Abstract
The history of science may be usefully divided into two phases, classical and modern. The modernization of natural science is accurately gauged by the progressive elimination of anthropocentric concepts from scientific thinking. Indeed, many historians and philosophers of science place the origin of modern science in Copernicus’s astronomical scheme, which eliminated the ultimate example of literal classic anthropocentrism from the science of astronomy. It is somehow ironically fitting that it is this very same science, astronomy, which today proposes that a contemporary version of anthropocentric thinking might provide a valuable tool for a new understanding of the natural world.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Barnes, J., Schofield, M., and Sorabji, R. (eds.): (1975), Articles on Aristotle: 1. Science, Duckworth, London.
Butts, R. and Hintikka, J. (eds.): (1977), Foundational Problems in the Special Sciences, D. Reidel, Dordrecht, Holland.
Collins, C. and Hawking, S.: (1973), ‘Why Is the Universe Isotropic?’, Astrophysical Journal 180, pp. 317–334.
Demaret, J. and Barbier, C.: (1981), ‘Le Principe Anthropique en Cosmologie (Deuxième Partie)’, Revue des Questions Scientifiques 152, no. 4, pp. 461–509.
DeWitt, B. and Graham, R. (eds.): (1973), The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Dicke, R.: (1961), ‘Dirac, Cosmology, and Mach’s Principle’, Nature 192, pp. 440–441.
Gale, G.: (1981), ‘The Anthropic Principle,’ Scientific American 245, no. 6, pp. 154–171.
Grene, M.: (1963), A Portrait of Aristotle, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Leslie, J.: (1982), ‘Anthropic Principle, World Ensemble, Design’, American Philosophical Quarterly 19, no. 2, pp. 141–152.
Ross, D.: (1964), Aristotle, Barnes and Noble, New York.
Wheeler, J.: (1977), ‘Genesis of Observership’, in Butts and Hintikka, 1975, pp. 3–33.
Wieland, W.: (1975), ‘The Problem of Teleology’, in Barnes, Schofield, and Sorabji, 1975, pp. 141–160.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 D. Raidel Publishing Company
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gale, G. (1986). Anthropocentrism Reconsidered. In: Donagan, A., Perovich, A.N., Wedin, M.V. (eds) Human Nature and Natural Knowledge. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 89. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5349-9_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5349-9_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8859-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-5349-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive