Ethics and Morality in Philosophy Essay - 908 Words

Morality has always been an unacknowledged and crucial role in defining ethics. Principles tend to be a virtue that applies only within society and can be distinguished from law, religion, or ethics. Morality in its defining sense can be different from each other, depending on the foundations of the society that claim their morality. Different societies have a different sense of what their moral priority would be like. Their morality can be based on purity and honesty when others concerned with practices. Many philosophers encourage morality, because generally it prevents and avoids harm to any society that is formed into certain groups. The most interesting notion of the morality comes out in a question whether it is informed through†¦show more content†¦We have certain moral obligations, because of the nature of our human being – experience of pain or pleasure, our family bounds and or approvals or disapprovals of these. In his Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, Hume says that â€Å"the end of all moral speculations is to teach us our duty; and, by proper representations of the deformity of vice and beauty of virtue, beget correspondent habits, and engage us to avoid the one, and embrace the other† (Hume, pg.172). Philosopher is not trying to draw rational and scientific actions of human being, as Descartes, but rather to explain some observational facts of human nature. He reduces these facts to small and very general principles. By doing so he founds a reason for which man actually approves or disapproves morally certain kinds of behavior. The whole Hume’s philosophy is bas ed on examination of human nature. As well as his theory of knowledge that comes from the sense experience and examination. Hume believes that knowledge even within a physical or mathematical contest comes through experience and observation. However, moral judgments depend on passions and sentiments that define approval and disapproval. Hume has a fairly positive and natural perception on moral judgments in Hume’s theory – moral sentiments. Approvals and disapprovals are necessarily connected with each other by feelings and emotions. If morality comes from sentiment,Show MoreRelatedPersonal Philosophy : An Organization Level Leader1734 Words   |  7 PagesMorality and ethics are two distinctive developments of a human being, whereby formation begins from childhood and is conveyed and honed throughout an individual’s lifetime. Morality and ethics shape an individual as they develop various understandings of how to relate to situations and dilemmas through their personal life experiences based on inputs from parents, family, experiences and organizations. To define my moral philosophy as an organizational level leader, I will first explain how my personalRead MoreThe Ethics Of Foucault And Today1166 Words   |  5 PagesKarlton Ruf Professor General Philosophy 28 June 2015 The Ethics of Foucault and Today Ethics has been studied from different spectrums throughout time whether political or moral based, a collective or individual effort, philosophers have studied theses values based on what is right and wrong. One thinker who is not commonly seen as a philosopher but referred to in countless works is Michel Foucault. Michel Foucault was a French historian and Philosopher and is known more for his works of â€Å"historiesRead MoreEthics Philosophy : Ethics And Ethics Essay976 Words   |  4 PagesEthics Philosophy A personal ethics philosophy helps a person to maintain and employ good morals and values that are important in a one’s life. Understanding the importance of ethics is critical in order to consciously work to develop and effectively utilize ethics. Therefore, accepting the importance of one’s ethical philosophy will result in ethical decision-making, therefore developing the ability to put ethical theory into practice create ethical conditions albeit, personal and professionalRead MorePHL 215 Version 6 Moral Social And Political Philosophy Matrix And Essay Parts 1 2 2 2993 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿University of Phoenix Material Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy Matrix and Essay Part 1 Matrix: Analyze moral, social, and political philosophy by completing the following matrix. Provide a definition of the branch of philosophy as given in a philosophical source (the readings, supplemental materials, or outside academic sources) and list a minimum of three historical developments, theories, key contributors, and principal issues. Bullet point answers are acceptable. Read MoreKant: Moral Theories1002 Words   |  5 PagesKants moral theory According to Timmons, the field of philosophy is not complete without the mention of Kant whose contributions were major (205). This, he adds, was influenced by his originality, subtle approach and the difficulty of his works. Timmons cites that moral requirements are a requirement of reason, which is the ideology of Kant’s Moral theory; hence, immoral act is an act against reason. Consequently, speaking on the terminologies of Kant we visualize moral requirements as CategoricalRead MoreThe Trolley Problem Of The Monist1624 Words   |  7 Pagesit would be incorrect to turn the trolley and willingly choose to kill one person, rather than allow the five to die, but the philosophies of Immanuel Kant and John Stewart Mill must be analyzed to determine whether they would agree with Thomson, or have a different view from Thomson as well as one another. When considering J.J. Thomson’s Trolley Problem, the philosophies of Kant and Mill must be fully analyzed and expressed to determine the most plausible perspective to be taken by both philosophersRead MoreThe Relationship Between Morality and Religion in the Dalai Lama and John Pope Ii Perspective1609 Words   |  7 PagesThe Relationship Between Morality and Religion In the Dalai Lama and John Pope II Perspective The complexities on the issue of the relationship between religion and morality is intriguing in the sense that there is no right or wrong answer, but merely your own intrinsic belief. The 14th Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, believes that you cant have religion without morals, but you can have morals without religion. This seems to contrast with the view of John Paul II, in the senseRead MoreThe Ethical Concepts Of Kantian Ethics Essay1043 Words   |  5 PagesMorality in Reasons, not Consequences Introduction The philosophy of Kant has become a turning point in the development of the Western thinking and worldview. His innovative and progressive ideas have strongly contributed to the formation of a new paradigm of the universe and role of humans in it. A great role in Kant’s studies belongs to the analysis of ethics, morality and law as the main regulators of the human behavior in the society Kant is known as the founder of the deontological ethics (Kantianism)Read MorePhilosophy Is Taking A Popularity Strike Across The World876 Words   |  4 PagesChiyane Peterson Philosophy is taking a popularity strike across the world, with different topics, different opinions and ways of expressing philosophy. These topics can be learned in class by a teacher or they can simply be looked up online. There are many philosophy websites with different focuses depending on the information being searched. Some websites could offer teachings for help or other activities; the charge could be completely free or may have a fee to access an idea or two. AllRead MoreThe Comparable And Contrastable Philosophies Of Kierkegaard And Kant Essay1294 Words   |  6 PagesComparable and Contrastable Philosophies of Kierkegaard and Kant In this paper, I will investigate the comparable and contrasting views of Soren Kierkegaard and Immanuel Kant. Their extraordinary journeys towards the meaning of morality and ethics is riveting, spiritual, universal, and in many ways, incredibly different. My conclusion is that though there are aspects which bind their theories together, ultimately both men possess different understandings of what morality is and how an individual ought

Effects Of The Atlantic Slave Trade On Africa - 1516 Words

Effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa The Atlantic slave trade existed from the 16th to the early 19th century and stimulated trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Over 12 million Africans were captured and sold into chattel slavery off the coast of West Africa, and more than 2 million of them died crossing the Atlantic. These outcomes of the slave trade are rarely disputed among historians; the effect of the Atlantic slave trade in Africa, however, is often a topic of debate. Some academics, such as Walter Rodney, insist that Africans were forced to take part in the slave trade, resulting in demographic disruption and underdevelopment in all sectors of Africa. Historian John Thornton acknowledges the negative consequences of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, yet contends that it was merely an expansion of the existing internal slave trade which African rulers engaged in willingly. A final case made by Hugh Thomas completely contradicts Rodney’s thesis, asserting that the slave trade was not solely respons ible for decreasing Africa’s population, and furthermore, that it was primarily beneficial to Africa’s economy and politics. The true outcome of the slave trade in Africa lies not entirely in any one of these arguments, but rests rather in a combination of all three. Although the Atlantic slave trade was detrimental to the economic and social development of Africa, the trade benefited a small portion of Africans, who willingly aligned themselves withShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Atlantic Slave Trade921 Words   |  4 PagesThe Atlantic Slave Trade The changes in African life during the slave trade era form an important element in the economic and technological development of Africa. Although the Atlantic slave trade had a negative effect on both the economy and technology, it is important to understand that slavery was not a new concept to Africa. In fact, internal slavery existed in Africa for many years. Slaves included war captives, the kidnapped, adulterers, and other criminals and outcasts. HoweverRead MoreEconomic Interaction Between Europe And Africa962 Words   |  4 Pagesinteraction in the Atlantic Basin stayed the same in that Europe remained dominant over trade while economic interaction in the Atlantic Basin changed in that the slave trade decreased and the trade of raw materials and manufactured goods increased. Economic interaction in the Atlantic Basin stayed the same in that Europe remained dominant over trade. Europe started economic interaction in the Atlantic Basin. The beginning of European dominance over trade began in the Atlantic Basin during the AgeRead MoreThe Atlantic Slave Trade Second Edition By Herbert S Klein And Economic Consequences Essay1273 Words   |  6 PagesFor my comparison book review, I chose to focus on the Atlantic Slave Trade Second Edition by Herbert S Klein and The Economic Consequences of the Atlantic Slave Trade† by Barbara L. Solow. My focus of the trade is labor demands, effects on Africa, European organization of trade, and economy leading up to the end of the trade and after. Together, the two books demonstrate that the Atlantic Slave Trade was more than just the trading of Africans to different continents, but was a historical point thatRead MoreTrans-Atlantic Slave Trade‚Äà ¹1359 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Trans-Atlantic Slave Trad e† The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was one of the most horrific things to happen to any group of people closely relating to the Jewish Holocaust. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was actually often referred to as the â€Å"Holocaust of Enslavement† which was basically the incarceration and imprisonment of people not for committing criminal offenses but to be put to work for others. The â€Å"Areas that were involved in the European slave trade eventually prospered.† (Aca Demon) TheseRead MoreTransatlantic Slave Trade and the Effects on the American Economy1627 Words   |  7 PagesTransatlantic Slave Trade and the effects on the american economy Transatlantic Slave Trade The Transatlantic slave trade is a â€Å"wrenching aspect of the history of Africa and America† (Colin Palmer). The transatlantic slave trade transported African people to the â€Å"New World†. It lasted from the 16th to the 19th century. Slavery has had a big impact on African culture. The Africans were forced to migrate away from everything they knew, culture, heritage and lifestyles (Captive Passage). CoupledRead MoreImpact Of Trans Atlantic Slave Trade On African Societies1314 Words   |  6 PagesFor 300 years, Africa participated in the Atlantic slave trade, providing humans in exchange for other goods. During that 300 years, some twelve million Africans were transported to the Americas. This mass, forced migration had many consequences for Africa, in many aspects of its history. In World History classes—both high school and college— these consequences for Africa are usually omitted, and a more Eurocentric view of the Atlantic slave trade dominate s. Because of this, many are not aware ofRead MoreImpact Of Slave Trade On West Africa1055 Words   |  5 PagesIn addition to the impacts of the slave trade on the social history of Africa, there were also major impacts on the political history. Below, three major impacts of the slave trade on the political history of West Africa will be discussed. To begin with, an impact that the slave trade had on West Africa is that it made the area more susceptible to colonization by European powers. There were two main ways in which the slave trade made it easier for European powers to colonize; the ways are the lossRead MoreThe Economic Effects of the Slave Trade on Africa, Britain, and America1398 Words   |  6 Pageswas all up to the slaves. Finding the perfect slave was a challenge to the colonists. First, there was the indentured servants, second, came the Indians. However because Indians and indentured servants could escape to freedom with ease, they were not the ideal slaves. The co lonists’ third attempt proved to be a gold mine. The unfortunate people who were forced in to captivity were the Africans. In order to obtain these precious African slaves, sailors had to sail across the Atlantic Ocean, but it madeRead MoreThe Effects Of Afrique Engagee On Africa1083 Words   |  5 Pagescountries outside of Africa that played a big role in the Atlantic Slave trade and in the long run caused Africa to have a huge delay in it’s development. This concept includes exports of slaves by sex and age, prices of exports, changes in quantity of slaves, and the products/resources that were big in trade. Afrique Engagà ©e caused Europe to have so much power and success over Africa based on Africa’s goods and people. Emergent Africa, which includes the issue of Africa was just an effect of Afrique Engagà ©eRead MoreImpact Of Slave Trade On West Africa1153 Words   |  5 PagesFor 300 years, Africa participated in the Atlantic Slave Trade, providing huma ns in exchange for other goods. During that 300 years, some twelve million Africans were transported to the Americas. This mass, forced migration had many consequences for Africa, in many aspects of its history. In World History classes—both high school and college— these consequences for Africa are usually omitted, and a more Eurocentric view of the Atlantic Slave Trade dominates. Because of this, many are not aware of

Claudius Ptolemy free essay sample

Born: approximately 85 in Egypt Died: approximately 165 in Alexandria, Egypt One of the most influential Grecian uranologists and geographers of his clip, Ptolemy propounded the geocentric theory in a signifier that prevailed for 1400 old ages. However, of all the ancient Grecian mathematicians, it is just to state that his work has generated more treatment and statement than any other. We shall discourse the statements below for, depending on which are right, they portray Ptolemy in really different visible radiations. The statements of some historiographers show that Ptolemy was a mathematician of the really top rank, statements of others show that he was no more than a brilliant expounder, but far worse, some even claim that he committed a offense against his fellow scientists by bewraying the moralss and unity of his profession. We know really small of Ptolemy s life. He made astronomical observations from Alexandria in Egypt during the old ages AD 127-41. In fact the first observation which we can day of the month precisely was made by Ptolemy on 26 March 127 while the last was made on 2 February 141. It was claimed by Theodore Meliteniotes in around 1360 that Ptolemy was born in Hermiou ( which is in Upper Egypt instead than Lower Egypt where Alexandria is situated ) but since this claim foremost appears more than one thousand old ages after Ptolemy lived, it must be treated as comparatively improbable to be true. In fact there is no grounds that Ptolemy was of all time anyplace other than Alexandria. His name, Claudius Ptolemy, is of class a mixture of the Grecian Egyptian Ptolemy and the Roman Claudius . This would bespeak that he was descended from a Grecian household life in Egypt and that he was a citizen of Rome, which would be as a consequence of a Roman emperor giving that reward to one of Ptolemy s ascendants. We do cognize that Ptolemy used observations made by Theon the mathematician , and this was about surely Theon of Smyrna who about surely was his instructor. Surely this would do sense since Theon of Smyrna was both an perceiver and a mathematician who had written on astronomical subjects such as concurrences, occultations, eclipses and theodolites. Most of Ptolemy s early plants are dedicated to Syrus who may hold besides been one of his instructors in Alexandria, but nil is known of Syrus. If these facts about Ptolemy s instructors are right so surely in Theon of Smyrna he did non hold a great bookman, for Theon of Smyrna seems non to hold understood in any deepness the astronomical work he describes. On the other manus Alexandria had a tradition for scholarship which would intend that even if Ptolemy did non hold entree to the best instructors, he would hold entree to the libraries where he would hold found the valuable mention stuff of which he made good usage. Ptolemy s major plants have survived and we shall discourse them in this article. The most of import, nevertheless, is the Almagest which is a treatise in 13 books. We should state straight off that, although the work is now about ever known as the Almagest that was non its original name. Its original Grecian rubric translates as The Mathematical Compilation but this rubric was shortly replaced by another Greek rubric which means The Greatest Compilation. This was translated into Arabic as al-majisti and from this the rubric Almagest was given to the work when it was translated from Arabic to Latin. The Almagest is the earliest of Ptolemy s plants and gives in item the mathematical theory of the gestures of the Sun, Moon, and planets. Ptolemy made his most original part by showing inside informations for the gestures of each of the planets. The Almagest was non superseded until a century after Copernicus presented his heliocentric theory in the De revolutionibus of 1543. Grasshoff writes in: Ptolemy s Almagest portions with Euclid s Elementss the glorification of being the scientific text longest in usage. From its construct in the 2nd century up to the late Renaissance, this work determined astronomy as a scientific discipline. During this clip the Almagest was non merely a work on uranology ; the topic was defined as what is described in the Almagest . Ptolemy describes himself really clearly what he is trying to make in composing the work ( see for illustration ) : We shall seek to observe down everything which we think we have discovered up to the present clip ; we shall make this every bit briefly as possible and in a mode which can be followed by those who have already made some advancement in the field. For the interest of completeness in our intervention we shall put out everything utile for the theory of the celestial spheres in the proper order, but to avoid undue length we shall simply tell what has been adequately established by the ancients. However, those subjects which have non been dealt with by our predecessors at all, or non every bit usefully as they might hold been, will be discussed at length to the best of our ability. Ptolemy foremost of all justifies his description of the existence based on the earth-centred system described by Aristotle. It is a position of the universe based on a fixed Earth around which the domain of the fixed stars rotates every twenty-four hours, this transporting with it the domains of the Sun, Moon, and planets. Ptolemy used geometric theoretical accounts to foretell the places of the Sun, Moon, and planets, utilizing combinations of round gesture known as epicycles. Having set up this theoretical account, Ptolemy so goes on to depict the mathematics which he needs in the remainder of the work. In peculiar he introduces trigonometrical methods based on the chord map Crd ( which is related to the sine map by wickedness a = ( Crd 2a ) /120 ) . Ptolemy devised new geometrical cogent evidence and theorems. He obtained, utilizing chords of a circle and an inscribed 360-gon, the estimate # 61552 ; = 3 17/120= 3.14166 and, utilizing 3 = chord 60, 3 = 1.73205. He used expression for the Crd map which are correspondent to our expressions for wickedness ( a + B ) , wickedness ( a B ) and sin a/2 to make a tabular array of the Crd map at intervals of 1/2 a grade. This occupies the first two of the 13 books of the Almagest and so, citing once more from the debut, we give Ptolemy s ain description of how he intended to develop the remainder of the mathematical uranology in the work ( see for illustration ) : [ After presenting the mathematical constructs ] we have to travel through the gestures of the Sun and of the Moon, and the phenomena attach toing these gestures ; for it would be impossible to analyze the theory of the stars exhaustively without first holding a appreciation of these affairs. Our concluding undertaking in this manner of attack is the theory of the stars. Here excessively it would be appropriate to cover foremost with the domain of the alleged fixed stars , and follow that by handling the five planets , as they are called. In analyzing the theory of the Sun, Ptolemy compares his ain observations of equinoxes with those of Hipparchus and the earlier observations Meton in 432 BC. He confirmed the length of the tropical twelvemonth as 1/300 of a twenty-four hours less than 365 1/4yearss, the precise value obtained by Hipparchus. Since, as Ptolemy himself knew, the truth of the remainder of his informations depended to a great extent on this value, the fact that the true value is 1/128of a twenty-four hours less than 365 1/4yearss did produce mistakes in the remainder of the work. We shall discourse below in more item the accusals which have been made against Ptolemy, but this illustrates clearly the evidences for these accusals since Ptolemy had to hold an mistake of 28 hours in his observation of the equinox to bring forth this mistake, and even given the truth that could be expected with ancient instruments and methods, it is basically incredible that he could hold made an mistake of this magnitude. A g ood treatment of this unusual mistake is contained in the first-class article. Based on his observations of solstices and equinoxes, Ptolemy found the lengths of the seasons and, based on these, he proposed a simple theoretical account for the Sun which was a round gesture of unvarying angular speed, but the Earth was non at the Centre of the circle but at a distance called the eccentricity from this Centre. This theory of the Sun forms the topic of Book 3 of the Almagest. In Books 4 and 5 Ptolemy gives his theory of the Moon. Here he follows Hipparchus who had studied three different periods which one could tie in with the gesture of the Moon. There is the clip taken for the Moon to return to the same longitude, the clip taken for it to return to the same speed ( the anomalousness ) and the clip taken for it to return to the same latitude. Ptolemy besides discusses, as Hipparchus had done, the synodic month, that is the clip between consecutive resistances of the Sun and Moon. In Book 4 Ptolemy gives Hipparchus s epicycle theoretical account for the gesture of the Moon but he notes, as in fact Hipparchus had done himself, that there are little disagreements between the theoretical account and the ascertained parametric quantities. Although observing the disagreements, Hipparchus seems non to hold worked out a better theoretical account, but Ptolemy does this in Book 5 where the theoretical account he gives improves markedly on the one proposed by Hipp archus. An interesting treatment of Ptolemy s theory of the Moon is given in. Having given a theory for the gesture of the Sun and of the Moon, Ptolemy was in a place to use these to obtain a theory of occultations which he does in Book 6. The following two books cover with the fixed stars and in Book 7 Ptolemy uses his ain observations together with those of Hipparchus to warrant his belief that the fixed stars ever maintain the same places relative to each other. He wrote ( see for illustration ) : If one were to fit the above alliances against the diagrams organizing the configurations on Hipparchus s heavenly Earth, he would happen that the places of the relevant stars on the Earth ensuing from the observations made at the clip of Hipparchus, harmonizing to what he recorded, are really about the same as at nowadays. In these two book Ptolemy besides discusses precession, the find of which he attributes to Hipparchus, but his figure is slightly in mistake chiefly because of the mistake in the length of the tropical twelvemonth which he used. Much of Books 7 and 8 are taken up with Ptolemy s star catalogue incorporating over one thousand stars. The concluding five books of the Almagest discuss planetal theory. This must be Ptolemy s greatest accomplishment in footings of an original part, since at that place does non look to hold been any satisfactory theoretical theoretical account to explicate the instead complicated gestures of the five planets before the Almagest. Ptolemy combined the epicycle and bizarre methods to give his theoretical account for the gestures of the planets. The way of a planet P hence consisted of round gesture on an epicycle, the centre C of the epicycle traveling round a circle whose Centre was offset from the Earth. Ptolemy s truly cagey invention here was to do the gesture of C unvarying non about the Centre of the circle around which it moves, but around a point called the equant which is symmetrically placed on the opposite side of the Centre from the Earth. The planetary theory which Ptolemy developed here is a chef-doeuvre. He created a sophisticated mathematical theoretical account to suit experimental informations which before Ptolemy s clip was scarce, and the theoretical account he produced, although complicated, represents the gestures of the planets reasonably good. Toomer amounts up the Almagest in every bit follows: As a didactic work the Almagest is a chef-doeuvre of lucidity and method, superior to any ancient scientific text edition and with few equals from any period. But it is much more than that. Army for the liberation of rwanda from being a mere systemisation of earlier Grecian uranology, as it is sometimes described, it is in many respects an original work. We will return to discourse some of the accusals made against Ptolemy after noticing briefly on his other plants. He published the tabular arraies which are scattered throughout the Almagest individually under the rubric Handy Tables. These were non simply lifted from the Almagest nevertheless but Ptolemy made legion betterments in their presentation, easiness of usage and he even made betterments in the basic parametric quantities to give greater truth. We merely know inside informations of the Handy Tables through the commentary by Theon of Alexandria but in the writer shows that attention is required since Theon was non to the full cognizant of Ptolemy s processs. Ptolemy besides did what many authors of deep scientific plants have done, and still make, in composing a popular history of his consequences under the rubric Planetary Hypothesis. This work, in two books, once more follows the familiar path of cut downing the mathematical accomplishments needed by a reader. Claudius ptolemaeus does this instead cleverly by replacing the abstract geometrical theories by mechanical 1s. Ptolemy besides wrote a work on star divination. It may look strange to the modern reader that person who wrote such first-class scientific books should compose on star divination. However, Ptolemy sees it instead otherwise for he claims that the Almagest allows one to happen the places of the celestial organic structures, while his star divination book he sees as a comrade work depicting the effects of the celestial organic structures on people s lives. In a book entitled Analemma he discussed methods of happening the angles need to build a sundial which involves the projection of points on the celestial domain. In Planisphaerium he is concerned with stereographic projection of the celestial sphere onto a plane. This is discussed in where it is stated: In the stereographic projection treated by Ptolemy in the Planisphaerium the celestial domain is mapped onto the plane of the equator by projection from the south pole. Ptolemy does non turn out the of import belongings that circles on the sphere become circles on the plane. Ptolemy s major work Geography, in eight books, efforts to map the known universe giving co-ordinates of the major topographic points in footings of latitude and longitude. It is non surprising that the maps given by Ptolemy were rather inaccurate in many topographic points for he could non be expected to make more than utilize the available informations and this was of really hapless quality for anything outside the Roman Empire, and even parts of the Roman Empire are badly distorted. In Ptolemy is described as: a adult male working [ on map-construct without the support of a developed theory but within a mathematical tradition and guided by his sense of what is appropriate to the job. Another work on Optics is in five books and in it Ptolemy surveies colour, contemplation, refraction, and mirrors of assorted forms. Toomer remarks in: The constitution of theory by experiment, often by building particular setup, is the most dramatic characteristic of Ptolemy s Optics . Whether the capable affair is mostly derived or original, The Optics is an impressive illustration of the development of a mathematical scientific discipline with due respect to physical informations, and is worthy of the writer of the Almagest . An English interlingual rendition, trying to take the inaccuracies introduced in the hapless Arabic interlingual rendition which is our lone beginning of the Optics is given in. The first to do accusals against Ptolemy was Tycho Brahe. He discovered that there was a systematic mistake of one grade in the longitudes of the stars in the star catalogue, and he claimed that, despite Ptolemy stating that it represented his ain observations, it was simply a transition of a catalogue due to Hipparchus corrected for precession to Ptolemy s day of the month. There is of class definite jobs comparing two star catalogues, one of which we have a transcript of while the other is lost. After remarks by Laplace and Lalande, the following to assail Ptolemy smartly was Delambre. He suggested that possibly the mistakes came from Hipparchus and that Ptolemy might hold done nil more serious than to hold failed to rectify Hipparchus s information for the clip between the equinoxes and solstices. However Delambre so goes on to state ( see ) : One could explicate everything in a less favorable but all the simpler mode by denying Ptolemy the observation of the stars and equinoxes, and by claiming that he assimilated everything from Hipparchus, utilizing the minimum value of the latter for the precession gesture. However, Ptolemy was non without his protagonists by any agencies and farther analysis led to a belief that the accusals made against Ptolemy by Delambre were false. Boll composing in 1894 says: To all visual aspects, one will hold to recognition Ptolemy with giving an basically richer image of the Greek celestial sphere after his high predecessors. Vogt showed clearly in his of import paper that by sing Hipparchus s Commentary on Aratus and Eudoxus and doing the sensible premise that the informations given there agreed with Hipparchus s star catalogue, so Ptolemy s star catalogue can non hold been produced from the places of the stars as given by Hipparchus, except for a little figure of stars where Ptolemy does look to hold taken the information from Hipparchus. Vogt writes: This allows us to see the fixed star catalogue as of his ain devising, merely as Ptolemy himself smartly provinces. The most recent accusals of counterfeit made against Ptolemy came from Newton in. He begins this book by saying clearly his positions: This is the narrative of a scientific offense. I mean a offense committed by a scientist against fellow scientists and bookmans, a treachery of the moralss and unity of his profession that has everlastingly deprived world of cardinal information about an of import country of uranology and history. Towards the terminal Newton, holding claimed to turn out every observation claimed by Ptolemy in the Almagest was fabricated, writes: [ Ptolemy ] developed certain astronomical theories and discovered that they were non consistent with observation. Alternatively of abandoning the theories, he intentionally fabricated observations from the theories so that he could claim that the observations prove the cogency of his theories. In every scientific or scholarly scene known, this pattern is called fraud, and it is a offense against scientific discipline and scholarship. Although the grounds produced by Brahe, Delambre, Newton and others surely do demo that Ptolemy s mistakes are non random, this last quotation mark from is, I [ EFR ] believe, a offense against Ptolemy ( to utilize Newton s ain words ) . The book [ 8 ] is written to analyze cogency of these accusals and it is a work which I strongly believe gives the right reading. Grasshoff writes: 1 has to presume that a significant proportion of the Ptolemaic star catalogue is grounded on those Hipparchan observations which Hipparchus already used for the digest of the 2nd portion of his Commentary on Aratus . Although it can non be ruled out that co-ordinates ensuing from echt Ptolemaic observations are included in the catalogue, they could non amount to more than half the catalogue. the assimilation of Hipparchan observations can no longer be discussed under the facet of plagiarism. Ptolemy, whose purpose was to develop a comprehensive theory of heavenly phenomena, had no entree to the methods of informations rating utilizing arithmetical agencies with which modern uranologists can deduce from a set of changing measurement consequences, the one representative value needed to prove a hypothesis. For methodological ground, so, Ptolemy was forced to take from a set of measurings the one value matching best to what he had to see as the most dependable informations. When an intuitive choice among the information was no longer possible Ptolemy had to see those values as observed which could be confirmed by theoretical anticipations. As a concluding remark we quote the quip which is accepted by many bookmans to hold been written by Ptolemy himself, and it appears in Book 1 of the Almagest, following the list of contents ( see for illustration [ 11 ] ) : Well do I know that I am mortal, a animal of one twenty-four hours. But if my head follows the weaving waies of the stars Then my pess no longer rest on Earth, but standing by Zeus himself I take my fill of beebread, the godly dish. J J OConnor and E F Robertson