Antiquity

Before the invention or discovery of the concept of "nature" (ancient Greek phusis) by the Pre-Socratic philosophers, the same words tend to be used to describe the natural "way" in which a plant grows,^[16] and the "way" in which, for example, one tribe worships a particular god. For this reason, it is claimed these men were the first philosophers in the strict sense, and also the first people to clearly distinguish "nature" and "convention."^{[17]: p.209} Science was therefore distinguished as the knowledge of nature and things which are true for every community, and the name of the specialized pursuit of such knowledge was philosophy — the realm of the first philosopher-physicists. They were mainly speculators or theorists, particularly interested in astronomy. In contrast, trying to use knowledge of nature to imitate nature (artifice or technology, Greek technē) was seen by classical scientists as a more appropriate interest for lower class artisans.^[18] A clear-cut distinction between formal (eon) and empirical science (doxa) was made by the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides (fl. late sixth or early fifth century BCE). Although his work Peri Physeos (On Nature) is a poem, it may be viewed as an epistemological essay on method in natural science. Parmenides' ἐὸν may refer to a formal system or calculus which can describe nature more precisely than natural languages. "Physis" may be identical to ἐὸν.^[19]

Aristotle, 384 BCE – 322 BCE, one of the early figures in the development of the scientific method^[20]

A major turning point in the history of early philosophical science was the controversial but successful attempt by Socrates to apply philosophy to the study of human things, including human nature, the nature of political communities, and human knowledge itself. He criticized the older type of study of physics as too purely speculative and lacking in self-criticism. He was particularly concerned that some of the early physicists treated nature as if it could be assumed that it had no intelligent order, explaining things merely in terms of motion and matter. The study of human things had been the realm of mythology and tradition, however, so Socrates was executed as a heretic.^{[21]: 30e} Aristotle later created a less controversial systematic programme of Socratic philosophy which was teleological and human-centred. He rejected many of the conclusions of earlier scientists. For example, in his physics, the sun goes around the earth, and many things have it as part of their nature that they are for humans. Each thing has a formal cause and final cause and a role in the rational cosmic order. Motion and change is described as the actualization of potentials already in things, according to what types of things they are. While the Socratics insisted that philosophy should be used to consider the practical question of the best way to live for a human being (a study Aristotle divided into ethics and political philosophy), they did not argue for any other types of applied science.
Aristotle maintained the sharp distinction between science and the practical knowledge of artisans, treating theoretical speculation as the highest type of human activity, practical thinking about good living as something less lofty, and the knowledge of artisans as something only suitable for the lower classes. In contrast to modern science, Aristotle's influential emphasis was upon the "theoretical" steps of deducing universal rules from raw data and did not treat the gathering of experience and raw data as part of science itself.^{[nb 5]}