PL 2104 - Magic,Medicine and Science

Institution:

Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Subject:

Description:

An introduction to basic issues in metaphysics (What does reality consist of?) and epistemology (What is knowledge and how is it obtained?). The course takes the form of a philosophically oriented survey of the history of western science from the Greeks to the Newtonian synthesis. It looks at the metaphysical and epistemological origins of three grand systems of thought -- organic, magical and mechanical -- and indicates the extent to which modern science can be seen as arising out of their synthesis. The course views the key figures in this history as they saw themselves, first and foremost as natural philosophers. Topics covered include Pre-Socratic cosmology, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, the Hermetic Corpus, Ficino's naturalistic magic, Pico's supernatural magic, Paracelsus and the ontic theory of disease, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Hobbes, the Cambridge Platonists, and Newton. Prerequisite: none.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Multiple

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.poly.edu

Phone Number:

(718) 260-3100

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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