Wang Chong
Sometimes when looking for something great, you find something even greater. I was originally looking for the 80s band "Wang Chung" on Wikipedia, and I came across Wang Chong, a philosopher/pre-scientist who lived from c. 27-100 CE.
He was scientific about everything, and didn't give in to the beliefs which were common at the time. He made some remarkable hypotheses - many of which turned out to be true. He was wrong that the sun, stars and moon weren't spheres (although they're not perfect spheres), but he had some decent reasons. He said that from far away, any glowing object (like the sun and stars) appears round, and he said that asteroids that had landed on earth weren't spheres, so his deductions were based on evidence, though not enough in that case. Anyway, what he did get right was startling, and more than what he discovered was the method he used to discover them - logic.
I think more people should know about him, and hopefully he'll get more fame as rationalists like himself start to become more common in the world. Here is some info from the Wikipedia site about him:
He developed a rational, secular, naturalistic and mechanistic account of the world and of human beings and gave a materialistic explanation of the origin of the universe.
He was said to have studied by standing at bookstalls, and had a superb memory, which allowed him to become very well-versed in the Chinese classics. He eventually reached the rank of District Secretary, a post he soon lost as a result of his combative and anti-authoritarian nature.
Wang Chong reacted to the state that philosophy had reached in China. Daoism had long ago degenerated into superstition and magic, and Confucianism had been the state religion for some 150 years. Confucius and Laozi were worshipped as gods, omens were seen everywhere, belief in ghosts was almost universal, and fengshui had begun to rule people's lives. Wang derided all this and made a vocation of giving a rational, naturalistic account of the world and the human place in it.
One example of Wang's rationalism is his argument that thunder must be caused by fire or heat, and is not a sign of the heavens being displeased. He argued that repeatable experience and experiment should be tried before adopting the belief that divine will was involved.
He was equally scathing about the popular belief in ghosts. Why should only human beings have ghosts, he asked, not other animals? We are all living creatures, animated by the same vital principle. Besides, so many people have died that their ghosts would vastly outnumber living people; the world would be swamped by them.
Wang was just as rational and uncompromising about knowledge. Beliefs require evidence, just as actions require results. Anyone can prattle nonsense, and they'll always be able to find people to believe it, especially if they can dress it up in superstitious flummery. Careful reasoning and experience of the world are needed.
Below are some his actual quotes:
"People say that spirits are the souls of dead men. That being the case, spirits should always appear naked, for surely it is not contended that clothes have souls as well as men."
"Clouds and rain are really the same thing. Water evaporating upwards becomes clouds, which condense into rain, or still further into dew. When the garments (of those travelling on high mountain passes) are moistened, it is not the effect of the clouds and mists they pass through, but of the suspended rain water."
"The sun is like fire and the moon like water. The fire gives out light and the water reflects it. Thus the moon's brightness is produced from the radiance of the sun, and the moon's darkness is due to (the light of) the sun being obstructed. The side that faces the sun is fully lit, and the side that is away from it is dark. The planets (as well as the moon) have the nature of water and reflect light. The light pouring forth from the sun does not always reach the moon owing to the obstruction of the earth itself—this is called 'anxu', a lunar eclipse. When (a similar effect) happens with a planet (we call it) an occulation (xingwei); when the moon passes across (the sun's path) then there is a solar eclipse (shi)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Ch%27ung_(philosopher)
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