THE ORIGIN OF

NATURAL
PHILOSPHY
ARNULFO VILLASFER SANTIAGO, JR.
MAEd in GEN. SCIENCE

The more I study

science, the more I
believe in God.
Albert Einstein

NATURAL PHILOSPHY/
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE
Philosophicalstudy

ofnatureand the
physicaluniversethat was
dominant before the
development ofmodern
science.
It is considered to be the
precursor ofnatural
sciencessuch asPhysics.

Some

examples of the
application of the term Natural
Philosophy" to what we today
would call Natural science"
areIsaac Newton's 1687
scientific treatise, which is known
asThe Mathematical
Principles of Natural
Philosophy
Lord Kelvinand Peter
Guthrie Tait's 1867 treatise

Origin and Evolution of the Term

The

termnatural
philosophypreceded our
currentnatural science(from
the Latin,scientia, meaning
"knowledge") when the subject of
that knowledge or study is "the
works of nature".
Natural philosophy pertains to
the work of analysis and

In

the 16th
century,Jacop
o
Zabarellawas
the first person
appointed as a
professor of
Natural
Philosophy -- at

In

the 14th and 15th

centuries,natural
philosophyreferred to what
is nowphysical science.
From the mid-19th
century, when it became
increasingly unusual for
scientists to contribute to
bothphysicsandchemistry.

Natural

philosophy was
distinguished from the other
precursor of modern
science,natural history, in
that the former involved
reasoning and explanations
about nature (and
afterGalileo,quantitativerea
soning), whereas the latter

Scope of natural
philosophy

InPlato'searliest

known
dialogue,Charmidesdistinguishes
betweenscienceor bodies of
knowledge that produce a physical
result, and those that do not.
Natural philosophy has been
categorized as a theoretical rather
than a practical branch of philosophy
(like ethics). Sciences that guide arts
and draw on the philosophical

The

study of natural philosophy

seeks to explore the cosmos by any
means necessary to understand the
universe. Some ideas presupposes
that change is a reality.
Although this may seem obvious,
there have been some philosophers
who have denied the concept of
metamorphosis, such as Plato's
predecessorParmenidesand later
Greek philosopherSextus

Branches and subject

matter of Natural
Branches Philosophy
areastronomyandcosmology,
the study of nature on the grand
scale;etiology, the study of
(intrinsic and sometimes
extrinsic)causes; the study
ofchance, probability and
randomness; the study

the

study ofmatter;mechanics,
the study of translation of
motion and change; the study of
natureor the various sources of
actions; the study of
naturalqualities; the study of
physicalquantities; the study of
relations between physical
entities; and thephilosophy of
space and time.