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1 results

  • Chapter 5 - Theophrastus on the Generation of Plants (Causes of Plants I)

  • Andrea Falcon, Concordia University, Montréal
  • Book:
    The Architecture of the Science of Living Beings
    Published online:
    30 May 2024
    Print publication:
    06 June 2024, pp 152-186
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  • Summary

    Theophrastus shares Aristotle’s methodological insight that the scientific inquiry unfolds in stages, and that the two main stages of any scientific inquiry are the collection of the relevant data followed by their explanation – the pre-explanatory and the explanatory stage of inquiry, respectively. This chapter shows that we should speak of two main stages of inquiry because the explanatory stage itself may unfold in various stages. In other words, the work that is required to arrive at an adequate (i.e., scientific) explanation may take place in steps and may require accomplishing different tasks. The chapter looks in some detail at how Theophrastus adopts this style of inquiry in his explanation of the various ways in which plants propagate.