Crónicas de um mestrando tardio

Das perguntas abaixo sairão 3 para o teste de 4ªfeira. Conto com a possibilidade de consulta e com uma caligrafia que é indecifrável para me safar com uma honra que respeite os mínimos…

JdB

Chaos and Order                         Midterm Exam Questions                      Fall 2013

1.     It is often said that during the medieval period, natural philosophy was a synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy and Christian theology. Is this a reasonable assessment in your opinion? Give an example of how Aquinas adapts Aristotle’s physics to the Christian view? How is this synthesis reflected in Dante’s Divine Comedy?

2.     The logical positivist Rudolf Carnap and his contemporary, Karl Popper, were two of the great philosophers of science in the 20^th century. Briefly discuss to what extent their ideas agreed and disagreed in terms of scientific methodology, relation between appearance and reality, and the roles of logic and empirical observation in science.

3.     In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn discusses how changes in world-views and methods (“paradigm shifts”) typically play out (described nicely in the Godfrey-Smith reading). Briefly analyze the transition from the medieval world-view to the modern (i.e. heliocentric) view in light of Kuhn’s ideas. In what ways do you think the geocentric to heliocentric transition that takes place in the 16^th and  17^th centuries agrees/disagrees with Kuhn’s ideas about how science progresses?

4.     What is meant by the term “Clockwork Universe”? In what ways is this world-view reflected in the ideas of Newton, Descartes, and Boyle regarding space, time, and motion? Are there points on which these three writers differ?

5.     Briefly contrast the Aristotelian, Galilean, and Newtonian views of motion. What roles do concepts such as impetus, force, essence, and mass play in the evolution from the ancient to modern view?  What are some of the metaphysical changes in world-view brought about by this transition?

6.     Briefly describe at least two epistemological changes during the period spanning the mid-16^th to late-17^th centuries. How did the methods of science change during this period?  How did this transition from the late medieval period to the dawn of the modern era change Humanity’s conception of God?