Origins Exam
Perspective is way of seeing or perceiving something. One perspective can be a block to progress whereas multiple perspectives often pave the way for greater success.
A single perspective is a block to progress in field or area. This was evident in Aristotle’s view of the elements. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and scientist, studied the observable world and was made famous for his definition of elements. Aristotle attempted to separate elements by their qualities; hot and dry assigned to fire, hot and air assigned to air, cold and fluid assigned to water, cold and dry assigned to land (Text 1). Aristotle did not base his perspective on logic or evidence, rather he based it on intuition. Alchemists, influenced by Aristotle’s perspective, attempted transmutation, which according to Aristotle’s perspective was possible, when in practicality it was not (Text 1). Aristotle’s proposed model gathered support and became hard to challenge; therefore, his perspective was an authority. His point of view held sway for 2000 years and in this time there was limited development in chemistry or alchemy as a result of a false perspective. Multiple perspectives can bring about progress, whereas a singular perspective is shown to inhibit further understanding.
A new perspective, supported by logic and evidence, is a significant reason that causes people to view things from a different perspective. This can be seen in the widely believed Aristotle’s perspective being overturned by Lavoisier’s perspective. Aristotle based his perspective on intuition, which was theoretical and had no supporting evidence. Aristotle’s was an authority on science and so it stood to reason that many people believed him, evidence or otherwise. Lavoisier was objective in his approach and applied claim testing to Aristotle’s proposed view of elements and found it to be false in both theory and practicality. Lavoisier commissioned the making of the most advanced scale of his day, which was accurate enough to weigh one-part in 600,000 (Text 2). He used these scales to measure experiments and found false the theory of phlogiston, a theory of ...
