Analogies of Nature.

             Nature is closely intertwined with science. Philosophy never occurs in isolation in nature; but it exists as an ambiguous niche in natural science. Thus, philosophy is interconnected with nature. Philosophy examines the basic concepts of nature through natural science since it acts as both the foundation and culmination of science. The ambiguity of philosophy as it relates to science can be explained by the fact that the basis of science is the scientific method which begins with scientific questions, data pertaining to these questions are then collected, a hypothesis is then formulated; and finally the hypothesis is tested before it is accepted or rejected. Questions in science are based on some form of rudimentary philosophy. One can never be a philosopher if he/she does not understand the elementary principles of natural science. Raw data that is correlated with the question is collected; and from the analysis of this raw data, a hypothesis is formulated. A continuous process of reflective analysis occurs as one is incessantly collecting data. Reflective analysis enables one to clarify certain aspects of the core questions; and to understand how various aspects of the questions are correlated. This builds up on various tentative principles of the rudimentary philosophy thereby augmenting it; and, this fact in turn creates new scientific and philosophical questions (which are invariably related to the original questions) with a resultant self-perpetuating see-saw movement (a question-answer-question complex). This see-saw develops a strong and creative mind; but it forces a weak mind to refocus its concentration onto the provisional principles of the rudimentary philosophy. R.G.Collingwood in his famous philosophical treatise, The Idea of Nature, warns philosophers of this double-edged effect of this see-saw movement.

                 Ultimately, the continuous reflective analysis enables one to come up with a lucid hypothesis. An accepted hypothesis is further evaluated before being acknowledged as a scientific law (or theory). This new scientific law (or theory) now forms the part of the corpus of philosophy. Hence, philosophy is at both the extreme ends (origin and culmination); and, it also permeates the interposing stages of the scientific method. This relationship between philosophy and science form the basic foundation of any model of nature.

              In The Idea of Nature, R.G.Collingwood identifies three basic models of nature. The first model originated in Ancient Greece and it viewed nature as a living organism which combines the entities of life and matter. The second model arose during the renaissance; and it considered nature as a purposefully designed machine. The third model is based on the temporal-spatial configuration model of nature; and it has its origin in the nineteenth century when the theory of evolution came to the fore. All of these models are further elaborated below.

                The first model of nature views nature as a living organism made up of both matter and form. This model traces its origin to Thales who stated that everything is made of water. His contemporaries considered that the smallest elementary indivisible component of all matter were basically the same. Later on, the Pythagoreans suggested that the relevant component of matter was not the matter per se, but the abstract form of that matter. This is exemplified by music; whereby its basic component is the sound waves that are decoded by the human brain into its component frequencies and in the process a person hears the rhythm. Thus, the relevant component of music is the rhythm (the abstract form), and not the musical instruments. The notion that the physical (concrete) matter has mathematical foundations was derived from this Pythagorean assessment. This notion still exists in the modern world in part due to Galileo metaphysical statement (which also seamlessly links Pythagoras to the modern proponents of the string theory) that mathematics was the language of nature. Hence, Pythagoras can be considered as the father of Western Philosophy. Collingwood states that matter is putty by which abstract form can manifest itself. Thus, nature can be viewed as living body which has body (its concrete matter) and mind (its abstract form). Collingwood also concludes that abstract entities can never exist without concrete manifestation. This universally acknowledged phenomenon is the basis of didactic instructions whereby a concrete example (for instance a picture or flow diagram) elucidates (or put into gestalt) an abstract principle (such as flow of energy). However, some philosophers collectively named as nominalists dispute this concept that the abstract entity transcends the matter itself. Plato prescribed to neither of the competing principles (but did incorporate some concepts of metaphysics into his philosophy) due to the fact that both camps (and especially the nominalists’) lacked sufficient empirical evidence to support their doctrine. The nominalists base their philosophical doctrine on the fact that the only reality that exists in matter is the concrete reality. Such apprehension towards metaphysics will undermine the essential philosophical comprehension of nature. Platonism was conceptually focused; and, thus it withstood the test of time. Moreover, the self-referential nature of Platonism facilitated the incorporation of platonic philosophies into most religions. The philosophical foundations of this early model of nature would end up giving rise to two other models of nature.

            Collingwood also states that the Copernican revolution (a pivotal event in western civilization) dispelled the concept of spatial division between the divine and humans within the universe; thus equalizing everything in the universe and therfore liberating humans to study both the divine and the mortal. Personally, the normative implication of the Copernican revolution was that it failed to consider the different natures (and features attributed thereof) of elements found in the universe, thus leading the scientists of that time to ascertain wrong scientific theories as can be illustrated by the fact that Isaac Newton relied on ideas derived from the Copernican revolution to assume that the gravitational pull was equal in all parts of the earth (and in the entire universe). Its implication on nature was that it led to treatment of nature as human property; and not as divine gift given to man; and thus humans could misuse nature to their advantage.

                The second model traces its origin to the renaissance when the world was viewed as a mechanical entity ruled by definite laws. The world was considered to have its own intrinsic delicate mechanism that was based on the determinate path established by a divine supernatural being (God) before He withdrew from His own creation. Thus, the world was considered as a purposefully designed machine. Greek model of nature differed greatly from this renaissance model of nature because the former put a lot of emphasis on mathematics; while, the latter put a lot of emphasis on physics. This model led to the conception of dualism based on mechanical cosmology; whereby the body and mind (as a single unit) exists in a metaphysical realm, while, the cosmos acted as a demarcation between nature and God; as it had been determined by the definite laws. This model assumed that that the world is not pliable to intrinsic adaption to changes that had been caused (mostly) by human development. This differs from the earlier model of nature which viewed nature as a living entity which accordingly adapts itself to the prevailing situations which contrasts to a mechanical world which is noncompliant to changes. However, the world evolved as human development progressed. Moreover, an evolving entity can create machines, but, the entity can never be a machine; thus it was determined that the evolving world was not a machine. Hence, during the nineteenth century, this model was discarded and replaced by the earlier model which viewed the world as an organism that reconstitutes itself in order to adapt to the changes that occur. Collingwood states that a machine is a finished product that does not evolve; and hence, the world cannot be a perfectly designed machine as it evolves as changes occur. The normative implication of this model of nature was that machines can never adapt themselves to changes; and thus humans were required to interact with nature in ways that do not damage the existing nature. However, from a metaphysical perspective, the concept that a mechanical world does not evolve is wrong; as the example of a computer described below will illustrate. A computer is a purposefully designed machine with established guidelines (the computer programs) which determines its actions. The software installed in the computer (a concrete entity) is an abstract transcendent entity composed of mathematics and algorithms. This software can auto-improve itself, and, thus evolve towards meeting the needs of the computer. The software supports the Pythagorean standpoint that mathematics determines the laws of nature. Also, the concept of softwares evolving conforms to the Theory of Evolution, which was proposed by Charles Darwin, as the program evolves without input from its creator. Hence, the computer exemplifies the fact that a machine can adapt and evolve based on its needs without the participation of the creator (or designer). In effect, the computer displays the modern synthesis between the basic algorithm and hardware, a sort of bootstrapping enabling orderliness created from chaos, through evolution to form a nearly perfect design without the input of the designer. Epistemology which arose from the mechanical cosmology concept differentiated rationalism from empiricism. This led to the clear distinction between metaphysics and the scientific method. Thereafter, natural science became restricted to time and space; thus acquiring a temporal-spatial configuration.

              The third model of nature is based on temporal-spatial configuration. Collingwood asserts that the history of nature must be viewed through the time-scale lens. This lens has a character of externality as nature is viewed as an external entity to time and space. Natural science has a temporal-spatial component which is infinitely indivisible (that is, it is not a continuum); and thus a phenomenon has to occur within a given temporal-spatial frame. Also, the mind is reduced to matter unlike the “nature is a living organism” model which views a human mind as an abstract form. Neurology is a direct extension of this temporal-spatial configuration model of nature. This temporal-spatial configuration can be extended to abstract emotions such as happiness. Thus, happiness will require an entire lifetime to be manifested; and the expression by someone that he or she is happy is nothing more than a transitory statement of well-being. The normative implication of this temporal-spatial configuration on nature is that a civilized society has the responsibility to protect, promote and conserve its nature; since nature is a manifestation of the collective human acts. This temporal-spatial configuration is viewed differently by different animals depending on their respective levels of intelligence; hence a human being has the most lucid understanding of this configuration; and thus he/she is responsible for protecting his surrounding environment. Usually, destruction occurs in a short duration of time; and construction takes a long time to complete. Thus, short histories of nature will likely focus on destruction of nature; and hence the circumstances surrounding the catastrophe are likely to be omitted; hence making it difficult for people to learn anything meaningful from such a short history. A perfect illustration of the time-spatial configuration in human beings and its relation to nature is the nisus which is explained hereafter.

                   According to Collingwood, religion did not emerge because God loved people and nature, but because people loved God and they needed Him to protect their nature. Thus, theology is a product of condescension of a superior divine love (from God towards humans) and an inferior love (from a mortal people to a divine God). Modern theology alludes to the fact that the inferior human love seeks perfection and protection by enjoining itself with a divine love; but God being perfect does not need human love and the expression of his love and control of nature must be considered as a show of kindness and compassion. This time-spatial configuration shows that humans have separated themselves from nature; and they would like to participate with God in building and protecting nature. Thus, humans want to preserve nature as an act of obedience to God; and, in order to develop spiritually. This drive to develop is termed nisus. The nisus is an abstract entity that requires an extended time-scale to fully manifest itself; and the matter associated with the nisus is accidental in nature. This time-spatial configuration model differs from the mechanical view of world because in a mechanical world, the form is an intrinsic immanent of matter (and it can never transcend the concrete reality), while the time-spatial configuration model asserts that form can transcend the matter. Also, the temporal-spatial configuration model is similar to the model that asserts that nature is a living organism; because in both there is a transcendence of abstract form over matter. The normative implication of this temporal-spatial configuration of nature is that nisus is geared towards developing, preserving, conserving and protecting nature; as instructed by religious texts. The time-spatial configuration model of nature combines aspects derived from the earlier Greek model of nature and the subsequent renaissance model of nature.

                 In conclusion, these three models of nature aim to promote a harmonious relationship and/or multi-tier levels of interaction between the basic components of nature: matter and its incorporeal abstract forms.