HIST 124 SPU Wonder Making and Philosophical Wonder Questions

Guided Reading & Discussion QuestionsHistory 124
4/27/23
Reading: “Wonder-making and philosophical wonder” by Tybjerg (available on Blackboard)
Nota bene: Homework 5 due 4/27
Instructions: Read the assigned text through carefully. The following questions are meant to
help focus your attention as you wade through the academic language. We will be discussing
these questions together in class, so give them a bit of thought.
1) What is Tybjerg’s argument in this article, and what evidence does she use to support it?
Who is Heron, whom Tybjerg mentions a lot in this article?
2) How does the inclusion of wonder-making devices, and the philosophical principle of
wonder in general, bring Heron’s mechanics from the practical to the theoretical?
3) How does the epistemology of the “knower” and the “unknowing” come into play in
Heron’s mechanics? (See page 451.)
4) How might Heron have argued that mechanical displays were more useful than
philosophical debates or arguments?