machines – PHILOSOPHICAL EGGS

186. Is Nature a Machine?

Many philosophers of the enlightenment, inspired by the scientific revolution, thought of nature as a vast machine rather than a living organism. For example, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) opens his masterpiece Leviathan (1651) with some startling claims that reduce life to a series… Read more ›

August 4, 2019

Dwight Goodyear

Metaphysics, The Soul

machines, mechanisms, philosophy of nature, R. G. Collingwood, science, The Idea of Nature

Michael Maier, Atalanta Fugiens (1618)

In alchemical lore, the philosophical egg represents a domain in which diverse materials undergo a fusion into something new, the philosopher’s stone, which can help one become wise. Heraclitus said: “Lovers of wisdom should be enquirers into many things”. My blog, full of long and short posts, is committed to this diversity and offers a domain in which various ideas come together in illuminating and often puzzling ways: they are like philosophical eggs. Cracking and digesting them should bring you some surprises and, hopefully, some nourishing wisdom.

Photo by Jackson Byrnes

My name is Dwight Goodyear and I am a philosopher who loves to teach. I am professor of philosophy at SUNY Westchester Community College in New York (although this site should not be taken to express the opinions of WCC). I teach a variety of courses every year including logic, ethics, ancient/medieval phil., modern phil., phil. of art, and phil. of love. I received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the NISOD Excellence Award for Teaching, the Abeles Endowed Chair for the WCC Honors Program, and the SUNY WCC Foundation Award for Scholarship. I received my Masters and Ph.D. in philosophy from the New School for Social Research in NYC and wrote my dissertation under Richard J. Bernstein. My main areas of interest are aesthetics, American pragmatism, existentialism, and metaphysics. I am also a musician who composes, performs, and records experimental works for piano and guitar that I refer to as musical gates or compositions that feature a strong sense of passing into a realm of mystery and revelation. I have ten recordings available on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, youtube, and elsewhere. My website is accessible at the top of this page. When not working on philosophy and music I am spending time with my wife and son.

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186. Is Nature a Machine?