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Science and the political world of the early 17th century

 

“Science” is:

•      A set of concepts that describe and explain the natural world

•       The process whereby those ideas are investigated and refined

•       The institutional structures and practices of those who investigate the natural world

A set of concepts that describe and explain the natural world

The process whereby those ideas are investigated and refined

The institutional structures and practices of those who investigate the natural world

 

“Early Modern” Europe

•      Characterizes European society until c. 1789 (the French Revolution)

•      A product of the Renaissance, Reformation, rise of national monarchies, and Scientific Revolution

•      New political, social, and economic structures

•      New concepts of man, society, and religion

Christian Churches in Europe in the mid-Sixteenth Century

 

Intellectual features of “modern” society

•      secularism – the focus is on this world, not the next

•      authority (political, cultural, intellectual, etc.) is based on knowledge or ideology not religious faith

•      individualism – who you are as a person is more important than whatever community you come from or are part of

 

Features of the modern state

•      power is based on secular authority

–   In EME, authority was justified by appeal to “divine right”

•      international relations determined through diplomacy

–   “Balance of Power” diplomacy

•      large, standing, "professional" armies, uniformed, with a regularized training program ("drill")

•      large centralized bureaucracy

•      large-scale taxation

 

“Divine Right of Kings”

•      in the early 17th century, a newly-articulated theory of royal authority

•      the King’s authority flows from God; he is solely responsible to God

•      the King pursues the disinterested (unbiased) rule of the Kingdom in order to benefit the people

•      the King is to ignore “special interests” and the customs of the past in order to be disinterested

The King is to be above petty disputes

 

France: an “absolute” monarchy

•      Created by Cardinal Richelieu and others during the minority of Louis XIII

•      King rules by divine right

•      State, government centered on the King

•      Nobility allowed to exercise power at the local level, as long as they recognize the ultimate authority of the King

•      Success of an absolutist monarchy is greatly dependent on image

 

England, 1603-1660: the King vs. Parliament

•      James I of England (VI of Scotland), 1603-1625

–   married to a Catholic

–   very nearly Catholic himself

•      Charles I, 1625-49

–   the second son of James I -- not trained to rule

–   stubborn

–   not politically astute

 

The Restoration

•      Cromwell died in 1658

•      His son, Richard, succeeded him as Lord Protector, but was unwilling to continue

•      Parliament invited Charles’ son back to rule with conditions

 

•      1660-1685: Charles II

–   worked fairly well with Parliament, did not insist on royal prerogatives

–   Kept his religious inclinations secret

 

Science and the state

•      Traditionally, the Church maintained an interest in astronomy

–   problem of the calendar

–   Little interest in science or the development of applied science

•      As more powerful monarchies emerged in the 17th century, the “state” began to take a somewhat greater interest in science and applied science

The key problem of 17th century applied science: the Longitude

•      European states heavily invested in overseas colonial expansion and trade

–   State-licensed trading corporations established in England, France, and the Netherlands in the early 17th century

–   The state had a vested interest in the success of private shipping enterprises

–   Navies were also becoming more critical to military power

 

Galileo

•      The Military Compass

–   a device to simplify gunnery calculations

–   developed while Galileo was in the employ of the Republic of Venice

•      The telescope

–   recognized the non-scientific value of the telescope, so worked to promote it in Venice

Galileo was primarily interested in the patronage of a ruler, not in state employment

 

The purpose of scientific academies

•      allow for the exchange of ideas among an interested and informed group

–    often sponsored publications

•      Serve as a clearing house for information, both of those who are members, and of those outside the group

•      facilitate the social credibility of scientific knowledge through association with socially established individuals or institutions

•      Facilitates the “patronage” of scientific investigation

 

Accademia de Lincei, 1603-c.1629

•      the “Academy of the Lynxes”, a private club sponsored by a Roman nobleman

•      purpose was to “penetrate the interior of things and know their causes and the operations of nature which work within them.”

•      elected Galileo as a member after his astronomical work became known

–   adopted Galileo’s emphasis on experiment as a means of advancing knowledge

•      served as a clearing house for information

 

Accademia del Cimento, 1657-67

•      The “Academy of the Concrete”

•      formed around a pupil of Galileo, Vincenzio Viviani, in Florence

•      Did work investigating atmospheric temperature and pressure; helped to develop thermometers and barometers

•      unable to overcome the political fragmentation and religious conservatism of Italian society

 

Science and method

Francis Bacon, 1561-1626

 

Bacon’s career

•      not a “scientist”, but a courtier and government official

•      Lawyer and political writer, was in disgrace during much of Elizabeth’s late reign

•      Family connections got him a job with the government of James I

•      in his position as a lawyer in James’ court, articulated much of the legal basis of Stuart absolutism

•      Eventually became Lord Chancellor, Baron Verulam, and Viscount St. Albans (1620-21)

•      lost power in 1621 due to bribery charges -- was briefly imprisoned in the Tower

 

Bacon’s major works

•      1605  Advancement of learning

•      1614  New Atlantis (not published until 1626)

•      1620  Novum Organum

•      1623 De Augmentis Scientiarum

 

 

Bacon’s scheme

•      Knowledge has been corrupted over time

•      Determine what is known in the sciences through a close examination and classification of human knowledge (Advancement of learning)

•      Collect “facts” about nature

•      Apply the “inductive method” to the elucidation of nature from these “facts”

 

The four idols

•      errors in knowledge prompted by psychological causes

 

•      Idols of the tribe: certain intellectual faults universal to mankind -- for example, oversimplification

•      Idols of the cave: intellectual peculiarities of individuals -- some focus on similarities, some on differences

 

•      Idols of the marketplace: errors for which the limitations of language are responsible

–   those things that are fundamentally different are often classed together: for example, whales and fishes

–   those things that are fundamentally the same are often classed separately: for example, ice, water, and steam

–   emphasis on language often leads to arguments over that which is fundamentally meaningless

•      Idols of the theatre: mistaken systems of philosophy

–   primarily Aristotelian scholasticism

 

The inductive method

•      all previous systems of nature are flawed because they do not adequately examine the general propositions from which deductions are made

–   a general law is derived from only one or two specific cases

–   a general law is assumed to be self evident because it is familiar and generally accepted

•      The basis of knowledge must be the patient accumulation of well-founded generalizations of steadily increasing degrees of generality

 

“The greater force of the negative instance”

•      We must collect specific instances of general natural laws, BUT

•      we can never collect all instances, THEREFORE

•      our goal should be to search for the false instance -- the instance for which our generalization does not apply

•      As long as we do not find falsification, then our generalization may be taken as true

 

Bacon’s most influential idea

•      The collection of natural knowledge is a collaborative undertaking

•      The state should establish an institution to support this undertaking

•      this establishment must encourage impersonally methodical research, and a disinterested search for knowledge to benefit mankind

 

Descartes and the Mechanical Philosophy

 

Aristotle’s physics

•      The world is composed of four elements, each of which possesses certain qualities

–   hot/cold, wet/dry, gravity/levity

–   the motion of matter is determined by its qualities

•      The universe is full -- there is no vacuum

 

Christian Aristotelianism

•      In addition to the qualities that give elements their physical characteristics, all substances have an inherent essence

–   the essence of a substance guides its development

–   essences are related to life, growth, purpose

•      The “essence” of an acorn is to develop into an oak tree

 

The Renaissance

•      Revival and reconsideration of ancient philosophies

•      Ancient alternatives to Ptolemaic astronomy referenced by Copernicus, Galileo

•      Similarly, there were efforts to reexamine ancient theories concerning the nature of matter

 

Ancient elemental theories

•      Pythagoreanism

–   nature is number

–   a useful idea in an era working to mathematize natural knowledge

•      Atomism (5th century BCE): the world consists of an infinite number of infinitely small, solid corpuscles

–   atoms move, collide, and interact in a void or vacuum

–   atoms come in an infinite number of shapes

–   nature is a mechanism; no “spirit” or “mind” guides the motions of atoms

 

Christianity and atomism

•      Atomism: the universe is matter, motion, and vacuum

•      Materialism: there is no non-material influence on the material universe

•      There is no “soul” or “essence”

•      a further problem: transubstantiation

–   if matter is no more than size, shape, and motion, then how can the essence of bread and wine be miraculously transformed into that of the body and blood of Christ?

 

The revival of atomism

•      Galileo hinted at it in his 1623 essay “The assayer”

–   distinguished between qualities inherent in matter (size, shape, location, motion) and those inherent in the observer (taste, color, heat, sound, etc.)

–   those qualities inherent in matter are also quantifiable

 

Pierre Gassendi, 1592-1655

•      French priest, mathematician, philosopher

•      Revived ancient atomism, esp. the ideas associated with Epicurus, BUT

•      attempted to reconcile atomism with Christian doctrine

•      the Universe is nothing more than matter and motion

•      Motion was imposed by God at the creation, and sustains the workings of the Universe

 

René Descartes, 1596-1650

•      Discourse on Method (1637)

–    “Cogito ergo sum”

–   Geometry

–   Meteorology

–   Optics

•      Principia philosophiae (1644)

 

The Cartesian Universe

•      Rationalist -- based on reasoned deduction

–   Cartesians suspect sensory experience, although they often base their theories on it

•      The Universe is matter in motion

•      Space is defined by matter, and cannot exist independent of it

–   Therefore, there is no vacuum

–   a non-atomist mechanical theory

 

Mind/Body dualism

•      Because the mind can doubt the existence of the physical body, the two must be independent

From this we get a Universe composed of

•      Matter: that which is extended in three dimensions

–   All matter is the same

–   All matter is infinitely divisible

•      Mind: that which is not physical, but which is self-conscious

•      God: functions to unite mind and matter

 

Man: a unique creation

 

Descartes cosmology: some specifics

•      From the Principia philosophiae

•      In the Beginning, there was infinite matter, infinitely extended

•      God divided the matter and endowed it with motion

•      The motion of this matter has led to the creation of three different “kinds” of matter, differentiated only by their shapes

 

Cartesian matter

•      “Second matter”: that matter reduced by friction into globular particles

•      “Third matter”: matter that has not yet been reduced by friction into second matter; larger, coarser matter

•      “First matter” or “subtle matter”: the “shavings” from the frictional reduction of the third matter into the second matter

 

The formation of “first” or “subtle” matter

 

The Universe

•      Particles of secondary matter create “whirlpools” or vortices in the universe

•      These vortices force the particles of first matter, or subtle matter, into their centers, where they become stars (like the sun)

•      The larger, coarser pieces of tertiary matter are carried along around the vortices by the secondary matter

–   These are the “planets”, and they are also composed of first and second matter, although their “mass” comes only from the third matter

 

Cartesian mechanics

•      The only cause of motion -- or any other phenomenon -- is the “pushing” or “pulling*” of other matter in the Universe

•      There are no “occult” or “hidden” forces operating on the material world

 

An example: Descartes’ explanation of magnetism

 

Why was Descartes so successful?

•      Descartes and his system offered an explanation for all physical phenomena

–   It was as “universal” as Aristotle and the Aristotelian system

–   BUT, it was “new”, “modern”, and it drew from contemporary philosophical ideas

 

Descartes’ life

•      After 1629, he lived in the Netherlands

–   At this time, unquestionably the most liberal European society

–   Religiously tolerant to a fair degree

•      Wrote all of his major works while there

•      In 1633 suppressed his work Le monde because of the Church’s condemnation of Galileo

 

Renaissance Medicine

Renaissance: “Rebirth”

What was reborn?

 

The ideals and culture of ancient Greece and Rome

•      Humanism: a celebration of man and his achievements

–   Art

–   Literature

–   History

–   the study of government

–   the study of man

 

Man is worthy of study, inquiry, and admiration

 

Man and God

•      Medieval conception of man

–   made of “dirt” (Bible, Aristotle)

–   higher than the beasts (but not much)

•      Renaissance conception of man

–   formed “in God’s image”

–   lower than the angels

 

The relative place of man in the celestial hierarchy did not change, but the perception of the potential of man did

 

Accurate depiction of man

•      revival of anatomical study motivated by Renaissance art

•      Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519

–   made over 750 anatomical drawings, but these were not circulated or published

•      Albrecht Durer, 1471-1528

•      Michelangelo, 1475-1564

 

Drawing from DaVinci’s notebooks

 

Michelangelo, The creation of man, from the Sistine Chapel, 1508-1512

Michelangelo, David, 1501-4

 

An illustration from a medieval anatomy text

 

Andreas Vesalius, 1514-1564

•      Belgian physician

 

Title page of Vesalius, De fabrica, 1543

Close up of dissection

 

William Harvey, 1578-1657

•      Studied medicine at the University of Padua

•      1618: appointed Physician Extraordinary to James I; later became Royal Physician to James I and Charles I

•      Studies of the motion of the blood challenged Galenic theories of blood flow

–   Established through dissection that there is no way for blood to flow through the septum of the heart

•      Developed early theories of embryology

 

Illustration from Harvey, De motu cordis

Magic in early seventeenth-century European culture

Kepler

 

Major works

•      1609 Astronomia nova

–    planets travel around the sun in elliptical orbits

–    “equal-area” law

•      1618 Harmonices mundi

–    mathematical relationship between orbital distances and orbital periods (the “Third Law”)

•      These two books were, if anything, harder to read than Copernicus, but the theories were right

 

Kepler after Prague

•      Became district mathematician of Linz (to 1626)

•      in 1615-16 defended his mother against charges of witchcraft

•      1627: Published the Rudolphine tables

–   used Tycho’s data

–   demonstrated the accuracy of Kepler’s system

 

“Nature” disciplines of the early modern world: their perspective

•      Natural philosophy

•      Medicine

•      Astronomy

•      Mixed mathematics

–    Architecture

–    Military engineering

–    Surveying

–    Navigation

•      Surgery

•      Herbalism

•      Midwifery

•      Astrology

•      Alchemy

 

•      Natural magic

 

 

•      Popular magic

 

•      Maleficium -- “Black magic”

 

Determining a horoscope
at the moment of birth,
1587 woodcut

The witch craze: a combination of three forces

•      Maleficium: the ability to do harm through malicious magic

•      Diabolism: the worship of the Devil

–    Sabbat: the ceremony during which the Devil is worshipped

•      Torture

–    under Roman law, confessions obtained through torture are legally admissible in court

–    after 1468 suspected witches in Continental areas could be tortured

–    Torture was not (formally) allowed to obtain witchcraft confessions under Common (English) law

 

Dichotomies in European thought

•      God vs. Satan

–   before 1100: Satan is subordinate to God

–   after 1100: Satan equally powerful, and thus a threat to God

•      the Virgin Mary vs. “the witch”

–   a woman is either a saint, or she is depraved

–   woman as sexually voracious

–   woman as sexual predator of men

 

The early history of witchcraft

•      1258 Bull by Pope Alexander IV, to Franciscan Inquisitors, bidding them refrain from judging any cases of witchcraft unless there was some very strong reason to suppose that heretical practice could also be amply proved

•      1398 Witchcraft declared a “heresy”

•      1468 Witchcraft declared a crime for which torture is allowed

 

The Malleus Maleficarum, 1486

•      “The Hammer of Witches”

•      Heinrich Kramer

•      Jacob Sprenger

 

•      the handbook of witch beliefs, and guide to witch interrogations

 

Chapters of the Malleus Maleficarum

•      Question I. Whether the Belief that there are such Beings as Witches is so Essential a Part of the Catholic Faith that Obstinacy to maintain the Opposite Opinion manifestly savours of Heresy.

•       Question VI Concerning  witches who copulate with  devils. Why is it that women  are chiefly addicted to evil  superstitions?

•      Question VII Whether witches can sway the minds  of men to love or hatred.

•      Question VIII Whether witches can hebetate the  powers of generation or  obstruct the venereal act.

 

•      Question IX Whether  Witches may work some  Prestidigitatory Illusion so that  the Male Organ appears to  be entirely removed and  separate from the Body.

•      Question X Whether Witches  can by some Glamour  Change Men into Beasts.

•      Question XI That witches  who are midwives in various  ways kill the child conceived  in the womb, and procure an  abortion; or if they do not  this, offer new-born children  to devils.

 

When, where?

•      European witchcraft persecutions date to the middle ages

•      accelerated during the late 15th century

•      peaked during the period from c. 1580 to c. 1650 (1660 in Britain)

–   coincides with periods of intense warfare and social disruption

•      Persecutions most common in Germany, N. France, Switzerland, Britain (esp. 1640-60)

•      Virtually no persecutions in Spain

 

Why?

•      in traditional societies , women are often viewed as “closer” to nature, and so better able to manipulate nature

•      Maleficium offers an explanation of the inexplicable (in a pre-scientific society)

•      If evil is done, “someone” must do it

 

•      16th and 17th century European society was in chaos -- and witches offered a convenient scapegoat for that chaos

•      Torture

 

A German witch burning, 1533

Burning a witch in France, c. 1634