On Knowing--The Natural Sciences

by Richard P. McKeon, David B. Owen, Zahava K. McKeon

Overview

Well before the current age of discourse, deconstruction, and multiculturalism, Richard McKeon propounded a philosophy of pluralism showing how "facts" and "values" are dependent on diverse ways of reading texts. This book is a transcription of an entire course, including both lectures and student discussions, taught by McKeon. As such, it provides an exciting introduction to McKeon's conception of pluralism, a central aspect of neo-Pragmatism, while demonstrating how pluralism works in a classroom setting.

In his lectures, McKeon outlines the entire history of Western thinking on the sciences. Treating the central concepts of motion, space, time, and cause, he traces modern intellectual debates back to the ancient Greeks, notably Plato, Aristotle, Democritus, and the Sophists. As he brings the story of Western science up to the twentieth century, he uses his fabled semantic schema (reproduced here for the first time) to uncover new ideas and observations about cosmology, mechanics, dynamics, and other aspects of physical science.

Illustrating the broad historical sweep of the lectures are a series of discussions which give detail to the course's intellectual framework. These discussions of Plato, Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, and Maxwell are perhaps the first published rendition of a philosopher in literal dialogue with his students. Led by McKeon's pointed questioning, the discussions reveal the difficulties and possibilities of learning to engage in serious intellectual communication.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226560274
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	01/15/1994
Series:	Historical Studies of Urban America (Paperback)
Edition description:	1
Pages:	420
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Richard McKeon (1900–85) was the Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Chicago.


David B. Owen is professor emeritus of education at Iowa State University.


David B. Owen is professor emeritus of education at Iowa State University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Foreword
1: An Introduction to Philosophic Problems
2: Philosophic Problems in the Natural Sciences
3: Motion: Method
4: Motion: Method (Part 2) and Principle
5: Motion: Interpretation
6: Motion: Selection
7: Motion: Selection (Part 2)
8: Space: Time: Method, Interpretation, and Principle
9: Time: Method, Interpretation, and Principle
10: Summary: Interpretation, Method, and Principle
Appendix A: Class Schedule
Appendix B: Selected Lecture Notes on Necessity, Probability, and Nature
Appendix C: Selected Lecture Notes on Democritus and the Sophists
Appendix D: Selected Lecture Notes on Cause
Appendix E: Complete Lecture Notes for Lecture 10
Appendix F: Discussion Notes For Einstein
Appendix G: Final Examinations
Appendix H: Schema of Philosophic Semantics
Notes
Index