Magic, Reason and Experience: Studies in the Origin and Development of Greek Science - Hardcover

Lloyd, G. E. R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521223733 ISBN 13: 9780521223737

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1979

Synopsis

This book is a study of the origins and development of Greek science, focusing especially on the interactions of scientific and traditional patterns of thought from the sixth to the fourth centuries BC. The starting point is an examination of how certain Greek authors deployed the category of 'magic' and attacked magical beliefs and practices, and these attacks are related to their complex background in Greek medicine and speculative thought. In his second chapter Dr Lloyd outlines the development, and assesses the significance, of the theory and practice of argument in early Greek science, and he follows this with a study of the development of empirical research. Finally the author confronts the question of why the Greeks invented science: what precisely was their contribution to science, and what social, economic, ideological and political factors had a bearing on the growth of science in Greece.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1979
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521223733
• ISBN 13: 9780521223737
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 348