In the context of this course, many great philosophical thinkers had previously set out to understand the word and in particular, the cosmos. Although one proposition never lasted too long before being overcome by another, there was one theory in this course which gained a large amount of popularity amongst thinkers. The theory of a geocentric system, was embraced by two main philosophers in particular, who aimed to define the way the cosmos functioned. The earliest philosopher to propose this theory was Plato, from the ancient world who was then followed by Aristotle (an avid student of Plato’s). In this essay, I will demonstrate through these two philosophers, why geocentrism, successfully dominated for so long. I will begin by first discussing …show more content…
Only very primitive theories or devices had been formed, such as: lunar and solar calendars, identifying 5 planets (called wanderers) as well as numerical patterns for the forecast (among other discoveries). As Plato began to take an interest in Astronomy and the cosmos, he became the first recognized theorist for concluding that the Earth is at the center of all celestial bodies. He came to this conclusion by first recognizing reality, as two different approximates. One was the “Sensible World”, which was temporary and detected through senses and thus called the world of appearances. The other was called the “Intelligible World”, which was un-changing and was known through pure reason/thought and thus was called reality. It was important to define these terms because Plato referred to the cosmos around him as a “moving image of eternity”. Since the cosmos was able to be perceived, Plato deduced that it must have come into being. To form a theory, Plato came up with five requirements/suggestions he felt, after observing the cosmos, needed to be addressed and further researched on. One of the requirements was that the astronomers should construct a geometric cosmos, based on the physical observations, however, this model would only be altered to construct a better geometric model. The next requirement was that the best way to construct a geometric …show more content…
In terms of forming a theory on the cosmos, both thinkers each tried to come up with a theory on how the matter is able to move (Aristotle) or how to recognize reality (Plato). It is interesting to note that although both thinkers concluded two points which seem very similar, they contrast in terms of the theory they belong to (either cosmological or reality). Aristotle introduced the Superlunary Realm as un-changing and the Sublunary Realm as changing. Plato on the other hand, found two types of approximates known as the “Sensible World” (temporary) and the “Intelligible World” (un-changing). In addition to this, another contrast is that when Plato mentioned in his theory about shape of the triangles affecting the difference in elements, Aristotle critiqued his approach by saying that the shape of elements, does not dictate the difference in elements. Some other fundamental differences in the two theorists is that Plato viewed the world as quantifiable (through mathematics) where Aristotle viewed the word as qualitative. In addition to this, Plato understood the natural phenomenon as arriving at the best fit between observations of nature and the geometric model for nature. However, Aristotle understood the natural phenomenon as arriving at the most reasonable explanations from observations. Another difference is that Plato believed that truths about