Some background: My SO told me an anecdote about her metaphysics class where her professor asked them how can they proved that the earth is round and the prof stumped every answers to his question even they gave facts (don’t worry, it’s just an ice breaker, it was just for fun as a class introduction). I don’t know any specific details on how the professor replied to the students and I’m just curious how it was possible to prove that the earth is round philosophically, or at least, in the perspective of philosophy.
Another reason I’m curious about this is because I remember watching that Vsauce video about the past where Michael talked about the Last Thursdayism. I have a gut feel that deductive reasoning or philosophical razors have something to do with this.
EDIT:Some terminologies
In: Other
In philosophy there is the “Raven Paradox” which basically boils down to the statement that “All ravens are black” which is irrefutably true unless one is hatched that is white. The same could be said about the roundness of earth with respect to the shape of every other planet that we can see. If every other planet that we can see is round then it stands to reason that earth is also round.
The Earth’s shadow is round, as evidenced by observing its shadow on the Moon. Shadows of objects reflect their shape. Therefore, the Earth is round. QED.
“Even if you walk the entire circumference of the earth with one who does not believe in its roundness. They will still fail to see the reality.”
Get in a plane. Point the nose true west. Fly until you get back to where you started without ever having to steer the plane off a straight line
Well.. I mean how the ancients proved it was round was through simple trigonometry.
They (the Egyptians) had two towers (obelisks) that were of equal height and a known measured distance apart. When the length of shadow of each tower was measured at the same time of day, and the lengths of the shadows were different, the only way that made sense was if the earth was round.
[Here’s Carl Sagan.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5k3_vp02jM)
I mean, ancient Greeks knew the earth was round by 500 BC…but that was using math not philosophy.
You can look at the pictures from the moon and can clearly see is round. All the other major planets are round. The only way the sun works with day night cycle and our moon is if it’s round.
But if you are trying to convince a flat earther you will never. Conspiracy theorists can never be convinced. Don’t waste your time.
Philosophically? You can’t. There is nothing that says the world is round as a result of pure logical necessity. It is simply round as a result of physical fact.
I proved it by observation and watching the sun rise on my UK home security cameras as I sat on a balcony watching the sunset in Sydney.
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