Diederick Raven
Utrecht University, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- Anthropology, Cultural History, Medieval History, History of Science, Zilsel's war time essays, Needham Question, and 10 moreNeedham Question: Between Mathematics and Sociology, ZIlsel thesis, Enculturation of Logical Practice, Environmental Sustainability, Art History, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, History of Philosophy, and History of Ideasedit
- Like so many people working in STS I am an intellectual nomad with a first degree in (the history of) mathematics and... moreLike so many people working in STS I am an intellectual nomad with a first degree in (the history of) mathematics and a second one in philosophy and a doctorate in the social sciences and a teaching career in anthropology, especially the anthropology of globalisation. But my main interest is the comparative study of knowledge practices. I am trying to answer that famous old Needham question from an anthropological perspective starting with a radical new reading of the Zilsel thesis.edit
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Copernicus overthrew the medieval conception of the solar system by starting from the scanty reports on heliocentric theories in antiquity, by specifying the implications of these geometrically in every detail, and by thus furnishing the... more
Copernicus overthrew the medieval conception of the solar system by starting from the scanty reports on heliocentric theories in antiquity, by specifying the implications of these geometrically in every detail, and by thus furnishing the exact foundations for ephemerides that far surpassed the exactness of the older tables of planetary movements based on the theory of Ptolemy. ‘ His outstanding contribution to astronomy was a mathematico-geometrical one. It is, however, sometimes not sufficiently noticed how far removed Copernicus still is from modern physical and especially mechanical thinking. A few remarks on this point, therefore, may be useful. They refer to the first book of De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (1543), in which Copernicus explains the basic ideas of his theory and where, consequently, Pythagorean and Scholastic ideas predominate. Ancient and medieval philosophic ideas recede into the background in the following five books (II–VI) in which the mathematical details are explained.
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The question as to the existence of laws in history has frequently been discussed. A new discussion may yet be useful, since some misconceptions based on incorrect comparisons with the natural sciences have been brought forward by both... more
The question as to the existence of laws in history has frequently been discussed. A new discussion may yet be useful, since some misconceptions based on incorrect comparisons with the natural sciences have been brought forward by both advocates and opponents of historical laws. We shall try to clarify the problem by applying a few ideas familiar to physicists and astronomers to the conditions peculiar to history. Physics is the most mature of all empirical sciences as to method. In physics the law-concept has been used for three hundred years. It may be assumed, therefore, that most of the difficulties in its application to other fields have their physical counterpart and can be clarified most easily with the help of physical concepts. A few preliminary examples of historical laws will be given towards the end of the article.
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When phenomenology was introduced as a new science by Husserl its methods were applied first to objects of logic. Later phenomenological investigation expanded gradually to the fields of psychology, ethics, esthetics, and sociology... more
When phenomenology was introduced as a new science by Husserl its methods were applied first to objects of logic. Later phenomenological investigation expanded gradually to the fields of psychology, ethics, esthetics, and sociology (Scheler, Pfander, Hildebrand, a.o.). More rarely, objects of the natural sciences have been treated phenomenologically. Scattered indications of this kind are to be found in authors who do not belong to the most intimate circle of Husserl’s school (Helmut Plessner, Kurt Goldstein, Walter Frost, E. Buenning). Extensively, however, the phenomenological method has been applied to objects of the natural sciences once only, namely by Hedwig Conrad-Martius, a favourite pupil of Husserl’s, in her Realontologie (Ontology of Reality) and Farben (Colors). Yet this less known branch of phenomenology is particularly interesting. Husserl stressed the basic difference between phenomenological ideation (Wesensschau) on the one hand and psychological introspection and description of the immediate data of awareness on the other. The peculiarity and scientific productivity of phenomenological method, therefore, can be studied best in a field which is as far removed from psychology as possible. We shall try to analyze the papers of Conrad-Martius more fully and shall refer to other authors occasionally as illustrations.
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William Gilbert’s De Magnete appeared in 1600, six years before Galileo’s first publication, five years before Bacon’s Advancement of Learning; it is the first printed book, written by an academically trained scholar and dealing with a... more
William Gilbert’s De Magnete appeared in 1600, six years before Galileo’s first publication, five years before Bacon’s Advancement of Learning; it is the first printed book, written by an academically trained scholar and dealing with a topic of natural science, which is based almost entirely on actual observation and experiment. In the learned literature of the period, among the writing of both contemporary university-scholars and the humanistic literacy, it is an isolated case. An analysis of the origins of its scientific method, therefore, is not only interesting in itself but is likely to throw some light on the origins of modern natural science in general. The results of Gilbert’s investigation of magnetism and electricity being generally known, we shall consider first a few characteristics of his method and shall then try to trace its sources. Unfortunately very little is known of Gilbert’s life and nothing at all of his way of working. The investigation, therefore, must be based entirely on his two printed books.
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Modern science is accustomed to decide all questions about reality by experience and experiment. This remarkable attitude is not at all self-evident. It is rather a late achievement in the history of mankind, and its import cannot be... more
Modern science is accustomed to decide all questions about reality by experience and experiment. This remarkable attitude is not at all self-evident. It is rather a late achievement in the history of mankind, and its import cannot be fully understood as long as that fact is not realized. We shall start our exposition, therefore, with a retrospective view of the rise of empirical thinking and the experimental method. Though at the beginning of the modern era empirical research proceeded from certain empirical achievements of antiquity, classical empiricism can be omitted in this brief survey. In antiquity the empirical sciences were considerably surpassed in intellectual influence by metaphysics and rhetoric, and empiricists always were but a small minority among ancient philosophers and scientists. It will be sufficient, therefore, to begin with the Middle Ages.
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Science appears, fully developed, only in Western civilization and the modern era. It is best understood if it is compared with other creations of the human mind playing analogous roles in other cultures: with the magic of the primitives,... more
Science appears, fully developed, only in Western civilization and the modern era. It is best understood if it is compared with other creations of the human mind playing analogous roles in other cultures: with the magic of the primitives, the theology of certain oriental cultures and that of the Arabic and Christian Middle Ages, the combination of metaphysics and rhetoric characteristic of education in classical antiquity, and the humanism of the Renaissance and classical China. Science shows certain differences from and certain conformities with each of them. It deals with worldly subject matters; so do magic, humanism, and classical philosophy. In contrast to magic, theology, and humanism it is not bound to authority; only classical philosophy was to a similar extent founded on individual thinking. In contrast to magic, science proceeds rationally — like the rest of its kin. But the rationality of science essentially differs from the rational methods of the classical philosophers and, particularly, the scholastics and humanists. Only science rationally investigates recurrent associations of phenomena, called “laws”, and has developed quantitative methods. And only science uses experimentation and systematically checks its findings with experience. All of these characteristics of science have been discussed in other places. Here the genesis of another trait, not less characteristic of science, is to be analyzed.
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In his review of my article “Phenomenology and Natural Science” Mr. Walter Cerf does not represent the contents of the article quite correctly. My analysis had not arbitrarily picked out some phenomenological paper, especially exposed to... more
In his review of my article “Phenomenology and Natural Science” Mr. Walter Cerf does not represent the contents of the article quite correctly. My analysis had not arbitrarily picked out some phenomenological paper, especially exposed to criticism, and endeavored by “ridiculing” it to deal “a deadly stroke” to the “entire life work of Husserl”. The article had rather carefully distinguished applications of the phenomenological method to problems of logic, of psychology and sociology, and of the natural sciences. It had expressly restricted itself to analysis of this last “less known branch of phenomenology”. (Methodological objections to the other branches were indicated in the last eight lines only). It had selected the Realontologie of Hedwig Conrad-Martius as an instance because this paper is the only one in the Jahrbuch that deals with physical facts, although similar expositions are not rare in phenomenologically influenced contemporary philosophical literature. Mr. Cerf rejects Miss Conrad-Martius’ “unfortunate” paper as “romantic revelries”. For the methodological reasons pointed out in my analysis I agree with his judgment and assume it will contribute to purifications of the phenomenological method and of philosophical method in general. Before Mr. Cerf—s admission, however, the Realontologie had not been adversely criticized in the numerous articles of the Jahrbuch on phenomenological methodology. On the contrary it had been at length and rather enthusiastically reviewed by a phenomenologically influenced philosopher in the official journal of the “Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher and Arzte”, (Naturwissenschaften, vol. XIV, 1926, pp. 947 f.).
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The first representatives of worldly learning in the modern era were the Italian humanists. Humanism is older than modern science. Though they conform in some respects - both humanism and science deal with worldly subject matters and... more
The first representatives of worldly learning in the modern era were the Italian humanists. Humanism is older than modern science. Though they conform in some respects - both humanism and science deal with worldly subject matters and proceed rationally - the two intellectual attitudes differ hardly less from one another than science and scholasticism. Just because of this contrast an analysis of humanism can shed light on the characteristics of the scientific spirit. As the methods of the scholastics are understood best through the study of their professional tasks, so the sociological analysis of humanism must start with the occupations and professional aims of its representatives.
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Research Interests: Cognition and Relativism
In 1939 Koyre introduced the notion of the scientific revolution (SR) as a catch phrase that deals with the “[…] profonde transformation intellectuelle dont la physique modern […]” (Koyre 1939, p. 12; 1943b, p. 400) that he alleged... more
In 1939 Koyre introduced the notion of the scientific revolution (SR) as a catch phrase that deals with the “[…] profonde transformation intellectuelle dont la physique modern […]” (Koyre 1939, p. 12; 1943b, p. 400) that he alleged happened at the time of Galileo. For Koyre these changes are due to “pure unadulterated thought” because, as expressed in his 1943 critique of the Olschki–Zilsel position, science “is made not by engineers or craftsmen, but by men who seldom built or made anything more real than theory” (Koyre 1943b, p. 401). We now know Galileo did quite a lot of experimentation; hence, this statement by Koyre is no longer acceptable. In this paper, I will assess the Koyre argument against the Olschki–Zilsel position. Central to my argument is that only by applying a comparative framework, such as developed in my forthcoming book The European Roots of Science, it is possible to throw light on this vexed issue.
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Page 1. antropologie academie ANTROPOLOGISCHE VERGEZICHTEN: MONDIALISERING, ANTROPOLOGISCHE VERGEZICHTEN: MONDIALISERING, MIGRATIE EN MULTICULTURALITEIT MIGRATIE EN MULTICULTURALITEIT ...
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ABSTRACT Poncelet’s “Schließungssatz” hat in den letzten zwei Jahrhunderten etliche Mathematiker beschäftigt. Er besagt: Wenn in der Ebene zwei Kegelschnitte C, D so liegen, daß man zwischen ihnen ein n-seitiges Polygon einzeichnen kann,... more
ABSTRACT Poncelet’s “Schließungssatz” hat in den letzten zwei Jahrhunderten etliche Mathematiker beschäftigt. Er besagt: Wenn in der Ebene zwei Kegelschnitte C, D so liegen, daß man zwischen ihnen ein n-seitiges Polygon einzeichnen kann, dessen Ecken sämtlich zu den Punkten von C und dessen Seiten sämtlich zu den Tangenten an D gehören, so gibt es durch jeden Punkt von C (von trivialen Ausnahmen abgesehen) ein n- seitiges Polygon mit derselben Eigenschaft. Einfachstes Beispiel: das gleichseitige Dreieck zwischen Umkreis C und Inkreis D. Dieser Schließungssatz ist eine Spezialisierung des allgemeineren Satzes: Sind C,D 1 ,D 2 ,···,D n-1 Kegelschnitte eines Büschels Δ und zeichnet man in C ein n-seitiges Polygon ein, dessen Ecken P 0 ,P 1 ,···,P n-1 auf C liegen und dessen Seiten (P i-1 P i ) jeweils den Kegelschnitt D i berühren; läßt man dann P 0 ,P 1 ,···,P n-1 derart auf C wandern, daß die Seiten (P i-1 P i ) die Kegelschnitte D i einhüllen, so ist die Hüllkurve D der Seite (P n-1 P 0 ) ebenfalls ein Kegelschnitt des Büschels Δ. Der Schließungssatz folgt daraus bei Identifikation von D 1 ,···,D n-1 und D. Die Verff. müssen sich angesichts großer Vielfalt einen vollständigen Überblick über die historische Entwicklung von Varianten, Verallgemeinerungen und Beweis-Alternativen versagen. Sie beschränken sich vielmehr auf bestimmte Aspekte dieser Entwicklung und des modernen Verständnisses. Dabei werden eine Reihe von Fragen erörtert, die für moderne Algebraische Geometrie interessant sind. Das gilt insbesondere für die Eigenart der Ponceletschen Beweisführung, die in Gegenüberstellung zum klassischen Beweis Jacobis und zu einem modernen Beweis mit der Theorie der Elliptischen Kurven sorgfältig dargestellt und diskutiert wird. Die umfangreiche Arbeit ist im Text konzentriert und daher nicht schnell zu lesen. Gelegentlich stören Druckfehler.
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De essays in deze bundel zijn gebaseerd op lezingen georganiseerd door het Studium Generale van de Universiteit Utrecht. Schepping, wereldbeeld en levensbeschouwing was het thema van een reeks lezingen gehouden in het voorjaar van 2002... more
De essays in deze bundel zijn gebaseerd op lezingen georganiseerd door het Studium Generale van de Universiteit Utrecht. Schepping, wereldbeeld en levensbeschouwing was het thema van een reeks lezingen gehouden in het voorjaar van 2002 waarin scheppingsverhalen (kosmogonieën), die in alle culturen en in alle tijden voorkomen, centraal staan. Deze verhalen zijn mythen die vaak erg van elkaar verschillen, maar wanneer men verscheidene naast elkaar legt, wordt er een bepaald gemeenschappelijk patroon zichtbaar. Wat de functie is van scheppingsverhalen, zowel op collectief (sociologisch, antropologisch) als individueel (psychologisch) niveau komt in de bijdragen aan de orde. Scheppingsverhalen hangen nauw samen met religies. Hoe is het verband tussen religie (levensbeschouwing) en scheppingsverhalen? Een zelfde scheppingsverhaal (Genesis) komt voor in diverse religies (christendom, islam, jodendom). Er zijn levensbeschouwingen die er verschillende scheppingsverhalen op na houden: veel m...
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Cognitive relativism is the (philosophical) position that claims there are no absolute standards against which knowledge claims can be calibrated. Two key aspects of the relativist position are: (1) epistemological skepticism regarding a... more
Cognitive relativism is the (philosophical) position that claims there are no absolute standards against which knowledge claims can be calibrated. Two key aspects of the relativist position are: (1) epistemological skepticism regarding a realist understanding of knowledge claims, and (2) acceptance that competing theories can be incommensurable. Linguistic monism, a position that holds that the world is constituted in and through discourse, is rejected. Instead a minimalist realist position is proposed that holds that the ‘world out there’ has independent causal effectiveness. Skepticism is maintained about our theories telling the truth about it. The caprice problem is tackled in terms of the political consti- tution of science. Relativism begs the question, relative to what? Are knowledge claims relative to a group of experts or civilization as a whole? Science as reason’s exemplar is a specifically Western institution. The hostility of Islamic tradi- tionalists toward Western rational science is explained in terms of encroachment of the realm of divine authority and usurpation of Allah’s authority. In Islam, any legitimate knowledge endeavor must be premised upon and prefaced by transcendental truths. Hence, unlike the Western tradition, within Islam man’s inherent ratiocinating capacities can never be a legitimate source of knowledge.
In this article we first discuss the early history of Poncelet's closure theorem. We give a modern formulation of the theorem and we compare its modern proof with the proofs given by Poncelet (1822) and Jacobi (1828). We add a number of... more
In this article we first discuss the early history of Poncelet's closure theorem. We give a modern formulation of the theorem and we compare its modern proof with the proofs given by Poncelet (1822) and Jacobi (1828). We add a number of mathematical remarks inspired by the early proofs of the theorem.
In 1939 Koyré introduced the notion of the Scientific Revolution (SR) as a catch phrase that deals with the ‘profonde transformation intellectuelle dont la physique moderne’ (Koyré 1939:12, cf. Koyre 1943b:400) that he alleged happened at... more
In 1939 Koyré introduced the notion of the Scientific Revolution (SR) as a catch phrase that deals with the ‘profonde transformation intellectuelle dont la physique moderne’ (Koyré 1939:12, cf. Koyre 1943b:400) that he alleged happened at the time of Galileo. For Koyré these changes are due to ‘pure unadulterated thought’ because, as expressed it in his 1943 critique of the Olschki-Zilsel position, science ‘is made not by engineers or craftsmen, but by men who seldom built or made anything more real than theory’ (1943b:401). We now know Galileo did quite a lot of experimentation hence this statement by Koyré is no longer acceptable. In this paper I will assess the Koyré argument against the Olschki-Zilsel position. Central to my argument is that only by applying a comparative framework such as developed in my book The Christian Roots of Science (Raven 2015) it is possible is to through light on this vexed issue.
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Download a branded Cambridge Journals Online toolbar (for IE 7 only). What is this? ... Add Cambridge Journals Online as a search option in your browser toolbar. What is this? ... JV FIELD, The Invention of Infinity: Mathematics and Art... more
Download a branded Cambridge Journals Online toolbar (for IE 7 only). What is this? ... Add Cambridge Journals Online as a search option in your browser toolbar. What is this? ... JV FIELD, The Invention of Infinity: Mathematics and Art in the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford ...
Download a branded Cambridge Journals Online toolbar (for IE 7 only). What is this? ... Add Cambridge Journals Online as a search option in your browser toolbar. What is this? ... The east in the west. BY JACK GOODY. Cambridge: Cambridge... more
Download a branded Cambridge Journals Online toolbar (for IE 7 only). What is this? ... Add Cambridge Journals Online as a search option in your browser toolbar. What is this? ... The east in the west. BY JACK GOODY. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1996. 292 ...
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KULeuven. ...
... ISBN 90-351-16941. HFL75. Diederick Raven a1 a1 Utrecht University, ... Diederick Raven (2000) The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 33, Issue 02, June 2000 pp 231-254... more
... ISBN 90-351-16941. HFL75. Diederick Raven a1 a1 Utrecht University, ... Diederick Raven (2000) The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 33, Issue 02, June 2000 pp 231-254 http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0007087499213982. Diederick Raven (2000). ...
Originally my involvement with the stimulating Lampeter Archaeology Workshop paper (hereafter LAW for short) would have been restricted to just another anonymous referee report. However the editors changed their plan and asked me to write... more
Originally my involvement with the stimulating Lampeter Archaeology Workshop paper (hereafter LAW for short) would have been restricted to just another anonymous referee report. However the editors changed their plan and asked me to write a short commentary. ...