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Article ON THE STUDY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. ← Page 2 of 6 →
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On The Study Of Natural Philosophy.
the beginning of the world to this day , mere philosophers are still nearly as much in the dark about them as ever . With respect to the third distinction , it may rather be called the art of philosophising in general , than ranked under a distinct species , or mode of philosophy . The rig ht use of those signs whereby we express our ideas is indeed so essentially necessary both to the pursuit and communication of every branch of knowledgethat it is
impos-, sible to make any considerable advances in other parts of science , without making , at the same time , some proficiency in that of logic . It is not , however ,, an application to the quibbling jargon of the schools that I would recommend to my readers . The Greeks , to whom the world is indebted for the first refinements in the art of reasoning , were a nation fond of extempore declamationsand iqued themselves much
, p on their being able to take , alternately , either side of the question in a debate : for this reason they invented a form of words , adapted rather to the purposes of cavil and contention , than the improvement of knowledge , and the discovery of truth . Logic , however , stripped of that scholastic farrago of unmeaning terms which hath deservedly brought " it into disreputeis nothing more than the art of applying common
, sense to science , or the art of thinking and reasoning justly ; to which end , the clear and precise definition of things , a right method of arranging the right parts of an argument , or disposing the subjects of investigation , are indispensably necessary .
There are no persons who entertain a more sovereign contempt for what is commonly called logic , than geometricians ; who , nevertheless , have made a greater progress in the explication of natural phenomena within two centuries past , than all the masters of the dialectic art were able to effect for some thousand years before . But they should not be vain of their good fortune , or take upon them , as is too frequently the caseto despise the moralists and hysiologistsfor having met
, p , with less success in their researches . The cause of their . own advances is , indeed , less to be attributed to superior talents , than to the adventitious helps the nature of their studies afforded them . If the meaning of words were as determinate , perceptible objects as accurately to be defined , and our ideas in general as clearly and precisely to be expressedas lines and figureshow many thousand polemical
, , tomes would never have seen the lig ht , that have been written on scientific subjects , without advancing one step toward their improvement ! But men must be wrongheads , ' indeed , who can draw false conclusions from premises so definite and obvious as those of arithmetic and geometry . Obliged , also , as natural philosophy has been to the mathematics , for its late improvements , it appears now at a stand , and
unable to make any farther progress , for want of different means of advancement . The spirit of calculation seems to have almost finished the work cut out for it , among the greater phamomena of nature , by the establishment of the universal princip le of gravity : a principle , however , not discovered , but confirmed , by geometrical induction . The advantages which the Newtonian' theory , founded on just observation and mathematical reasoning , had over the imaginary one
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Natural Philosophy.
the beginning of the world to this day , mere philosophers are still nearly as much in the dark about them as ever . With respect to the third distinction , it may rather be called the art of philosophising in general , than ranked under a distinct species , or mode of philosophy . The rig ht use of those signs whereby we express our ideas is indeed so essentially necessary both to the pursuit and communication of every branch of knowledgethat it is
impos-, sible to make any considerable advances in other parts of science , without making , at the same time , some proficiency in that of logic . It is not , however ,, an application to the quibbling jargon of the schools that I would recommend to my readers . The Greeks , to whom the world is indebted for the first refinements in the art of reasoning , were a nation fond of extempore declamationsand iqued themselves much
, p on their being able to take , alternately , either side of the question in a debate : for this reason they invented a form of words , adapted rather to the purposes of cavil and contention , than the improvement of knowledge , and the discovery of truth . Logic , however , stripped of that scholastic farrago of unmeaning terms which hath deservedly brought " it into disreputeis nothing more than the art of applying common
, sense to science , or the art of thinking and reasoning justly ; to which end , the clear and precise definition of things , a right method of arranging the right parts of an argument , or disposing the subjects of investigation , are indispensably necessary .
There are no persons who entertain a more sovereign contempt for what is commonly called logic , than geometricians ; who , nevertheless , have made a greater progress in the explication of natural phenomena within two centuries past , than all the masters of the dialectic art were able to effect for some thousand years before . But they should not be vain of their good fortune , or take upon them , as is too frequently the caseto despise the moralists and hysiologistsfor having met
, p , with less success in their researches . The cause of their . own advances is , indeed , less to be attributed to superior talents , than to the adventitious helps the nature of their studies afforded them . If the meaning of words were as determinate , perceptible objects as accurately to be defined , and our ideas in general as clearly and precisely to be expressedas lines and figureshow many thousand polemical
, , tomes would never have seen the lig ht , that have been written on scientific subjects , without advancing one step toward their improvement ! But men must be wrongheads , ' indeed , who can draw false conclusions from premises so definite and obvious as those of arithmetic and geometry . Obliged , also , as natural philosophy has been to the mathematics , for its late improvements , it appears now at a stand , and
unable to make any farther progress , for want of different means of advancement . The spirit of calculation seems to have almost finished the work cut out for it , among the greater phamomena of nature , by the establishment of the universal princip le of gravity : a principle , however , not discovered , but confirmed , by geometrical induction . The advantages which the Newtonian' theory , founded on just observation and mathematical reasoning , had over the imaginary one