We explain what ancient science is, what its main characteristics are and differences with modern science.
What is ancient science?
Ancient science (as opposed to modern science) is known as the forms of observation and understanding the nature characteristics of ancient civilizationsand which were generally influenced by religion, mysticism, mythology or magic.
In practical terms, it is considered that modern science was born together with the scientific method during the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, so that all scientific history prior to that moment can be considered ancient.
All ancient cultures had this impulse to some extent, from the Egyptians and Babylonians to Hellenic Greece and the later Roman Empire. But the first attempts to establish a systematic knowledge of the world come from the philosophers of classical antiquity, who made the first attempt to replace mythical knowledge with rational knowledge.
Nevertheless, there was no scientific field as suchand the first philosophers could deal with mathematics, medicine, biology, physics or astronomy of their time, always hand in hand with their understanding (they were deeply religious cultures) and the observations they made and recorded of the world. around.
Among these ancient philosophers highlights the Greek Aristotle of Stagira (384 BC-322 BC)disciple of Plato, whose logical and rational postulates regarding very diverse aspects of the abstract, cultural and natural world remained in force for centuries, practically until the arrival of modern science.
The method proposed by Aristotle consisted of observing nature and seeking the answer to three fundamental questions:
- What it is (its formal and material essence or cause)
- What is it for (final cause)
- Why is it (efficient cause)
Aristotle's demonstrations were of a deductive type, and in them the formal logic of the arguments and the propositions that the philosopher made were the way to guarantee the truth of the result. This order of reasoning will prevail for many centuries to come.
See also: Science
Features of ancient science
Ancient science can be classified into two historical periods: ancient and medieval.
The first includes philosophical and mystical studies of antiquity and the classical eraspanning from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece and Rome. It is a thought highly influenced by mythology, but not as coercive as Christian thought. Greco-Roman antiquity is considered the basis of all Western culture (including scientific).
The second, however, has to do with the long period of the European Middle Ages, in which Christian religious thought predominated as the matrix of all human formulations and discoveries. Scholasticism is due to her, that is, the doctrine of authority of ancient writingslike the Bible, which was read as a source of objective truths.
To the latter must be added alchemy, coming from Islamic culture, much more advanced than Christian culture in scientific and philosophical matters. From this culture come the current numbers (Arabic) and numerous advances in chemistry and physics that would later be rediscovered in Europe or taken as inspiration for new advances.
Ancient science and modern science
The fundamental differences between ancient science and modern science are:
- Ancient science lacked a method of replicating and verifying theories, since in its formulation it only mattered that they were valid logically, that is, in formal thought. Modern science, on the other hand, is governed by the Scientific Method as an objective and verifiable way of approaching the truth.
- Ancient science showed great reverence for previous texts, especially in medieval times, when contravening biblical designs was grounds for accusations of heresy. Modern science also relies on previous texts and experiments, but it allows for the constant updating and questioning of what is considered true until now.
- Ancient science proposed a finalism, that is, an ulterior purpose in all things, a reason for existing that had to be discovered. Modern science, on the other hand, inherits mechanism from Aristotle, the consideration that the world operates as a machine or a system, without a pre-established purpose.
- While ancient science started from metaphysical assumptions, modern science rejects them outright. In other words, ancient science started from assumptions accepted in advance as true because they explain themselves, such as religious or theological ideas. Modern science, on the other hand, is opposed to forms of metaphysics, since it considers that everything must be able to be explained.
- Finally, while ancient science sought to find the causes of phenomena, modern science pursues the formulation of laws that serve to describe how nature operates in general.
Continue in: Modern science
