On The Interpretation Of Nature
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''On the interpretation of Nature'' (or ''Thoughts on the interpretation of Nature'', French: ''Pensees sur l'interpretation de la nature'') is a 1754 book written by
Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...
. In this work Diderot expounds on his views about
nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
,
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, materialism, mathematics, and
experimental science An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
.


Content


Nature and Evolution

The book begins with the statement: "It is nature that I wish to describe 'ecrire'' nature is the only book for the philosopher." Diderot conceives of nature as operating on matter and giving rise to various life forms. In the cosmic laboratory of nature, writes Diderot, numerous
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
have arisen and perished. As conceptualized by Diderot, Nature works on the
life form Life form (also spelled life-form or lifeform) is an wikt:entity, entity that is Life, living, such as plants (flora) and animals (fauna). It is estimated that more than 99% of all species that ever existed on Earth, amounting to over five billi ...
s it has given rise to by improving upon or discarding specific organs of the life form. Everything is matter; matter includes within it the potential of
consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
; body and soul are one and die together. Nature cares for the species rather than for the individual; it lets the individual reproduce and then die. Nature is neutral and blind; she makes no distinction between saints and sinners, and destroys both fools and philosophers. On the question of
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, Diderot writes:


Mathematics and Experimental Science

The book extolls the
natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
and the role played by ''experience'' in developing the natural sciences. It denounces mathematics, more specifically it criticizes the kind of mathematics which yields no new knowledge and is "useless". It is critical of "useless experiments" and mathematical assumptions that are contrary to the laws of nature; and the approach of treating mathematics as a game that has nothing to do with nature. Mathematicians like to criticize other thinkers for being
metaphysicians Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
, writes Diderot, but increasingly chemists, physicists, and naturalists are directing the same criticism at them. In his book, Diderot focuses on the role of ''conjecture'' in the natural sciences. By ''conjecture'' Diderot means the ability of an experimental philosopher to "sniff out" new methods and processes; he examines the question of whether this ability can be passed on from one person to another.


References


Notes

{{Authority control Denis Diderot