained why Greece became the birthplace of science and philosophy: because it provided leisure, Provide freedom, because the Greeks had a strong thirst for knowledge and a great respect for wisdom.
The original philosophers seemed to be very politically aware people who were interested in business, navigation, and political activities. Their way of thinking about the nature of things is very novel. For the activities of the universe, they use their daily life experience to explain and use the process of craftsmanship to make analogies, rather than using religious dogma and superstition to explain. Scholars at that time were generally highly respected, as can be seen from the fact that various city-states asked them to formulate laws, serve as administrators, or serve as tutors for the children of officials. On the other hand, in politically turbulent times, scholars are likely to be persecuted by politically hostile groups. Therefore, while natural philosophers and priests had more possibilities for free exploration than intellectuals in earlier cultural eras, they lacked the protection that priests had as agents of the gods. protection.
The birthplace of natural science was not in Athens, where Socrates, Plato and Aristotle lived, but on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor - Miletus and Tylor in Ionia. Thales of Miletus (about 640-546 BC) and his students Anaximander (about 610B.C-545B.C) and Anaximenes (active in 546 BC) before and after) formed the first philosophical school in the history of Western philosophy - the Ionian School.
According to Aristotle’s records, a story about Thales is recorded. Thales' friends blamed him for his poverty and told him that philosophy was of no use at all. But the philosopher, through his observations of celestial bodies, foresaw a bumper olive crop the following year. So in the winter, he raised some money and rented all the oil presses in Miletus and Chios very cheaply. During the olive harvest season, this type of oil press is in great demand. At this time, Thales rented all the oil presses to users on very favorable terms and made a lot of money. Thales proved: "It is easy for philosophers to make money. However, their interest is not in making money."
What is the value of scientific research? Many people answer this question by pointing to the actual results of scientific achievements in transforming technology, industry, engineering, etc. It is true that the development of science in the past two centuries does prove that it is science that has changed our entire way of life beyond imagination, and will further promote the development of society even at a faster speed in the near future.
But few scientists would agree with this attitude of evaluating scientific research from a pragmatic perspective. Since the Greek slavery system ensured a prosperous life for the nobles and free people, a large number of slaves liberated free people from manual labor, allowing Greek philosophers to start from hobbies and interests. They explored philosophy just to get rid of stupidity. Obviously, they wanted to seek knowledge. Being engaged in academia has no practical purpose.
In fact, I am not sure whether our understanding of the Greek scientific spirit today is accurate, that is, its immanence, non-utilitarianism, and purposeful nature. But at least it's something relatively clear that can be discussed. And through this we can talk about our own views and explore future directions. Moreover, it is now clear that the significance of these long-lost histories to us is that the comparison between Western civilization and Eastern civilization that everyone is talking about is actually more about the impact and impact of modern civilization on ancient Eastern civilization caused by Western civilization. engulfed, while ignoring the distance traveled by Western civilization itself.
In fact, when discussing the Greek scientific spirit, I constantly think of some views of Eastern culture. For example, the view of nature. If the ancient Greeks regarded nature as a divine being higher than human beings, the Confucian understanding of destiny and the Taoist law of nature can also serve as allies in the later philosophical debates in which humans conquered and transformed nature. Because the first three all hold the basic attitude of living in harmony with nature. The behavior of the ancient Greek philosophers who lived a simple life and indulged in the world of ideas reminds me of Confucius's praise of Yan Hui: "A basket of food and a ladle of drink, in a back alley. People can't bear their worries, and they won't change their behavior even after returning home." Happy. Xian Zai! Hui Ye. "There has never been a shortage of idealists in human history. They transcend the material level and strive for beautiful ideals or beliefs, such as goodness, beauty, love, truth, and freedom.
So I secretly believe that the Greek scientific spirit, apart from its deductive methods and curiosity about research objects, its greatest contribution to human civilization lies in its diligent pursuit of truth, wisdom, and ideals. It is called loving wisdom.