Leonid Zhmud The Origin of the History of Science in Classical Antiquity
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The Origin of the History of Science in
apparent irregularities in
planetary motion to the true circular movement. Eudoxus of Cnidus, as Eudemus reports in the second book of his History of As- tronomy and as Sosigenes repeats on the authority of Eudemus, is said to have been the first of the Greeks to deal with this type of hypotheses. For Plato, Sosi- genes says, set this problem for students of astronomy: ‘By the assumption of what uniform and ordered motions one can save the apparent motions of the planets’? (fr. 148). 199 Plato’s supposed role in posing this problem has been sufficiently discussed above (3.1). In Plato’s dialogues the expression s¢zein tà fainómena, as well as the very idea that a mathematical model has to be verified by empirical ob- servations, are totally lacking, though he was certainly not opposed to observa- tions as such. In Aristotle, on the contrary, expressions similar but not identical in meaning (@podidónai tà fainómena, ômologe$n to$~ fainoménoi~, ômo- logoúmena légein to$~ fainoménoi~) occur quite often, 200 whereas the con- viction underlying them belongs to the fundamentals of his philosophy. Eude- mus, no doubt, also knew and shared the scientific principle expressed by the formula s¢zein tà fainómena. But does this really mean that this principle goes back to Aristotle and Eudemus, rather than to Eudoxus and Callippus? Let us specify: what we are discussing here is not so much the general thesis, shared both by many Presocratics 201 and by Aristotle, that phenomena are the visible aspect of hidden things (Óyi~ @d2lwn tà fainómena), but rather a 199 kaì prõto~ tõn ˆEll2nwn EÚdoxo~ ô Knídio~, !~ EÚdhmó~ te ën tŒ deutérœ t4~ @strologik4~ îstoría~ @pemnhmóneuse kaì Swsigénh~ parà Eÿd2mou toñto labøn, Âyasqai légetai tõn toioútwn ûpoqésewn, Plátwno~, <~ fhsi Swsigénh~, próblhma toñto poihsaménou to$~ perì tañta ëspouda- kósi, tínwn ûpoteqeisõn ômalõn kaì tetagménwn kin2sewn diaswqÆ tà perì tà~ kin2sei~ tõn planwménwn fainómena. 200 APo 89a 5; Cael. 306a 7, 309a 26; GC 325a 26; GA 760b 33; Met. 1073b 36; EE 1236a 26. Cf. ‘inversed’ formulas: biázesqai tà fainómena, ënantía légein prò~ tà fainómena (Cael. 315a 4; EE 1236b 22). 201 Anaxagoras (59 B 21 A), Democritus (68 A 111). See Regenbogen, O. Eine For- schungsmethode antiker Wissenschaft (1930), Kleine Schriften, Munich 1961, 141ff.; Diller, H. ¨Oyi~ @d2lwn tà fainómena, Hermes 67 (1932) 14–42. Chapter 7: The history of astronomy 274 more specific theory that explained the celestial motions by reducing their ap- parent variety to a limited number of mathematical regularities. This astro- nomical theory was anticipated by the mechanics of Archytas, which reduced the action of various tools and devices to the principle of unequal concentric circles and provided a mathematical analysis of their movement, of linear and angular velocities in particular. 202 Another parallel to this theory is to be found in the mathematical harmonics of the same Archytas. It is worth noting that the Peripatetic Aristoxenus criticized the mathematical treatment of music by the Pythagoreans, reproaching them for their neglect of phenomena. 203 Theophras- tus’ criticism was similar (fr. 716 FHSG). Hence, the principle ômologe$n to$~ fainoménoi~ does not necessarily imply the mathematical treatment of phe- nomena; moreover, the very concept of fainómena is much broader in Aris- totle than in Eudoxus. As a result, the formula s¢zein tà fainómena became associated, not with the explication of phenomena in general, but rather with the astronomical pro- gram, so it was very likely related to Eudoxus’ theory from the very begin- ning. 204 The expression @podidónai tà fainómena appears twice in the very passage of the Download 1.41 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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