Natural Philosophy Research Articles

Constitutional Values And Judges Morals In The Decision of The Constitutional Court Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023: Review of The Flow of Natural Law

The decision of the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court stated that the Constitutional Court judges who examined case Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023 were proven to have violated the right to refuse. The right to refuse is part of the independent and impartial principle of the Constitutional Court. There has been a conflict of interest between the norms being tested and the Constitutional Court judges. Conflicts of interest are constitutional and moral violations. What are the juridical consequences of Constitutional Court Decision Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023 which violates the constitution and morals from the perspective of natural law philosophy? This research uses a normative juridical research method with a conceptual approach, a statutory approachs and a case approach. The results of the discussion have found that in the MKMK decision that the judge consciously and deliberately ignored constitutional principles regarding the right to refuse in Law Number 48 of 2009 concerning Judicial Power. Overruling the right to refuse is tantamount to overruling constitutional principles. Judges place constitutional values in practice as semantic values. Apart from that, there was a moral violation which was assessed by the lack of awareness not to review case Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023 due to a conflict of interest. Awareness comes from conscience and is closely related to integrity, independence and impartiality. The integrity of judges as enforcers and guardians of the constitution is at stake. Moral and legal principles in the constitution are two things that go hand in hand in natural law philosophy.

Untangling Robert Grosseteste’s hylomorphism: matter, form, and bodiness

ABSTRACT During the thirteenth century, Aristotelian hylomorphism became the cornerstone of scholastic natural philosophy. However, this theory was fragmented into a plurality of interpretations and reformulations, sparking a rich philosophical debate. This article focuses on Robert Grosseteste (d. 1253), one of the earliest Latin philosophers to directly engage with Aristotle’s natural philosophy. Specifically, it delves into Grosseteste’s perspective on hylomorphism, emphasizing two controversial doctrines that characterized British scholasticism in the late thirteenth century: universal hylomorphism and formal pluralism. The former claims that all substances, whether bodily or spiritual, are hylomorphic compounds, that is, they are made of matter and form. Formal pluralism, in turn, maintains that hylomorphic substances possess more than one substantial form simultaneously. After a brief introduction, the paper proceeds, first, to examine the type of hylomorphism endorsed by Grosseteste, shedding light on an obscure passage that seems to suggest universal hylomorphism. Second, the examination expands on Grosseteste’s theory of bodily form and emphasizes the apparent contradiction of this theory with universal hylomorphism. The discussion then turns to Grosseteste’s endorsement of formal pluralism and the functionality he envisioned being expressed by the bodily form. Finally, the paper draws conclusions about Grosseteste’s revised hylomorphic account.

Mach, Russell, and Scientific Philosophizing: Re-visiting the Realistic Empiricism of Evolutionary Culture

Ernst Mach’s and Bertrand Russell’s philosophical outlooks contributed to shaping the philosophy of science of the 20th century. Mach is a philosophical interpreter of science, a positivist, and a historian, considering the general principles of science as condensed economic descriptions of observed facts. Russell held a view of the nature and relation of philosophy to science and to logic that can be described as essentially consistent. In this article, the aim is to explore how both Mach and Russell defended the classical version of “Neutral Monism”. Since it was developed as a reaction to the mechanical philosophy of nature, Neural Monism also emerged along with scientific psychology in the late 19th century.  The attempt in this article is to examine their versions of neutral monism and emphasize their differences and convergences.

Peiresc, Riolan, and the Library as a Site of Humanist Science

Abstract Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580–1637), the “prince of the Republic of Letters,” and Jean Riolan the younger (1580–1657), the “prince of anatomists,” would seem to have little in common apart from the coincidence of their birth years. It is not clear that they knew each other, although they had many common acquaintances, including Gabriel Naudé, and both engaged in knowledge practices based on both texts and objects. Both were antiquarians with a deep knowledge of classical antiquity, and both were great collectors of books. In the case of the identity of the fossil bones of the supposed ancient king Theutobochus, the responses of Riolan and Peiresc reveal a common devotion to library-based humanist science while they simultaneously evaluated material evidence. These libraries were not passive repositories but dynamic sites of knowledge creation where natural philosophy and humanist scholarship mutually informed each other.

Contemporary Natural Philosophy and Philosophies—Part 3

In 2018, we initiated a series of three Special Issues dedicated to contemporary natural philosophy in the spirit of the goals of the journal Philosophies (See Appendix A and Appendix B) [...]

John Finnis and the central case constitution

This article formulates a novel conception of constitutions based on John Finnis’s jurisprudential work. The ‘central case constitution’ transcends the formal or functionalist analyses currently dominant in constitutional theory by considering a constitution as having a ‘double life’. Constitutions are necessarily and intrinsically normative and factual. The article explores Finnis’s natural law philosophy, emphasizing the central case constitution’s alignment with the practical reasonableness viewpoint and its role in directing a political community towards its common good. Focusing on key elements such as the rule of law and the context of a political community, the central case constitution emerges as a legal determination that structures society, frames political institutions and authoritatively directs communities towards justice. This ontological understanding has theoretical and practical implications, including identifying genuine constitutional purposes, safeguarding private associations from the overwhelming state presence, promoting community identity and accommodating diverse constitutional choices for self-determination.

Existence Within and Beyond the Bounds of Mere Reason: The Confrontation Between Schelling and Hegel

In the multi-faceted trajectory of post-Kantian thought, Schelling—both the person and his philosophy—has always been a controversial figure. Popular historical accounts focus on his precocious interventions as part of the ‘Jena set’, initially building on Fichte's philosophy of the ‘I’, but quickly coming to challenge his predecessor's philosophical dominance. In the crucial period of the late 1790s, Schelling's most notable intervention was to develop a philosophy of nature alongside the Kantian and Fichtean theories of transcendental subjectivity, which caught the attention of Goethe and led to his appointment, at the age of twenty-three, as professor of philosophy at the University of Jena. But Schelling's life and philosophical work continued well beyond this well-documented period, culminating in a late system in which he developed key ideas surrounding freedom, existence, modality and the history of human consciousness that all revolved around a distinction between what he called negative and positive philosophy. This distinction, and his insistence on the need for the development of the latter mode of philosophy, came to challenge some of the core assumptions of the largely rationalist German idealist project and it remains, to this day, perhaps the most powerful alternative to the Hegelian system that rose to dominance already within Schelling's own lifetime, but also well beyond it.

A Very “Distilled” Emblem in Baroque Rome: Natural Philosophy, Alchemy, and Atomism in the Academy of the Umoristi

Created and published in a printed volume in 1611, the emblem chosen by the literary Academy of the Umoristi is intriguing at multiple levels. At a time when the water cycle was still unknown, the image engaged the thorny question of how the evaporation of salty seawater, condensed into clouds, could subsequently pour down as sweet rain. Additionally, the Lucretian motto “Redit agmine dulci” audaciously evoked the philosophy of atoms. The combination of the image and the motto suggested looking at the meteorological phenomenon on display as a sort of natural distillation process, not different from the circulations taking place in the alembic. This enquiry will document how the Academy of the Umoristi was influenced in the choice of its emblem by the scientific Academy of the Lincei and how, towards the end of the seventeenth century, under the patronage of Christina of Sweden, the interconnection of alchemy and atomism alluded to in the academic emblem was reclaimed as a distinctive philosophical banner.

Konference Faces of Nature in Contemporary Phenomenology: Challenges of Ecological Ethics and Philosophy of Nature

Conference report

Puritanism and Natural Philosophy revisited: the case of Ralph Austen (c. 1612–1676)

ABSTRACT Twentieth-century historians of science emphasised the apparent connection between puritanism and experimental natural philosophy in mid-seventeenth-century England, but revisionist scholarship exposed the incorrect religious taxonomies undergirding this thesis. As both a staunch puritan and a well-connected figure in scientific networks, Ralph Austen provides an opportunity to re-examine the thesis. A horticulturalist, cider manufacturer and lay theologian based in Oxford from 1646 until his death in 1676, Austen was a friend and collaborator of Samuel Hartlib and Robert Boyle. He was also a pious puritan, steeped in Reformed divinity, and friends with premier Interregnum puritans, including John Owen. Austen’s life and career demonstrate that Baconian aims to reform learning could happily go hand-in-hand with, and be inspired by, puritan ideals, though they hampered his reputation in post-Restoration natural-philosophical circles. At the same time, via Austen we learn that puritan theologians responded positively to Baconian ideas, something hitherto underrepresented in the literature.

The two lights of Paracelsus: natural philosophy meets theology

ABSTRACT The Swiss natural philosopher, physician, and radical reformer Theophrastus of Hohenheim (1493–1541), known as Paracelsus, endeavoured to reconcile his various perspectives in his extensive biblical exegeses. Symbolizing this effort were the two lights of nature and the Holy Spirit, which, on one hand, explored worldly and mortal aspects of nature and, on the other hand, led to eternal life. In response to the prevailing dispute between Luther and Zwingli over the interpretation of the Eucharist, Paracelsus developed his own viewpoint, introducing the concept of the new human with a renewed corporeal body. His comprehensive interpretations of the Gospel of Matthew not only addressed theology but also engaged with the perspectives of a natural philosopher, physician, and advocate of natural magic.

Adopting, implementing and assimilating coproduced health and social care innovations involving structurally vulnerable populations: findings from a longitudinal, multiple case study design in Canada, Scotland and Sweden

BackgroundInnovations in coproduction are shaping public service reform in diverse contexts around the world. Although many innovations are local, others have expanded and evolved over time. We know very little, however, about the process of implementation and evolution of coproduction. The purpose of this study was to explore the adoption, implementation and assimilation of three approaches to the coproduction of public services with structurally vulnerable groups.MethodsWe conducted a 4 year longitudinal multiple case study (2019–2023) of three coproduced public service innovations involving vulnerable populations: ESTHER in Jönköping Region, Sweden involving people with multiple complex needs (Case 1); Making Recovery Real in Dundee, Scotland with people who have serious mental illness (Case 2); and Learning Centres in Manitoba, Canada (Case 3), also involving people with serious mental illness. Data sources included 14 interviews with strategic decision-makers and a document analysis to understand the history and contextual factors relating to each case. Three frameworks informed the case study protocol, semi-structured interview guides, data extraction, deductive coding and analysis: the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, the Diffusion of Innovation model and Lozeau’s Compatibility Gaps to understand assimilation.ResultsThe adoption of coproduction involving structurally vulnerable populations was a notable evolution of existing improvement efforts in Cases 1 and 3, while impetus by an external change agency, existing collaborative efforts among community organizations, and the opportunity to inform a new municipal mental health policy sparked adoption in Case 2. In all cases, coproduced innovation centred around a central philosophy that valued lived experience on an equal basis with professional knowledge in coproduction processes. This philosophical orientation offered flexibility and adaptability to local contexts, thereby facilitating implementation when compared with more defined programming. According to the informants, efforts to avoid co-optation risks were successful, resulting in the assimilation of new mindsets and coproduction processes, with examples of how this had led to transformative change.ConclusionsIn exploring innovations in coproduction with structurally vulnerable groups, our findings suggest several additional considerations when applying existing theoretical frameworks. These include the philosophical nature of the innovation, the need to study the evolution of the innovation itself as it emerges over time, greater attention to partnered processes as disruptors to existing power structures and an emphasis on driving transformational change in organizational cultures.

Ibn Khaldūn's Method of History and Aristotelian Natural Philosophy

abstract: The historian Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406) is most often treated by historians of philosophy as part of the story of political philosophy in the Islamic world. While this is perfectly legitimate, it may be misleading when it comes to the question of the method he proposes for the historian. This paper argues that that method is in fact based on a different branch of (Aristotelian) science: natural philosophy. After rendering this proposition initially plausible by noting frequent references to "nature" in the Muqaddima , the paper discusses a number of parallels between natural philosophy and history as Ibn Khaldūn conceives it. Ultimately it is suggested that this method is legitimated insofar as history is for Ibn Khaldūn a study of human nature.

Living in Illusion is Dangerous

Abstract The interview given by Marina F. Bykova, Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University (USA), and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Studies in East European Thought. She earned her PhD and Dr. Habil in Philosophy from the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia), where she worked until relocating to the USA in 2000. Bykova specializes in the history of nineteenth century continental philosophy, with a particular focus on German idealism. She has also written extensively on Russian philosophy and intellectual tradition. She has published 11 books and over 250 scholarly articles. Her forthcoming book, Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature: A Critical Guide, is set to be released by Cambridge University Press in 2024.

Beyond Descartes: Noël Regnault and Eighteenth-Century French Cartesianism

Abstract This paper proposes new ways of characterizing eighteenth-century French Cartesianism. Besides two widely-accepted elements—the belief in “strict mechanism” and the idea that to demonstrate in physics does not involve mathematics, but reference to mechanical models—I add two more, hitherto neglected, features. First, a strong emphasis on experimentalism, namely the view that experiments are crucial to natural-philosophical practice. Second, an epistemological thesis that I call “conjecturalism,” which consists in doubting that natural philosophy would attain an ultimate truth on the nature of things. To explore these facets of Cartesianism, I focus on the works of the Jesuit Noël Regnault.

Hume’s Natural Philosophy and Philosophy of Physical Science by Matias Slavov (review)

Hume’s Natural Philosophy and Philosophy of Physical Science by Matias Slavov (review)

Meaning, Scope and Nature of Philosophy

Meaning, Scope and Nature of Philosophy

Rousseau's Natural Education Thought and Its Practical Significance Are Revealed -- Take Emile as an Example

Rousseau's birth of natural education was a landmark event in the birth of modern education. Rousseau's natural education believed that attention should be paid to the natural changes in students' physiology and psychology, in accordance with their nature. This educational ideology has had a huge impact on the history of world education, influencing the emergence and development of a series of educational ideas by educators. It still has certain significance and value in the current era of education system reform. Rousseau's natural education philosophy advocates blaming nature, cultivating natural individuals, and respecting individual natural instincts, which has had a profound impact on the development history of Western society. This article combines Rousseau's work "Emile" to deeply analyze the connotation and characteristics of his natural education thought, interpret Rousseau's natural education thought, and elaborate on the practical significance of Rousseau's natural education thought to contemporary education from the aspects of respecting and adapting to students' natural nature, respecting and highlighting students' subjectivity, respecting and paying attention to students' individual differences, and paying attention to and promoting students' comprehensive development. The aim is to provide important reference and inspiration for the development of education and the development of education at all stages.

Purpose in Life: a Comparison between Communities of the Non-religious and the Religious

Abstract Research has demonstrated that people of faith often report higher levels of purpose in life than the general population. It has been suggested this may be because they hold a meaningful world view rather than as a consequence of faith. It can be argued that humanists, like people of faith, also hold a meaningful world view, albeit one that is based upon a philosophy of naturalism. This article compares a sample of 1,042 members of Humanists UK with population norms, and a sample of religious groups, using the Purpose in Life Test to assess their reported levels of purpose in life. The data demonstrate that humanists record higher levels of purpose in life than the general population.

How ancient wisdom shaped the development of modern science

How ancient wisdom shaped the development of modern science VERITRACE will enhance our understanding of the role of ancient wisdom writings in the development of early modern natural philosophy by employing state-of-the-art digital techniques on a large corpus of early modern texts. The project charts the spread of this discourse from Renaissance Italy to early modern Europe and identifies watershed moments in the reception of these ancient wisdom writings.