Natural philosophy

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/natural-philosophy

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the historical span?Primarily from antiquity (circa 6th century BCE) through the 19th century
2. What is the foundational thinkers?Aristotle, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, René Descartes
3. Who were the first natural philosophers?Ancient Greek thinkers like Thales, Anaximander, and especially Aristotle studied nature and made big ideas about physics, biology, and the stars.
4. How did natural philosophy help modern science?It taught people to ask questions, look for evidence, and use logic, which later scientists like Newton built on to create laws of motion and gravity.

Metaphysics: A branch of philosophy that explores fundamental questions about reality, existence, and the nature of being.
Epistemology: The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope; the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
Teleology: The explanation of phenomena in terms of the purpose that they serve rather than of the cause by which they arise.