Description
Book SynopsisFor years now much attention has been given to the phenomenon of the artificial. Speculation regarding what is real? abounds in the sciences, literature, as well as films and other visual arts. This work presents the first critical, sustained, philosophical study on this topic. Nature and the Artificial: Aristotelian Reflections on the Operative Imperative reveals the inner logic of the artificial by reflecting it off the metaphysical relationship between nature and techne as conceived by Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. During early modernity, figures such as Descartes and Bacon transformed this understanding, giving rise to the notion of the operative imperative. Nature and techne, for the Aristotelian tradition and for us, can only be understood in terms of their dialectical relationship to one another. Aristotle articulates this relationship with the phrase techne imitates nature. With the operative imperative, however, a certain reversal takes place, whereby techne becomes the paradi
Trade ReviewIn his very wide ranging book Englemann offers a new and original understanding of the transition from the sciences of Aristotle to the beginnings of the “new sciences” of the 17th century and traces the rise of the artificial as a preferred model for the explanation of nature. The power of the book lies in the details and insights he offers in his close examination of Aristotelianism, early modern science, and the sciences of the artificial. He begins with theories of causation in the middle ages and ends by considering consciousness in machines. A valuable contribution to both philosophy and the history of ideas. -- John Visvader, College of the Atlantic
Ed Engelmann's book Nature and the Artificial: Aristotelian Reflections on the Operative Imperative, is an erudite and challenging look at the roots of today's operative, and ultimately artificial intelligence. It traces the history of the Aristotelian worldview, and shows that our current paradigm it relation to it as image to original. It will provoke a much-needed reassessment of that tradition. -- Frederick Amrine, University of Michigan
Table of ContentsChapter 1. Second Acts, Expressive Causality, and Ontological Dependence in the Aristotelian Tradition Chapter 2. Second Acts and Ontological Unification Chapter 3. Theoria and Scientific Demonstration in Aristotle Chapter 4. Aquinas and Duns Scotus on Creation and Things Created Chapter 5. Mechanism, Substance, and Causality in the Seventeenth Century Chapter 6. Techne in Aristotle and the Autonomous Artifact Chapter 7. The Operative Intentional Orientation in Early Modernism Chapter 8. Computational Theory and the Autonomous Artifact Chapter 9. The Rise of the Artificial
