Title Ancient worlds, modern reflections : philosophical perspectives on Greek and Chinese science and culture / G.E.R. Lloyd

Published Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 222 pages) Contents Understanding ancient societies -- Science in ancient civilizations? -- Carving out territories -- A common logic? -- Searching for truth -- The questionability of belief -- Styles of enquiry and the question of a common ontology -- The use and abuse of classification -- For example and against -- Universities : their histories and responsibilities -- Human nature and human rights -- A critique of democracy Summary Publisher description: Geoffrey Lloyd engages in a wide-ranging exploration of what we can learn from the study of ancient civilizations that is relevant to fundamental problems, both intellectual and moral, that we still face today. These include, in philosophy of science, the question of the incommensurability of paradigms, the debate between realism and relativism or constructivism, and between correspondence and coherence conceptions of truth. How far is it possible to arrive at an understanding of alien systems of belief? Is it possible to talk meaningfully of 'science' and of its various constituent disciplines, 'astronomy' 'geography' 'anatomy' and so on, in the ancient world? Are logic and its laws universal? Is there one ontology - a single world - to which all attempts at understanding must be considered to be directed? When we encounter apparently very different views of reality, how far can that be put down to a difference in conceptions of what needs explaining, or of what counts as an explanation, or to different preferred modes of reasoning or styles of inquiry? Do the notions of truth and belief represent reliable cross-cultural universals? In another area, what can ancient history teach us about today's social and political problems? Are the discourses of human nature and of human rights universally applicable? What political institutions do we need to help secure equity and justice within nation states and between them? Lloyd sets out to answer all these questions, and to argue that the study of the science and culture of ancient Greece and China provided a precious resource in order to advance a wealth of modern debates Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 200-212) and index Notes Print version record Subject Philosophy, Ancient. Philosophy, Chinese. Science -- Greece -- History Science -- China -- History SCIENCE -- History. Civilization Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Chinese Science Wetenschap. Cultuur. Filosofische aspecten. Griekse oudheid. SUBJECT Greece -- Civilization -- To 146 B.C. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85057041 China -- Civilization -- To 221 B.C. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85023993 Subject China Greece Genre/Form History Form Electronic book Author Oxford University Press ISBN 0199270163 9780199270163 1429420863 9781429420860 9780191602276 0191602272

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