History of Science & Knowledge
Ptolemy's Philosophy: Mathematics as a Way of Life
Hardcover
Paperback
- Price:
- $33.00/拢28.00
- ISBN:
- Published (US):
- Oct 13, 2020
- Published (UK):
- Nov 3, 2020
- Pages:
- 256
- Size:
- 6.13 x 9.25 in.
- 8 b/w illus.
- Main_subject:
- History of Science & Knowledge
ebook
The Greco-Roman mathematician Claudius Ptolemy is one of the most significant figures in the history of science. He is remembered today for his astronomy, but his philosophy is almost entirely lost to history. This groundbreaking book is the first to reconstruct Ptolemy鈥檚 general philosophical system鈥攊ncluding his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics鈥攁nd to explore its relationship to astronomy, harmonics, element theory, astrology, cosmology, psychology, and theology.
In this stimulating intellectual history, Jacqueline Feke uncovers references to a complex and sophisticated philosophical agenda scattered among Ptolemy鈥檚 technical studies in the physical and mathematical sciences. She shows how he developed a philosophy that was radical and even subversive, appropriating ideas and turning them against the very philosophers from whom he drew influence. Feke reveals how Ptolemy鈥檚 unique system is at once a critique of prevailing philosophical trends and a conception of the world in which mathematics reigns supreme.
A compelling work of scholarship, Ptolemy鈥檚 Philosophy demonstrates how Ptolemy situated mathematics at the very foundation of all philosophy鈥攖heoretical and practical鈥攁nd advanced the mathematical way of life as the true path to human perfection.
Awards and Recognition
- Shortlisted for the Pickstone Prize, British Society for the History of Science