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A unique feature about Aristotle's definition of "physis" was his relationship between art and nature. Aristotle said that "physis" (nature) is dependent on techne (art). "The critical distinction between art and nature concerns their different efficient causes: nature is its own source of motion, whereas techne always requires a source of ...
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, [1] particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, ...
A nominal definition is the definition explaining what a word means (i.e., which says what the "nominal essence" is), and is definition in the classical sense as given above. A real definition, by contrast, is one expressing the real nature or quid rei of the thing. This preoccupation with essence dissipated in much of modern philosophy.
A celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit. Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin philosophia naturalis) is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe while ignoring any supernatural influence.
The balance of nature, also known as ecological balance, is a theory that proposes that ecological systems are usually in a stable equilibrium or homeostasis, which is to say that a small change (the size of a particular population, for example) will be corrected by some negative feedback that will bring the parameter back to its original "point of balance" with the rest of the system.
Black and white tables of natural history, from Ephraim Chambers's 1728 Cyclopaedia.. Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study.
Essence, nature, or substance in Christianity means what something is in itself and is distinguished from something's accidents (appearance). For example, according to transubstantiation , the eucharistic bread and wine appear to be bread and wine, but are in actuality - that is, in essence - Jesus' body and blood. [ 13 ] }}
Matters are complicated by the fact that the words nature and natural have more than one meaning. On the one hand there is the main dictionary meaning for nature: "The phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations."