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The dominant concept in Aristotle's philosophy of nature is his notion of causation. ...The final cause states that each substance has an inherent purpose. Thus there must be a purpose or design in the acorn such that it always grows into an oak tree. This aspect of existence is indicated by the word entelechy; this means the purpose that guides things to develop in one way rather than another.

— John Freely Before Galileo, The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)

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Philosophy

More quotes by John Freely

The atomic theory was not generally accepted in the time of Democritus, largely because of its deterministic character, for it allows no chance, choice, or free will.

Before Galileo, The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)

Newton's proof of the law of refraction is based on an erroneous notion that light travels faster in glass than in air, the same error that Descartes had made. This error stems from the fact that both of them thought that light was corpuscular in nature.

Before Galileo, The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)

Although many historians of the new millennium now take issue with the notion of a Scientific Revolution, it is generally agreed that Newton's work culminated the long development of European science, creating a synthesis that opened the way for the scientific culture of the modern age.

Before Galileo, The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)

Empedocles tried to address the problem of change by saying that there is not one fundamental arche but four—earth, water, air, and fire—which generate all the material substances in nature by mixing together in various ways under the influence of forces he called Love and Strife.

Before Galileo, The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)

Parmenides believed that all Being is what he called the One, and denied absolutely the possibility of change. He believed that the cosmos is full (i.e., no void), uncreated, eternal, indestructible, unchangeable, immobile sphere of being, and all sensory evidence to the contrary is illusory. One Parmenidean fragment stated, "Either a thing is or it is not," meaning that creation and destruction is impossible.

Before Galileo, The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)

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The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.

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In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended.

John C. Lilly The Human Biocomputer (1974)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Freely (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.