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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A paper which looks at the common perception in Western civilisation that the Greeks were responsible for the origins of science and rationality, with reference to pre-Hellenistic theories and the ways in which science can be defined. Bibliography lists 10 sources
Page Count:
11 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLgreksci.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
have noted, it is a fairly common assumption in Western culture that the ancient Greeks were primarily responsible for developing the systems of science and rationality which we use today,
and this assumption permeates much of the way in which science is taught today. However, when one considers not only the broader concepts of "science" and "rationality" and how they
might be defined, but also the extent to which Greek thought has been selected out and other systems and methodologies (Pingree (1992), for instance, deals with the Babylonian and Islamic
schools) have tended to lose credibility in favour of the Greek systems, it is evident that the issue is not quite so clear cut.
One would need to look, for example, at what actually constitutes
science, and rational thought, as well as determining why the Greek influence seems to have been so much stronger in Western culture than other forms. Is it perhaps the case
that we have selected specific instances of Greek thought which conform most closely to our own, and have tended to discard those which do not? The scientific world sets great
store by astronomy, for example, and little by astrology, which is seen as having no scientific rationale and is therefore dismissed as little more than superstition. Consequently, we will cite
Ptolemys astronomical treatises as an example of "true" scientific methodology, but carefully avoid any reference to his work on astrology.
Those elements of Greek thought such as alchemy and astrology, which we do not now
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