Article ID: CBB000830785

The Demarcation of Physical Theory and Astronomy by Geminus and Ptolemy (2007)

unapi

The Hellenistic reception of Babylonian horoscopic astrology gave rise to the question of what the planets really do and whether astrology is a science. This question in turn became one of defining the Greco-Latin science of astronomy, a project that took Aristotle's views as a starting-point. Thus, I concentrate on one aspect of the various definitions of astronomy proposed in Hellenistic times, their demarcation of astronomy and physical theory. I explicate the account offered by Geminus and its subordination of astronomy to arguments made in physical theory about what really is the case. I then show how Ptolemy treats the same topic but maintains that this science is sufficient on its own to determine the realia it studies. In this way, I identify two moments in an obvious process of intellectual change that had profound consequences for the history of astronomy and cosmology over the next 1500 years. My hope is that this will advance our understanding of the reception of horoscopic astrology in Hellenistic times and also serve to locate Ptolemy more fully in his intellectual context.

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Authors & Contributors
Jones, Alexander
Duke, Dennis W.
Swerdlow, Noel M.
Pérez Jiménez, Aurelio
Mueller, Ian
Heilen, Stephan
Concepts
Astronomy
Cosmology
Astrology
Solar system; planets
Stoicism
Solar astronomy
Time Periods
Ancient
Early modern
Modern
Renaissance
Places
Greece
Rome (Italy)
Middle and Near East
Assyria
Mesopotamia
Babylon (extinct city)
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