Mechanical_Philosophy

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LECTURE
Lecture 16: The Mechanical Philosophy
I. Gassendi's Alternative Mechanical Philosophy
A. Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655)
B. His Christianized Atomism
II. Science, Magic, and Religion
A. Magic, Mechanical Arts, and Mechanical Philosophy
B. 'Occult Qualities' in Aristotelian Philosophy
C. Malinowski, Thomas, Mersenne
D. Elite versus Popular
III. From Renaissance to Rebellion (and Disenchantment)
A. In Praise of Novelty
B. A 'New Method' for the 'New Science'
C. A New Image & New Ideology of Scientific Knowledge
(3/20)
[References: Boas 1952; Eamon 1983; Henry 1986; Horton 1970; Houghton
1942; Hutchison 1982; Hutchison 1983; Mendelsohn 1977; Millen 1985;
Schuster 1990; Thorndike 1951; Webster 1982]
I. GASSENDI'S ALTERNATIVE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY
A. PIERRE GASSENDI (1592-1655)
I SPOKE LAST TIME ABOUT THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY OF RENÉ
DESCARTES
HE BELIEVED THAT HE WAS ABLE TO ERECT A SYSTEM OF NATURE
BASEDON A VERY SPARSELY POPULATED ONTOLOGY; NAMELY, FIRST,
SECOND,AND THIRD MATTER; VORTICES; RECTALINEAR INERTIA, AND
CONSERVATION OF MOTION
BY RELYING ON STRICTLY MECHANICAL INTERACTIONS; THAT IS, ON
THEMOTIONS, COLLISIONS, AND VIBRATIONS OF MATTER, DESCARTES
BELIEVES HE IS ABLE TO CONSTRUCT EXPLANATIONS FOR ALL THE
PHENOMENA OF THE NATURAL WORLD
AND BY REDUCING NATURE TO ITS GEOMETRIC ESSENCE -- THAT IS, TO
JUST THOSE PROPERTIES THAT CAN BE REPRESENTED
GEOMETRICALLY -- DESCARTES HAS ACHIEVED WHAT HE SET OUT TO
DO; CONSTRUCT A NATURAL PHILOSOPHY BASED ON CERTAIN
KNOWLEDGE
I ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE ESSENTIALS OF HIS NATURAL
PHILOSOPHYCOULD BE REDUCED TO THREE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS:
1) FIRST, HE BELIEVED THAT ALL NATURAL PHENOMENA COULD BE
REDUCED TO MATTER IN MOTION
2) SECOND, ALL CAUSATION MUST OCCUR THOUGH CONTACT
BETWEENMATERIAL BODIES -- IN OTHER WORDS, THERE CAN BE NO
OCCULT, OR HIDDEN, AGENCIES IN NATURE
THE ONLY FORM OF EXPLANTION ACCEPTABLE TO DESCARTES IS ONE
THAT RESTS ON CLEAR AND DISTINCT IDEAS OF THE GEOMETER
3) THIRD, THERE EXISTS A FUNDAMENTAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY QUALITIES
AND IC ONCLUDED BY STATING THAT ONE COULD REJECT VIRTUALLY
ALL THE DETAILS OF DESCARTES MECHANICAL EXPLANATIONS AND
STILLBE A MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHER BY ADHERING TO THESE THREE
POINTS
AN EXAMPLE OF AN ALTERNATIVE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY COMES
FROM A FRENCHMAN AND CONTEMPORARY OF DESCARTES, NAMED
PIERRE GASSENDI
GASSENDI WAS BORN IN 1592 IN SOUTHERN FRANCE, THUS MAKING HIM
ONLY 4 YEARS OLDER THAN DESCARTES
HE WAS ALSO EDUCATED BY JESUITS, WAS A CHILD PRODIGY, AND
ADVANCED THROUGH THE ACADEMIC SYSTEM SO RAPIDLY THAT HE
RECEIVED HIS DOCTORATE IN THEOLOGY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF
AVIGNON AT THE AGE OF 22 -- THE MORE TYPICAL AGE WAS AROUNF 35
IN 1616 HE TOOK HOLY ORDERS AND BECAME A SECULAR PRIEST -THAT IS, HE WAS A CLERIC BUT UNATTACHED TO ANY FORMAL
RELIGIOUS ORDER
FROM 1617 UNTIL 1623, GASSENDI WAS A TEACHER OF PHILOSOPHY AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF AIX-EN-PROVENCE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE
B. HIS CHRISTIANIZED ATOMISM
IN THE COURSE OF HIS STUDIES, GASSENDI BECAME FASCINATED WITH
THE THEORIES OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ATOMISTS
AS A MATURE AND ERUDITE SCHOLAR, GASSENDI SET OUT TO REVIVE
AND MODIFY ANCIENT ATOMISM AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO HERMETICISM
LIKE DESCARTES, GASSENDI DISLIKED THE HEREMTIC PHILOSOPHER'S
UNSATISFYING RECOURSE TO OCCULT POWERS AND HIDDEN FORCES
TO EXPLAIN THE WORKINGS OF NATURE
THE DETAILS OF GREEK ATOMISM HAD BEEN AVALIABLE IN EUROPE
FORAT LEAST 150 YEARS PRIOR TO GASSENDI'S WORK, BUT ITS
ACCEPTANCE AS A GENERAL NATURAL PHILOSOPHY HAD BEEN
IMPEDED BY TWO OBSTACLE
1) FIRST, ARISTOTLE HAD CAREFULLY SUMMARIZED AND ROUNDLY
CONDEMNED THE IDEAS OF DEMOCRITUS, THE BEST-KNOWN OF THE
ANCIENT GREEK ATOMISTS
2) THE THE ATOMIC THEORY WAS THOROUGHLY MATERIALISTIC AND
THUS CARRIED WITH IT THE STIGMA OF ATHEISM
THE ANCIENT GREEK ATOMISTS HAD NO PLACE FOR GREEK GODS IN
THEIR UNIVERSE; THERE EXISTED FOR THEM ONLY ATOMS, THE VOID,
ANDMOTION
AND A NATURAL PHILOSOPHY THAT HAD NO PLACE FOR SPIRITUAL
ENTITIES WAS WHOLLY UNACCEPTABLE TO CHRISTIAN SCHOLARS
AND, THOUGH WESTERN SCHOLARS KNEW OF GREEK ATOMISM
THROUGH THE NEGATIVE ACCOUNTS OF ARISTOTLE FROM THE 13TH
CENTURY ONWARD, ALMOST NO PHILOSOPHER HAD EVER TRIED TO
EMPLOY ATOMISM AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ARISTOTELIAN MATTER
THEORY
BUT GASSENDI CLEARLY SAW THE POTENTIAL OF ATOMISM AS A
SYSTEMOF MECHANICAL EXPLANATION AND SOUGHT TO REMOVE THE
TAINT OFATHEISM
GASSENDI SUCCEEDS IN 'CHRISTIANIZING' ANCIENT ATOMISM BY
MAKING THE CHRISTIAN GOD THE CREATOR OF ATOMS, THUS DENYING
THE ANCIENT PREMISE THAT ATOMS ARE UNCREATED AND ETERNAL
IN HIS VIEW, THE EXISTENCE OF ATOMS IN THE ABSENCE OF GOD IS
IMPOSSIBLE
AND, NOT SUPRISINGLY, HE ADDS TO THE STARK ONTOLOGY OF
ATOMISM, THE EXISTENCE OF A NON-MATERIAL SUBSTANCE, THE
HUMANSOUL
ALTHOUGH THIS MAY NOT BE A PROFOUND RE-WORKING OF ANCIENT
ATOMISM, IT IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT GIVES ATOMISTIC IDEAS A
CURRENCY AND LEGITIMACY THEY DID NOT PREVIOUSLY POSSESS
WHAT ESPECIALLY APPEALED TO GASSENDI, WAS THE POSSIBLITY OF
USING ATOMISM TO WORK OUT STRICTLY MECHANICAL EXPLANATIONS
OFNATURAL PHENOMENA
IN THIS SENSE, BOTH GASSENDI AND DESCARTES WERE PURSUING
THE SAME ENDS; AND IN GENERAL THEY AGREED UPON THE THREE
POINTS MENTIONED EARLIER
HOWEVER, GASSENDI DENIED SEVERAL OF THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF
THECARTESIAN MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY
1) FIRST, HE DID NOT ACCEPT THE IDENTITY OF MATTER AND
EXTENSION
2) SECOND, HE REJECTED THE PLENUM AND ALSO THE VORTICES
3) AND THIRD, HE DENIED THAT MATTER WAS INFINITELY DIVISIBLE
IN OTHER WORDS, HE ACCEPTED THE FUNDAMENTAL PRECEPT OF
ATOMIC THEORY; THAT THE SMALLEST CHUNKS OF MATTER, ATOMS,
ARE A PRIORI INDIVISIBLE
NOW GASSENDI'S ATOMS, LIKE THE ATOMS OF DEMOCRITUS, WERE
TINY IMMUTABLE PIECES OF MATTER OF VARIOUS SHAPES AND SIZES
THEY POSSES ONLY THE PROPERTIES OF SHAPE, HARDNESS,
IMPENETRABILITY, AND INDIVISIBILITY
ALTHOUGH THE ATOMS THEMSELVES ARE NOT SUBJECT TO ANY
PHYSICAL CHANGE EXCEPT CHANGE OF PLACE -- THAT IS, THEY MOVE -, THEIR CONFIGURATIONS AND MOTIONS ACCOUNT FOR ALL THE
PHENOMENA OF THE NATURAL WORLD
UNLIKE DESCARTES' SWIRLING MASS OF MATTER, GASSENDI'S ATOMS
MOVE IN A VOID: AN INFINITELY EXTENDED, THREE-DIMENSIONAL,
PERFECTLY EMPTY EUCLIDEAN SPACE
VOID SPACE EXISTS WHETHER OR NOT ANYTHING RESIDES 'IN' IT
INDEED, GASSENDI OFFERS ONE OF THE FIRST STATEMENTS OF WHAT,
INTHE MIND OF NEWTON, WOULD BE COME TO BE CALLED ABSOLUTE
TIME AND ABSOLUTE SPACE
FOR BOTH GASSENDI AND NEWTON, SPACE POSSESSED AN EXISTENCE
QUITE INDEPENDENT OF THE EVENTS THAT OCCUR WITHIN IT
GASSENDI COULD EXPLAIN THE VARYING DEGREES OF HARDNESS,
SOFTNESS, AND DENSITY OF OBJECTS IN THE NATURAL WORLD
THROUGHAPPROPRIATE MIXTURES OF ATOMS OF VARIOUS SHAPES
AND THE VOID SPACE BETWEEN ATOMS
REMEMBER, ONE OF THE OBJECTIONS I RAISE AGAINST CARTESIAN
MATTER THEORY WAS THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND HOW ANY
COMBINATION OF CARTESIAN MATTER (FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD)
CAN ACCOUNT FOR OBJECTS OF DIFFERENT DENSITIES SINCE ALL
THREE TYPESOF MATTER ARE OF THE SAME DENSITY
INDEED, TO GASSENDI'S WAY OF THINKING, THE VERY ACT OF MOTION
INTHE CARTESIAN WORLD IN IMPOSSIBLE
FOR IN ORDER TO MOTION TO COMMENCE IN THE CARTESIAN PLENUM
ALL THE MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE WOULD HAVE TO BEGIN MOVING AT
EXACTLY THE SAME INSTANT -- AND THAT WOULD REQUIRE AN
ABSURDLYLARGE INITIAL FORCE
MOTION IN THE ATOMIC WORLD IS EASY SINCE ATOMS MOVE
EFFORTLESSLY THROUGH A NON-RESISTING VOID SPACE
AT A MORE MUNDANE LEVEL OF EXPLANATION, GASSENDI CAN
EXPLAINWHY IT IS THAT ADDING SALT TO A GLASS OF WATER DOES
NOT RAISE THE LEVEL OF THE WATER
IT IS BECAUSE THE ATOMS OF SALT SETTLE INTO THE EMPTY SPACES
BETWEEN THE ATOMS THAT MAKE UP THE WATER
HOW CAN DESCARTES EXPLAIN THIS? IN HIS WORLD, THERE ARE NO
PLACES FOR THE SALT TO HIDE IN THE WATER
BY POSTULATING ATOMS OF VARIOUS SIZES AND SHAPES, AND BY
ARRANGING THEM ACORDING TO VARIOUS SPATIAL CONFIGURATIONS,
GASSENDI CAN EXPLAIN A WIDE RANGE OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL
PROPOERTIES
OPAGUE AND RIGID OBJECTS RESULT FROM PACKING ATOMS CLOSELY
TOGETHER AND GIVING THEM SHAPES THAT ALLOW THEM TO
INTERLOCK,LIKE PIECES OF A JIG-SAW PUZZLE
SOUR TASTING FOODS ARE COMPOSED OF SHARP, POINTED ATOMS;
SWEET FOODS FROM SMOOTH, SPHERICAL ATOMS
ONE COULD EASILY MULTIPLY EXAMPLES, BUT THERE IS NO NEED; I
THINK GASSENDI'S PRINCIPLE OF EXPLANATION IS CLEAR
GASSENDI MUST ESTABLISH A ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCE
BETWEENA DATUM OF SENSE-EXPERIENCE AND A CERTAIN
GEOMETRIC PROPERTYOR CONFIGURATION OF ATOMS
HIS EXPLANATIONS ARE SIMPLY THE IDENTIFICATION OF A ATOM OF A
PARTICULAR SHAPE -- OR GROUP OF ATOMS OF A PARTICULAR
CONFIGURATION -- WITH A PARTICULAR PHENOMENON OR SENSATION
YET EXACTLY HOW THE SHAPES AND CONFIGURATIONS OF ATOMS
GIVE RISE TO SENSATION IS NEVER DIRECTLY ADDRESSED
AND SINCE OUR SENSATIONS CONSIST OF SECONDARY QUALITIES AND
THE ATOMS THEMSELVES OF PRIMARY QUALITIES, IT WOULD SEEM
THAT WE ARE PERMANENTLY CUT OFF FROM THE WORLD OF
ESSENCES
INDEED, THIS IS ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCLUSIONS THAT
GASSENDI HIMSELF ACCEPTED
THERE IS A DEFINITE LIMIT TO THE ABILITY OF THE HUMAN MIND TO
APPREHEND ULTIMATE REALITY
HE ADMITS THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THE ESSENCE OF MATTER
IS;HE CLAIMS TO BE ABLE TO APPREHEND SOME OF ITS PROPERTIES,
BUT HEDOES NOT PRETEND TO KNOW ESSENCES
THE HUMAN MIND, IN GASSENDI'S VIEW, IS INCAPABLE OF
PENETRATINGTO THE UNDERLYING REALITY
CONTRAST THIS, FOR A MOMENT, WITH DESCARTES' CLAIMS
FOR DESCARTES, MATTER IS EXTENSION, THUS HE BELIEVES THAT HE
UNDERSTANDS THE VERY ESSENCE OF MATTER
INDEED, IT WAS PRECISLE BECAUSE THE EQUATION, MATTER =
EXTESNION, PRESENTED ITSELF CLEARLY AND DISTINCTLY TO HIS MIND
THAT HE KNOWS IT IS TRUE
AND IT IS UPON THIS INDUBITIBLE AXIOM THAT HE IS ABLE TO
CONSTRUCT A COMPLETE NATURAL PHILOSOPHY FOUNDED UPON
CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE
GASSENDI DENIED THE TRUTH OF THAT EQUATION AND THUS FOR HIM
ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY CANNOT BE ACHIEVED
HE HAS ACCEPTED, AT LEAST PARTIALLY, THE CONCLUSIONS OF
SKEPTICISM; OR MORE PRECISELY, HE HAS ACCEPTED WHAT HAS BEEN
CALLED "MITIGATED SKEPTICISM"
THE TENETS OF MITIGATED SKEPTICISM MAINTAIN THAT THE QUEST
FORCERTAINTY IS DOOMED TO FAILURE
BUT GASSENDI DOES NOT GIVE UP THE QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE
ALTOGETHER, AS THE EXTREME SKEPTIC WOULD
IN THE ABSENCE OF THE CERTAINTY OF RATIONAL KNOWLEDGE,
SENSE PERCEPTIONS TAKE ON A NEW IMPORTANCE
ALTHOUGH THE SENSE MAY NOT BE INFALLIBLE, THEY ARE THE BEST
ACCESS WE HAVE TO THE PROPERTIES OF NATURE, AND SO WE MUST
USE THEM CAREFULLY
AND ALTHOUGH SENSE PERCEPTIONS CANNOT LEAD US TO THE
ESSENCEOF NATURE -- TO THE UNDERLYING REALITY -- THEY CAN
PROVIDE US WITH SUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO GAIN A USEFUL
UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORKINGS OF NATURE
THUS GASSENDI IS NOT ONLY POSULATING A NEW ATOMIC THEORY, HE
IS ALSO POSTULATING A NEW GOAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE
GASSENDI WRITES:
THE SOUNDING LINE OF MAN'S REASON IS MUCH TOO SHORT TO
[PLUMB]THE DEPTHS OF THAT IMMENSE OCEAN, NATURE. . . . IT
CANNOT [EVEN] ATTAIN TO THE BOTTOM OF HER SHALLOWS. . . . FOR
IN AS MUCH AS THE TRUE IDEA OF NATURE IS PROPERLY KNOWN ONLY
TO THE ETERNAL INTELLECT, WHICH FIRST CONCEIVED IT; IT CANNOT
BE BUT ONE OF THE HIGHEST DEGREES OF MADNESS FOR DULL AND
UNEQUAL MAN TO PRETEND TO AN EXACT OR ADEQUATE
COMPREHENSION THEREOF"
INSTEAD OF PLUMBING THE DEPTHS AND SEEKING AFTER ESSENCES,
MAN MUST CONTENT HIMSELF WITH THE SURFACE PHENOMENA; THAT
IS,WITH WHAT HIS SENSES TELL HIM ABOUT THE WORLD
IN THIS NEW GOAL OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, EMPIRICISM BECOMES
CENTRAL
II. OCCULT QUALITIES IN THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY
THE ALTERNATIVE AIM OF GASSENDI'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY RAISES A
NUMBER OF INTERESTING POINTS ABOUT THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL
IMPACTOF THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY ON EARLY MODERN SCIENCE
THESE POINTS CONCERN THE TRANSITION FROM THE ARISTOTELIAN
TO THE MECHANICAL MODE OF EXPLANATION
A. ARISTOTELIAN VS. MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY
IN THE ARISTOTELIAN SCHEME OF THINGS, THE IDEAS OF FORMS AND
QUALITIES WERE OF CENTRAL IMPORTANCE IN EXPLAINING THE
NATURALWORLD
ARISTOTLE CONCEIVED OF MATTER AS AN UNDIFFERENTIATED,
UNIVERSAL, PRIMARY STUFF OR SUBSTANCE
HOWEVER, WE NEVER SEE THIS PRIMARY SUBSTANCE IN THIS
UNDIFFERENTIATED STATE; WE ONLY SENSE OR EXPERIENCE
SUBSTANCE ACCOMPANIED BY FORM
AS THEIR NAMES IMPLY, THE ARISTOTELIAN IDEAS OF 'SUBSTANTIAL
FORMS' AND 'REAL QUALITIES' WERE REAL ENTITIES ATTACHED TO
MATTER
THESE FORMS AND QUALITIES ARE WHAT GIVE UNDIFFERENTIATED
MATTER ITS DISTINCTIVENESS
ACCORDING TO ARISTOTELIAN EPISTEMOLOGY, SINCE THESE FORMS
AND QUALITIES CAN BE IMMEDIATELY PERCEIVED BY OUR SENSES,
THEYCONSTITUTE WHAT CAN BE KNOWN ABOUT THE NATURAL WORLD
THINK FOR A MOMENT OF THE FOUR ARISTOTELIAN ELEMENTS -EARTH,WATER, AIR, AND FIRE -- ALL ARE COMPOSED OF THE SAME
SORT OF SUBSTANCE BUT EACH IS DIFFERENTIATED FROM ALL THE
OTHERS BY REASON OF THE DIFFERING COMBINATIONS OF QUALITIES
THUS EARTH IS SUBSTANCE ATTENDED BY THE QUALITIES OF DRYNESS
AND COLDNESS; WATER BY THE QUALITIES OF COLDNESS AND
MOISTNESS; AIR BY MOISTNESS AND HOTNESS; AND FIRE BY HOTNESS
AND DRYNESS
[DIAGRAM]
THIS DIAGRAM NOT ONLY SHOWS THE SYMMETRIES OF ARISTOTELIAN
MATTER THEORY, IT ALSO MAKES CLEAR HOW TRANSMUTATION CAN
TAKE PLACE
THE SUBSTITUTION, SAY, OF THE QUALITY OF DRYNESS FOR THE
MOISTNESS OF WATER RESULTS IN THE TRANSMUTATION OF WATER
TO EARTH; JUST AS THE SUBSTITUTION OF HOTNESS FOR COLDNESS
RESULTS IN THE TRANSMUTATION OF WATER TO AIR OR VAPOR
BUT OF COURSE THERE WERE MANY MORE SUBSTANTIAL FORMS AND
REAL QUALITIES THAN THESE FOUR; FORMS AND QUALITIES WERE
POSTULATED FOR COLOR, SOLIDITY, TASTE, VOLATILITY,
CORROSIVENESS,AND SO ON
IN FACT, ALMOST ALL DISCRETE ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTION WERE
ASSOCIATED WITH A CERTAIN FORM OR QUALITY -- OR PUTTING THIS
THE OTHER WAY AROUND, FORMS AND QUALITIES ARE JUST THOSE
PROPERTIES OF MATTER THAT CAN EXCITE SENSATION
AND SINCE THESE WERE THOUGHT TO BE REAL, INNATE COMPONENTS
OF PHYSICAL BODIES, THEY WERE EMPLOYED AS THE FINAL
EXPLANATION OF THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER
BECAUSE QUALITITES, IN THE ARISTOTELIAN SENSE, ARE THE CAUSES
OFATTRIBUTES OF MATTER, AND BECAUSE THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY
ACCESSIBLE TO THE SENSES, THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK ANY
FURTHER FOR EXPLANATIONS
IF I PUT MY FINGER IN A GLASS OF WATER, I SENSE IMMEDIATELY AND
DIRECTLY THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE WATER; NAMELY, ITS
COLDNESS AND MOISTNESS; IF I PLACE MY HAND NEAR A FLAME, I
AGAINSENSE DIRECTLY ITS REAL QUALITIES -- HOTNESS AND DRYNESS
THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO EXPLAIN ABOUT MY SENSE PERCEPTIONS
OR THE PROPERTIES OF THE BODIES UNDER QUESTION SINCE I AM IN
DIRECT CONTACT WITH ESSENCES OF THOSE BODIES
HOWEVER, THE PROPERTIES OF NATURE ARE NOT ALWAYS AS
ACCESSIBLE OR TRANSPARENT TO OUR SENSES AS A GLASS OF
WATER
IN FACT, QUALITIES WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO BROAD CATEGORIES;
MANIFEST AND OCCULT
'MANIFEST' QUALITIES ARE SIMPLY THOSE THAT ARE SENSIBLE, OR
DIRECTLY PERCEIVED BY OUR SENSES
'OCCULT' QUALITIES ARE INSENSIBLE, OR NOT REVEALED BY OUR
SENSES
ALTHOUGH THESE WERE VALID ARISTOTELIAN CATEGORIES,
CHRISTIAN ARSITOTELIANISM, AS IT DEVELOPED IN THE LATIN WEST
AFTER THE 13TH CENTURY, TENDED TO DENY THE EXISTENCE OF
OCCULT QUALITIES
SINCE OCCULT QUALITIES WERE INSENSIBLE AND FELL OUTSIDE THE
RANGE OF HUMAN SENSES, THEY WERE UNKNOWABLE, AND THUS
COULDNOT BE PART OF THE WORLD OF INTELLIGIBLE DISCOURSE
HERE WE MIGHT RECALL THE OLD ARISTOTELIAN MAXIM THAT THERE
ISNOTHING IN THE MIND THAT WAS NOT FIRST IN THE SENSES
NOW THE CONVERSE OF THIS SUGGESTS THAT WHAT WE CANNOT
SENSECANNOT BE PART OF OUR MIND; WE CANNOT KNOW IT
IF ONLY THE SENSIBLE IS INTELLIGIBLE, THEN THE INSENSIBLE MUST
BEUNINTELLIGIBLE
THUS OCCULT QUALITIES WERE UNCOMFORTABLE ENTITIES FOR
SCHOLASTIC ARISTOTELIANS; THOUGH THEY MIGHT EXIST, THEY
COULD NOT BECOME PART OF THE UNIVERSE KNOWABLE TO THE
HUMAN MIND
INDEED, THE WORD 'OCCULT' STILL CARRIES WITH IT SOME OF THESE
NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS
IN ITS SIMPLEST SENSE, 'OCCULT' MEANS HIDDEN, CONCEALED, NOT
EXPOSED TO VIEW; BUT IT ALSO HAS THE SENSE OF NOT
APPREHENDED BYTHE MIND, BEYOND THE RANGE OF UNDERSTANDING
OR ORDINARY KNOWLEDGE
YET THE SENSE OF 'OCCULT' THAT MOST READILY COMES TO MIND FOR
MOST OF US IS THAT OF SOMETHING HIDDEN OR SECRET, SOMETHING
COMMUNICATED ONLY TO THE INITIATED
AND, MORE PARTICULARLY, WE THINK OF 'OCCULT' IN CONNECTION
WITH THOSE SCIENCES, LIKE MAGIC, ALCHEMY, ASTROLOGY, WHICH
INVOLVE THE KNOWLEDGE OR USE OF AGENCIES OF A SECRET OR
MYSTERIOUS NATURE
PUT SIMPLY SCHOLASTIC ARISTOTELIAN SCIENCE WAS THE SCIENCE
OF 'MANIFEST' QUALITIES WHILE THE 'OCCULT' SCIENCES INVOLVED
THE USEOF OCCULT, OR INSENSIBLE PROPERTIES
AND BECAUSE THEY WERE INSENSIBLE, THEY WERE ALSO
UNINTELLIGIBLE AND, BY EXTENSION, ILLEGITIMATE SINCE THEY CAN
ONLY BE KNOWN IMPERFECTLY OR THROUGH SUPERNATURAL
AGENCIES
THUS MUCH OF THE MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE UNDERSTANDING
OFMAGIC DEPENDED ON THE ARISTOTELIAN DISTINCTION BETWEEN
MANIFEST AND OCCULT PROPERTIES
THE MAGICIAN DID NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND -- THAT IS, HE DID NOT
REALLY HAVE SENSE EXPERIENCE OF -- OCCULT QUALITIES, NOR WAS
IT HE WHO PERFORMED WONDERS; RATHER HE WAS ABLE TO
MANIPULATE FORCES HE DID NOT UNDERSTAND THROUGH THE
AGENCY OF SOME SUPERNATURAL AND TYPICALLY DIABOLICAL SPIRIT
AND THIS, OF COURSE, WAS NOT TRUE KNOWLEDGE, BUT ILLEGITIMATE
KNOWLEDGE, AND HENCE DAMNABLE
NOW THINK HOW ALL THIS CHANGES WITH THE ADVENT OF THE
MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHIES OF DESCARTES AND GASSENDI
ONE OF THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE MECHANICAL
PHILOSOPHY WAS THAT ITS EXPLANATIONS WERE, IN ONE WAY OR
ANOTHER, PICTUREABLE -- ONE CAN VISUALIZE THE EXPLANATORY
MECHANISM IN TERMS OF THE MOTIONS, SHAPES, OR COLLISIONS OF
LITTLE CORPUSCLES OF MATTER
IN THE ARISTOTELIAN EXPLANATION, ONE NEVER HAS A CLEAR VISUAL
IMAGE OF QUALITIES OR FORMS -- INDEED, MOST OF THE
ARISTOTELIAN QUALITIES ARE RELATED MORE TO THE SENSE OF
TOUCH THAN TO SIGHT
THE FOUR QUALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE FOUR ELEMENTS ARE ALL
THINGS YOU CAN SENSE THROUGH YOUR FINGERS -- IN FACT YOUR
FINGERIS IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH REAL QUALITIES AND
SUBSTANTIAL FORMS
THE MECHANICAL EXPLANATIONS DESCARTES AND GASSENDI GIVE
FOR THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE THINGS
THAT CANBE PICTURED IN THE MIND'S EYE BUT NOT DIRECTLY
TOUCHED OR SENSED
THAT IS PRECISELY THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY QUALITIES
SECONDARY QUALITIES, THE THINGS WE EXPERIENCE DIRECTLY
THROUGH OUR SENSES, ARE EPIPHENOMENA THAT ARISE IN THE ACT
OF PERCEPTION AND HAVE NO INDEPENDENT EXISTENCE IN MATTER
AND WHAT DOES HAVE OBJECTIVE EXISTENCE, NAMELY THE PRIMARY
QUALITIES, ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY ACCESSIBLE TO OUR SENSE OF
TOUCHOR EVEN TO OUR SENSE OF SIGHT -- THOUGH VISUALIZABLE,
PRIMARY QUALITIES ARE NOT VISIBLE, OWING TO THE MICROSCOPIC
NATURE OF THE POSTULATED MECHANISMS
YET -- FOR THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHER -- SIZE, SHAPE,
CONFIGURATION, AND MOTION ARE WHAT ARE REALLY EXIST AND ARE
WHAT REALLY CAN BE KNOWN
THUS WE HAVE A CURIOUS INVERSION OF THE ONTOLOGY OF THE
KNOWLABLE; FOR WHAT DESCARTES AND GASSENDI POSTULATE AS
KNOWABLE ARE INSENSIBLE AND THUS, IN PROPER ARISTOTELIAN
TERMINOLOGY, OCCULT
AND WHAT THE ARISTOTELIANS HAD POSTULATED AS KNOWABLE,
NAMELY THE MANIFEST, SENSIBLE QUALITIES, THEY DISMISS AS
ILLUSIONS
IRONICALLY, BY DENYING THAT ANY QUALITY OR PROPERTY OF
NATURECOULD EVER BE DIRECTLY PERCEIVED, MECHANICAL
PHILOSOPHERS EXPANDED THE RANGE OF NATURAL PHENOMENA
THAT COULD BE LEGITIMATELY INVESTIGATED BY ALLOWING
INSENSIBLE QUALITIES INTONATURAL PHILOSOPHY
FOR MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHERS, INSENSIBLE NO LONGER MEANT
UNINTELLIGIBLE SINCE THE INSENSIBILITY OF PRIMARY QUALITIES DID
NOT PREVENT THEM FROM KNOWING, OR AT LEAST INVESTIGATING
AND EXPLAINING, HOW THE WORLD WORKS
AND THUS, WHEN MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHERS CONDEMNED THE
OCCULT QUALITIES OF THE ARISTOTELIANS, WHAT THEY CONDEMNED
WAS NOT THE IDEA OF QUALITIES BEING HIDDEN FROM THE HUMAN
SENSES -- FOR PRIMARY QUALITIES WERE NECESSARILY OCCULT -BUT THE ARISTOTELIANS' RELUCTANCE TO TREAT OCCULT QUALITIES
AS LEGITMATE
IN OTHER WORDS, BY INVERTING TRADITIONAL EPISTEMOLOGY,
MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHERS OPENED THE DOORS TO THE
INVESTIGATION OF A RANGE OF PHENOMENA THAT BEFORE HAD BEEN
DEEMED ILLEGITIMATE
AND THEY CHASTIZED SCHOLASTIC ARISTOTELIANS FOR RESTING
CONTENT WITH THE MERE LABELLING OF INSENSIBLE QUALITIES AS
UNINTELLIGIBLE AND NEGLECTING TO PURSUE THEIR INVESTIGATION
ANY FURTHER
PERHAPS NOTHING CHARACTERIZES THIS SHIFT IN EPISTEMOLOGY
MORECLEARLY THAN A 17TH-CENTURY MEANING OF THE TERM
'OCCULT' THATHAS SINCE FALLEN OUT OF USAGE
THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY TELLS US THAT, IN THE 17TH AND
EARLY 18TH CENTURIES, THE WORD OCCULT HAD THE FOLLOWING
MEANING:
"APPLIED IN EARLY SCIENCE OR NATURAL PHILOSOPHY TO PHYSICAL
QUALITIES NOT MANIFEST TO DIRECT OBSERVATION BUT
DISCOVERABLE ONLY BY EXPERIMENT; [QUALITIES] . . . WHOSE NATURE
WAS UNKNOWN OR UNEXPLAINED; [THE] TREATING OF SUCH QUALITIES
EXPERIMENTAL[LY]"
THUS, IN THE MINDS OF MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHERS, ARISTOTELIANS
DESEREVED THEIR SCORN NOT BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IN OCCULT
QUALITIES, BUT BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY
ENOUGH TO EXPERIMENT ON THEM
B. HERMETIC VS. MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY
IF OCCULT QUALITIES WERE NOW A LEGITIMATE PART OF THE
MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHER'S WORLD OF THE INTELLIGIBLE, THEN HOW
DID THIS AFFECT THE STATUS OF THE 'OCCULT SCIENCES,' OF SECRET
KNOWLEDGE, AND THE MANIPULATION OF SUPERNATURAL AGENCIES?
WEREN'T THE CHIEF FOUNDERS OF THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHER,
DESCARTES AND GASSENDI, CONSCIOUSLY AND VIGOROUSLY
OPPOSED TO THE ANIMISTIC WORLD OF THE HERMETIC
PHILOSOPHERS?
DIDN'T THEY DELIBERATELY SEEK AN ONTOLOGY OF PRIMARY
QUALITIES THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO DISPOSE OF THE PSYCHIC
REDUCTIONISM OF THE MAGUS?
AND DIDN'T THEY ATTEMPT TO SHOW THAT ALL OF NATURE'S
OPERATIONS WERE OPEN TO THE HUMAN MIND, THAT THERE ARE NO
SECRETS OF NATURE THAT CANNOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR IN TERMS OF
THECLEAR AND DISTINCT GEOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF MATTER AND
MOTION?
ALTHOUGH WE CAN JUSTLY ANSWER EACH OF THESE QUESTIONS IN
THEAFFIRMATIVE, I DON'T THINK WE CAN SIMPLY SAY -- AS MANY
HISTORIANS OF SCIENCE HAVE -- THAT THE RISE OF THE MECHANICAL
PHILOSOPHY WAS THE CAUSE, OR LED DIRECTLY TO, THE DECLINE OF
MAGIC
THE HISTORICAL PROBLEMS OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SCIENCE
AND MAGIC DO NOT ALLOW FOR SUCH AN EASY EQUATION AS THIS,
WHERE THE MAJOR TERMS STAND IN A SIMPLE INVERSE RELATIONSHIP
TOONE ANOTHER
THOUGHOUT MOST OF THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES, SCHOLASTIC
ARISTOTELIANS HAD RELEGATED OCCULT QUALITIES TO THE
ILLEGITIMATE OR QUASI-LEGITIMATE DOMAIN OF ASTROLOGY,
ALCHEMY,AND MAGIC
HOWEVER, IN THE 16TH CENTURY, THE AUTHORITY ENJOYED BY THE
HERMETIC CORPUS AND ACCEPTANCE OF RENAISSANCE ANIMISTIC
NATURAL PHILOSOPHIES GAVE THE SCIENCES OF THE OCCULT
GREATER CURRENCY AND LEGITIMACY THAN THEY HAD EVER
OBTAINED IN THE SCHOOLS
AND, THE RENAISSANCE MAGI HAD ALSO LINKED THE MAGICAL
WORLDVIEW TO AN ACTIVE EXPERIMENTAL ATTITUDE TOWARD
NATURE
FOR IF YOU CANNOT SENSE OR UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWERS OF
NATURE, YOU MIGHT AT LEAST ARRIVE AT THE PROPER TECHNIQUE OR
METHOD NECESSARY TO CONTROL THOSE POWERS THROUGH TRIAL
AND ERROR, THROUGH EMPIRICAL EFFORTS, AND EXPERIMENTATION
THEN, IN THE 17TH CENTURY, THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY COMES
ALONG WITH A NEW ONTOLOGY AND A NEW EPISTEMOLOGY: OCCULT
QUALITIES, THOUGH STILL INSENSIBLE, ARE NOW PART OF THE
INTELLIGIBLE WORLD AND THUS A LEGITIMATE PART OF ORTHODOX
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
THIS NEW IMAGE OF LEGITIMATE KNOWLEDGE ALLOWED FOR THE
WHOLESALE APPROPRIATION OF LARGE CHUNKS OF THE OCCULT
WORLDOF THE RENAISSANCE MAGUS AND THE SUBSUMPTION OF
MAGICAL TECHNIQUES AND IDEAS INTO THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY
PERHAPS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EXAMPLE OF SUBSUMPTION WAS
THE BRINGING OF THE EMPIRICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ATTITUDES OF
THE MAGUS UNDER THE GOALS AND PRINCIPLES OF THE MECHANICAL
PHILOSOPHY
THE EXPERIMENTALISM OF THE MAGUS WAS TO ENABLE HIM TO
MANIPULATE HIDDEN POWERS HE DID NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND;
WHEREAS THE EXPERIMENTS OF THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHER WAS
DESIGNED TO HELP HIM DECIDE AMONG VARIOUS POSSIBLE
MECHANICAL MODELS -- MODELS WHOSE MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES HE
BELIEVED HE UNDERSTOOD THOROUGHLY
THUS, IN THEIR ACTS OF APPROPRIATION AND SUBSUMPTION,
GASSENDI AND DESCARTES SUBSTITUTED MECHANICAL
REDUCTIONISM FOR THE PSYCHIC REDUCTIONISM OF THE MAGUS AS
THEIR PREFERRED MODE OF EXPLANATION
IN THE HERMETIC UNDERSTANDING OF THINGS, THE ANCIENT MAGUS
WHO BROUGHT A STATUE TO LIVE WAS ABLE TO DO SO BECAUSE HE
COULD MANIPULATE THE VITAL FORCES OF THE STARS AND CHANNEL
THEM INTO AN INANIMATE OBJECT
DESCARTES APPROPRIATES THIS VERY IMAGE AND INVERTS IT; THE
ANIMATE BEING -- EITHER THE HUMAN BODY DEPRIVED OF SOUL OR,
MORE PERFECTLY, A SOULESS ANIMAL -- IS DENIED ANY SPECIAL
ANIMATING PRINCIPLE AND IS REDUCED TO AN INANIMATE OBJECT, A
MACHINE CONSISTING OF STRINGS, PULLEYS, HYDRAULIC TUBES, AND
INFLATIBLE MUSCLES
HE TAKES THE OCCULT POWERS OF THE MAGNET AND REDUCES THEM
TO A STREAM OF INSENSIBLY SMALL -- BUT EMINENTLY PICTUREABLE --
CORKSCREW-SHAPED PARTICLES HURLING THROUGH THE AIR AND
BORING INTO THE PROPERLY THREADED PORES OF IRON
THERE WERE EVEN FOLLOWERS OF DESCARTES WHO CONTRIVED A
MECHANCIAL EXPLANATION FOR THE ASTROLOGICAL AFFECTS OF THE
STARS ON HUMAN PERSONALITIES
EVERY STAR IN THE SKY RADIATES PARTICLES OF A DISTINCT SHAPE,
ANDAS THE UNIQUE MIXTURE OF STELLAR PARTICLES IMPINGES ON
THE HEART AND BODY OF THE NEWBORN BABY AT THE MOMENT OF ITS
BIRTH,THEY LEAVE AN IMPRINT OF THEIR SHAPES AND THUS SET THE
PATTERN FOR ITS SUBSEQUENT DELEVOPMENT
FOR EVERY PHENOMENON THERE IS A MECHANICAL EXPLANATION
AND, BECAUSE THE ONTOLOGY OF THE NEW MECHANICAL
PHILOSOPHYGRANTED LEGITIMACY TO OCCULT QUALITIES, MANY OF
THE PHENOMENA OF TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE OCCULT
SCIENCES WERE ALSO ACCEPTED AS LEGITIMATE AND SUBJECTED TO
MECHANICAL EXPLANATION
THIS IS NOT TO SAY, HOWEVER, THAT MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHERS
WEREREALLY MAGICIANS IN DISGUISE, OR THAT THEY WERE SIMPLY
USING A NEW BAG OF MECHANICAL TRICKS TO EXPLAIN THE MAGICAL
WORLD THEY STILL BELIEVED IN
BY APPROPRIATING CERTAIN ELEMENTS FROM THE WORLD OF THE
MAGUS, THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHER BROUGHT THOSE ELEMENTS
UNDER A NEW PRINCIPLE AND RULE
AND BY PLACING THEM IN A RADICALLY DIFFERENT EPISTEMOLOGICAL
CATEGORY, HE GAVE THOSE ELEMENTS A NEW MEANING AND A NEW
CONTEXT
AND THIS MODEL OF APPROPRIATION IS APPLICABLE NOT ONLY TO THE
HERMETIC PHILOSOPHER BUT ALSO TO THE SCHOLASTIC
ARISTOTELIAN
FOR DESPITE THE OVERT CRITICISM AND DELIBERATE RENUNCIATION
OFARISTOTELIAN PHILOSOPHY BY BOTH DESCARTES AND GASSENDI -ANDWE COULD WELL THROUGH IN GALILEO AND BACON -- THEY STILL
TOOKMUCH FROM THE SCHOLASTICS
IT WAS TRUE FOR BOTH THE ARISTOTELIAN AND THE HERMETIC
PHILOSOPHER, THAT WHAT ONE KNOWS BEST IS WHAT IS MOST
FAMILIAR; THE DIRECT SENSE IMPRESSION OF THE ARISTOTELIAN'S
FINGERS AND THEPSYCHIC PROCESSES OF THE HERMETIC
PHILSOPHER'S OWN MIND
THE ARISTOTELIAN KNOWS AND UNDERSTANDS THE WORLD BECAUSE
HE TRUSTS HIS SENSES TO GIVE HIM DIRECT ACCESS TO THE REAL
QUALITIES AND SUBSTANTIAL FORMS OF MATTER;
WHEREAS THE HERMETIC MAGUS GAINS A SYMPATHETIC
UNDERSTANDING -- IF NOT A STRICTLY RATIONAL KNOWLEDGE -- OF
THE WORLD BECAUSE HE TRUSTS THAT THE PSYCHIC PROCESSES OF
HIS OWN MIND PROVIDE HIM WITH A SET OF RELIABLE ANALOGIES FOR
THE OPERATIONS OF NATURE
FOR DESCARTES, WHAT ONE KNOWS BEST IS WHAT IS MOST CERTAIN;
NAMELY, THE CLEAR AND DISTINCT IDEAS OF GEOMETRY
AND WHEN HE THOUGHT THAT HE HAD SUCCEEDED IN TRANSFERRING
THE IDEAS OF GEOMETRY TO HIS ONTOLOGY OF MATTER, HE FELT HE
HADTHE FOUNDATIONS FOR A NEW NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
-- A PHILOSOPHY BASED NOT ON THE FAMILIARITY OF SENSE
PERCEPTIONS AND MENTAL PROCESSES, BUT ON THE CERTAINTY OF
GEOMETRIC DEMONSTRATION
III. FROM RENAISSANCE TO REBELLION
A. A NEW IMAGE OF KNOWLEDGE
LET ME STOP AND STAND BACK FROM THIS EXTENDED ANALYSIS OF
THEMECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY AND TRY TO GIVE A BIT OF A SUMMARY
OF WHAT WE HAVE THUS FAR COVERED
THIS, I THINK, WILL HELP PLACE THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE
CONTEXT OF THE 'NEW SCIENCE' OF THE 17TH CENTURY
SO FAR WE HAVE ONLY LOOKED AT DEVELOPMENTS IN TWO OR THREE
SCIENTIFIC TRADITIONS; ASTRONOMY, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
BROADLY DEFINED, AND THE SCIENCE OF MOTION (OR MECHANICS)
IF WE TRY TO COMPARE THE CHARACTER OF THE TRANSFORMATION IN
ASTRONOMY WITH THOSE IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY OR MECHANICS,
WE FIND SOME SIMILARITIES AND SOME DIFFERENCE
YET IN NO CASE DO WE FIND -- AT LEAST I DO NOT SEE -- THE CLEAR
PATTERN OF CHANGE THAT KUHN CHARACTERIZED AS A SCIENTIFIC
REVOLUTION
AS WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN, THE TRANSFORMATIONS IN ASTRONOMY - FROM PTOLEMAIC TO COPERNICAN, FROM COPERNICAN TO
TYCHONIC, AND FROM COPERNICAN TO KEPLERIAN -- ARE HARD TO
CAST IN THE KUHNIAN MODEL
ALTHOUGH ONE MAY IDENTIFY SOMETHING LIKE A CRISIS STATE IN
16THCENTURY ASTRONOMY, IT WAS A CRISIS OF AESTHETICS THAT
CAME INTOEXISTENCE WITH THE BIRTH OF THE PTOLEMAIC THEORY
ITSELF AND WAS NOT GENERATED ON THE EVE OF COPERNICUS' BIRTH
THROUGH THEGRADUAL ACCUMULATION OF ANOMALY
TYCHO'S TRANSFORMATION OF THE COPERNICAN PLANETARY
PARADIGMDOES NOT SEEM TO FIT THE REVOLUTIONARY PATTERN IN
ANY RESPECT, SINCE IT SEEMS IN ESSENCE TO HAVE BEEN A
SOLUTION PREMISED ON COMPROMISE AND NOT ON RADICAL
INNOVATION
KEPLER, OF COURSE, DISREGARDED THE TYCHONIC SYSTEM FROM
THE VERY BEGINNING, AND SOUGHT INSTEAD TO IMPROVE THE
COPERNICAN SYSTEM
THUS IT MIGHT SEEM THAT HE SAW HIMSELF AS ENGAGING IN NORMAL
COPERNICAN SCIECNE; THAT IS, WORKING OUT THE DETAILS OF THE
PARADIGM COPERNICUS HAD ALREADY ESTABLISHED
YET IT WOULD BE HARD TO DENY THAT KEPLER WROUGHT MORE
CHANGES IN THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PLANETARY ASTRONOMY
THAN COPERNICUS HIMSLEF
HE ABANDONNED EPICYCLES, ECCENTRICS, AND EQUANTS AND EVEN
REJECTED THE ANCIENT PRINCIPLE OF UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION
HE INTRODUCED A WORKABLE -- IF IMAGINATIVE -- CELESTIAL PHYSICS
AND DISPLAYED A GREATER FIDELITY TO OBSERVATIONAL DATA THAN
ANY ASTRONOMER WHO EVER WORKED BEFORE HIM
AND HE SET HIS BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE PLANETARY LAWS IN A
METAPHYSICAL FRAMEWORK WHICH CONTEMPORARIES REJECTED
ALMOST AS SOON AS THEY READ IT
THOUGH ONE CANNOT DENY THE IMPACT AND INFLUENCE OF THE
KEPLERIAN REVOLUTION IN ASTRONOMY, IT IS DIFFICULT TO SEE HOW
WECAN SPEAK MEANIGFULLY OF THE IMPACT OF THE KEPLERIAN
PARADIGM -- SINCE HIS PARADIGM OF GEOMETRIC HARMONIES WAS
ADOPTED BY NO ONE
AND WHAT GAVE HELIOCENTRISM GREATER CURRENCY IN THE FIRST
THIRD OF THE 17TH CENTURY WAS NOT THE THEORETICAL TRIUMPHS
OF KEPLER BUT THE SENSATIONAL -- BUT ESSENTIALLY AMBIVALENT -TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF GALILEO
YET AT THE SAME TIME, GALILEO'S NEW MECHANICS WAS DEVELOPED
IN CONSCIOUS OPPOSITION TO ARISTOTELIAN MECHANICS AND
DESIGNED EXPLICITLY FOR THE MOVING EARTH OF THE
UNADULTERATED COPERNICAN SYSTEM
ALTHOUGH TYCHO KNEW COPERNICUS' STUDENTS; AND ALTHOUGH
KEPLER PERSONALLY KNEW AND WORKED FOR TYCHO; AND
ALTHOUGH GALILEO AND KEPLER WERE FELLOW-COPERNICANS AND
CORRESPONDED, IT WOULD SEEM THAT NONE OF THEM EVER GOT IT
TOGETHER INTELLECTUALLY
TYCHO REJECTS COPERNICUS OUTRIGHT;
KEPLER REJECTS TYCHO AND DRASTICALLY ALTERS ALMOST ALL THE
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF THE COPERNICAN SYSTEM EXCEPT ITS
HELIOCENTRICITY;
GALILEO REJECTS BOTH TYCHO AND KEPLER AND RETURNS TO A
SIMPLER -- AND NOW OUT-DATED -- VERSION OF COPERNICANISM:
AND THEN WE ARE ASKED TO ACCEPT THE NOTION THAT THEY ARE ALL
WORKING UNDER THE SAME COPERNICAN PARADIGM
AND WE MIGHT ADD THAT CONSENSUS ON THE MATTER OF THE
COPERNICAN-KEPLERIAN-GALILEAN PLANETARY THEORY WAS SLOW
TO BUILD, AND THAT IT WAS THE TYCHONIC SYSTEM THAT WON THE
ALLEGIANCE OF MOST 17TH-CENTURY ASTRONOMERS
IN OTHER WORDS, THERE WAS CONFUSION REGARDING THE 'TRUE
FORM'OF THE COPERNICAN PARADIGN -- WHAT WITH KEPLER'S
ELLIPTICAL ORBITS ANF GALILEO'S CIRCULAR INTERTIA -- AND THE
SIMULTANEOUS EXISTENCE OF AT LEAST TWO MUTUALLY
INCOMPATIBLE, AND PRESUMABLY MUTUALLY INCOMMENSURABLE,
THEORIES OF PLANETARYMOTION
AND PLEASE KEEP IN MIND, THIS SITUATION ENDURED FOR VERY
NEARLY A CENTURY: FROM THE TIME OF TYCHO'S PUBLICATION OF HIS
THEORY IN 1588 UNTIL ROUGHLY THE TIME OF NEWTON'S PRINCIPIA
PUBLISHED IN 1687
AND DON'T FORGET THAT THIS WAS IN ONE OF THE MORE MATURE AND
WELL-DEVELOPED DISCIPLINES OF EARLY MODERN SCIENCE
WHAT ABOUT NATURAL PHILOSOPHY?
HOW DO THE TRANSFORMATIONS HERE FIT THOSE OUTLINED BY
KUHN?
A FAIR-MINDED DEFENDER OF KUHN MIGHT PROTEST THAT NATURAL
PHILOSOPHY, AS REPRESENTED BY SCHOLASTIC ARISTOTELIANISM,
HERMETIC ANIMISM, AND THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY REALLY
DON'THAVE THE SORT OF TIGHT THEORETICAL STRUCTURE REQUIRED
BY KUHN'S MODEL AND THUS OUGHT NOT TO BE SUBJECTED TO
KUHNIAN ANALYSIS
I WOULD BE INCLINED TO CONCEDE THIS POINT; THE HERMETIC
CORPUSAND THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY OF DESCARTES AND THE
ATOMISMOF GASSENDI AREN'T PARADIGMS IN THE KUHNIAN SENSE
AND THE TRANSFORMATION FROM ONE TO ANOTHER CANNOT BE
PROPERLY CHARACTERIZED AS PARADIGM SHIFTS
YET AS SOON AS WE CONCEDE THIS, WE ALSO CONCEDE THAT KUHN
HASLITTLE TO SAY ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPTUAL
SHIFTS OF THE 17TH CENTURY
THE PROBLEM IS, OF COURSE, THAT THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY IS
NOT A THEORY IN ANY REGULAR SENSE
IT IS A SET OF LOOSELY DEFINED CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF
ACCEPTABLE EXPLANATIONS OF NATURAL PHENOMENA
OR, TO CAST THIS IN TERMS OF THE THREE CATEGORIES OF SCIENCE I
REPRESENTED A WHILE BACK, THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY IS NOT
PART OF THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE, BUT A PART OF THE IMAGE OF
KNOWLEDGE
NOW AT FIRST HEARING THIS MAY STRIKE YOU AS A STRANGE THING
TO ARGUE SINCE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHERS SEEM TO DO NOTHING
BUT MAKE EXPLICIT CLAIMS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE AND OPERATION
OF THE NATURAL WORLD
AND THIS OF COURSE IS PRECISELY THE DEFINITION I GAVE FOR THE
BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT THE PARTICULAR MECHANICAL
EXPLANATIONSPROVIDED BY DESCARTES OR BY GASSENDI ARE IN
THEMSELVES ALMOST MEANINGLESS
THAT IS, ONE CAN ACCEPT OR REJECT PARTICULAR MECHANICAL
MODELS AND STILL BE A MECHANCIAL PHILOSOPHER
DESCARTES HIMSLEF SAID THAT ONE MUST RESORT TO EXPERIMENT
TO DECIDE AMONG A NUMBER OF POSSIBLE MECHANICAL
EXPLANATIONS
THIS IN TURN SUGGESTS THAT THE REAL HEART OF THE MECHANICAL
PHILOSOPHY DOES NOT LIE IN THE PARTICULAR MODEL THAT IS BEING
PUT FOREWARD TO EXPLAIN A PARTICULAR PHENOMENON
RATHER, IT IS THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF EXPLANATION
WHAT THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY REALLY DOES IS TO PROVIDE AN
ONTOLOGY OF MATTER AND MOTION AND TO IMPOSE CLEAR
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS
IN OTHER WORDS, ALTHOUGH THE MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY MAKES
CLAIMS ABOUT THE OPERATIONS OF NATURE, ITS REAL THRUST IS IN
ESTABLISHING NEW CRITERIA FOR ACCEPTABLE KNOWLEDGE AND
SETTING THE STANDARDS FOR NEW MODES OF EXPLANATION
THUS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION OF THE NEW MECHANICAL
PHILOSOPHY WAS A SET OF CRITERIA FOR JUDGING WHAT
CONSTITUTED ALEGITIMATE EXPLANATION:
IF THE EXPLANATION OF A PHENOMENON COULD BE CAST IN TERMS OF
THE SHAPE, SIZE, CONFIGURATION, OR MOTION OF INERT, DEAD, AND
PASSIVE MATTER, THEN IS WAS DEEMED A LEGITIMATE EXPLANATION
ON THE OTHER HAND, EXPLANATIONS THAT WERE NOT MECHANICAL -LIKE ARISTOTELIAN FORMS AND HERMETIC OCCULT POWERS -- WERE
CONSIDERED SUSPECT
THE NEW EPISTEMOLOGY RESTED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT A
PICTUREABLE EXPLANATION WAS MORE CERTAIN THAN EITHER THE
'SENSIBLE' EXPLANATION OF THE ARISTOTELIANS OR THE 'PSYCHIC'
ANALOGIES OF THE MAGI
B. IN PRAISE OF NOVELTY
AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF HERMETICISM AND ARISTOTELIANISM,
THEMECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY REPRESENTS A NEW SORT OF NATURAL
PHILOSOPHY; JUST AS COPERNICUS REPRESENTS A NEW SORT OF
ASTRONOMY
IN FACT THE IDEA OF NEWNESS OR NOVELTY IS ONE OF THE MOST
STRIKING FEATURES OF EARLY MODERN SCIENCE
AND THIS OPENNESS TO THE NEW IS NOWHERE MORE EVIDENT THAN
IN THE TITLES OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS
THERE IS THE 'NEW ASTRONOMY' OF KEPLER AND THE 'TWO NEW
SCIENCES' OF GALILEO
BOTH DESCARTES AND BACON CLAIMED TO HAVE COME UP WITH A
NEWMETHOD FOR DOING NATURAL PHILOSOPHY; AND BACON EVEN
ENTITLED HIS NEW SYSTEM THE 'NEW ORGANUM' -- 'ORGANUM' BEING
THE TITLE GIVEN TO ARISTOTLE'S TREATISES ON LOGIC
AND OF COURSE THERE WERE SEVERAL TREATISES BY MANY
AUTHORS ON THE 'NEW STAR' OF 1572 AND AGAIN ON THE 'NEW STAR'
OF 1604
IN 1651 A JESUIT NAMED RICCIOLI PUBLISHED A WORK CALLED THE
'NEWALMEGEST'
AND SEVERAL OF RICCIOLI'S FELLOW-JESUITS HAD PUBLISHED WORKS
ON THE 'NEW HEAVENS' A 'NEW METHOD' FOR INVESTIGATING
MAGNETISM, ON 'NEW STARS AND COMETS', ON THE 'NEW ASTRONOMY'
--INCLUDING A 'NEW DEMONSTRATION' OF THE IMMOBILITY OF THE
EARTH
THERE WERE EVEN TITLES PROCLAIMING A "NEW ASTROLOGY"
THROUGHOUT THE 17TH CENTURY THERE APPEARED BOOKS ON A
"NEW THEORY OF LIGHT," ON A "NEW THEORY OF VISION," AND ON A
"NEW THEORY OF COMETS,"
THERE WERE TITLES PROCLAIMING A "NEW MEDICINE," A "NEW
SURGURY," AN A "NEW ANATOMY"
IN MATHEMATICS THERE WERE WORKS ON A "NEW ALGEBRA" AND A
"NEW TREATMENT OF CONIC SECTION"
THERE WAS ALSO A "NEW NATURAL HISTORY OF MEXICAN PLANTS,"
"NEW EXPERIMENTS CONCERNING THE NATURE OF VIPERS," A "NEW
METHOD FOR CLASSIFYING PLANTS," A "NEW THEORY OF THE EARTH"
AND IN TECHNOLOGY THERE WERE BOOKS ON "NEW MACHINES," "NEW
INSTRUMENTS," AND "NEW INVENTIONS"
THE LIST COULD BE EXTENDED ALMOST INDEFINITELY; IN FACT, ONE
HISTORIAN OF SCIENCE COMPILED A LIST OF OVER 150 WORKS -- ALL
TREATING TOPICS IN SCIENCE, MEDICINE, OR TECHNOLOGY -- WITH
THE WORD 'NEW' IN THE TITLE
WHAT IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTING IS THAT ALMOST ALL OF THESE
WORKS DATE FROM AFTER 1550 AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF THOSE
FROMAFTER 1600
CLEARLY THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF FASHION IN HOW AUTHORS
CHOOSETITLES TO ADVERTISE THEIR BOOKS
BUT WHAT THIS TREND TOWARD THE USE OF 'NEW' IN TITLES OF
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS SIGNIFIES IS NOT SIMPLY A PASSING FADE,
BUTA FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN THE VALUES AND IDEALS OF THE
SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE
GIVEN THE VENERATION IN WHICH HUMANIST SCHOLARS HELD
ANTIQUITY, THE SUDDEN EMERGENCE AND ACCEPTANCE OF 'THE NEW'
INTHE TITLES OF BOOKS REPRESENTS A REMARKABLE SHIFT IN
SENSIBILITIES
AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS THE SUDDEN GROWTH IN THE USE OF
THEWORD 'NEW' IN BOOK TITLES, AUTHORS BEGAN REFERRING TO THE
'NEWSCIENCE' OR 'NEW PHILOSOPHY'
WHAT WAS MEANT BY THIS VARIED CONSIDERABLY; BUT WHAT SEEMS
TO HAVE BEEN A CONSTANT FEATURE WAS THAT THIS WAS NOT A
PEJORATIVE LABEL
NOVELTY WAS NOT A BAD THING, INDEED IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A
SIGN OF A VERY GOOD THING
NOW IF WE THINK ABOUT THE CHARATER OF MODERN SCIENCE -- that
is, science in the 20th century -- CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING
ASPECTS IS THE OVERWHELMING PRESSURE PLACED ON
RESEARCHERS TO PRODUCE SOMETHING NEW
IN FACT, WE TEND TO THINK THAT IF IT IS NOT NEW, IT CANNOT BE
SCIENCE -- OR AT LEAST NOT GOOD SCIENCE
IN ALMOST ALL SCIENTIFIC FIELDS CHANGE IS RAPID, AND SO WHAT IS
NEWEST -- TECHNIQUES, DISCOVERIES, THEORIES, OR WHAT HAVE
YOU -- ISUNDERSTOOD TO BE THE BEST, THE MOST ADVANCED, THE
MOST ENCOMPASSING
INDEED, THE ENTIRE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IS
DESIGNED TO FASCILITE THE MOST RAPID DISSEMINATION OF
INFORMATION POSSIBLE SINCE THE NEWEST INFORMATION IS THE
MOST CRUCIAL
NOW THIS TREMENDOUS INSTITUTIONALIZED THRIST FOR NOVELTY
HADTO COME FROM SOMEWHERE; AND I THINK WE BEGIN TO SEE THE
EMERGENCE OF THIS IN THE LATE 16TH AND ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY
17TH CENTURIES
I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT THE OPENNESS OF THE 'NEW
SCIENCE' TO NOVELTY IS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT
TRANSFORMATIONS IN THEVALUES AND IDEALS OF THE SCIENTIFIC
ENTERPRISE
WHAT EMERGES IS A SET OF VALUES, REINFORCED BY INSTITUTIONAL
AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES, THAT REWARD THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHER
FOR THE CREATION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE
CONTRAST THE VALUES OF THE 'NEW SCIENCE' WITH THE VALUES OF
EITHER THE SCHOLASTIC OR THE HUMANIST
THE SCHOLASTIC ENTERPRISE WAS DEDICATED ALMOST ECLUSIVELY
TOMASTERING A CANON OF CLASSICAL TEXTS; ANCIENT TEXTS; TEXTS
THATHAD BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME
THE HUMANIST, WHILE DESPISING THE CORRUPTIONS INTRIDUCED BY
ILL-TRAINED SCHOLASTICS, ALSO SORT TO RECOVER THE LOST
WISDOM OF THE PAST
IN BOTH CASES, THE CENTRAL THRUST OF SCHOLARSHIP WAS
DIRECTED TOWARD THE PRESERVATION OF THE OLD AND NOT THE
GENERATION OF NOVELTY
C. A NEW PROGRAMME FOR THE 'NEW SCIENCE'
YET WE MUST BE CAREFUL WITH THE NOTION OF THE 'NEW SCIENCE',
FOR EVEN IN THE 17TH CENTURY IT WAS STILL A QUITE DISPARATE
ENTERPRISE
THE NEW SCIENCE CERTAINLY INCLUDED THE 'NEW ASTRONOMY' BUT
ITWAS NOT CLEAR IF THAT REFERRED TO THE ASTRONOMY OF
COPERNCIUS, TYCHO, OR KEPLER
BACON CALLS REPEATEDLY FOR A NEW NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND
PRESENTS HIS NEW METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
YET THE SCIENCES HE HAS IN MIND IS NOT THE "NEW ASTRONOMY" OF
KEPLER OR THE "NEW MECHANICS" OF GALILEO
GALILEO, ON THE OTHER HAND, STRONGLY SUPPORTED THE "NEW
ASTRONOMY" OF COPERNICUS BUT SEEMS TO HAVE IGNORED THE
"NEW ASTRONOMY" OF KEPLER
AND HE SEEMS NOT TO HAVE BEEN AWARE OF BACON'S "NEW
ORGANON"
NOW IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE ONLY THING ALL OF THESE "NEW
SCIENCES" SHARED WAS THEIR RELATIVELY RECENT ORIGIN
BUT SINCE THEY LACKED ANY KIND OF CONCEPTUAL COHESIVENESS,
ITMAY SEEM DIFFICULT TO JUSTIFY CALLING THEM PARTS OF THE SAME
"NEW SCIENCE"
YET THERE IS ONE CHARACTERISTIC THAT IS COMMON TO EACH OF
THESE PARTS -- AND THAT IS A BROADLY EMPIRICAL APPROACH
KEPLER'S THEORETICAL BREAKTHROUGH IN ASTRONOMY DEPENDED IN
A FUNDAMENTAL WAY ON TYCHO'S EXTENSIVE OBSERVATIONAL
RECORD
GALILEO, THOUGH NOT QUITE THE 'FATHER OF EXPERIMENTAL
PHYSICS'HE IS SOMETIME CLAIMED TO BE, NEVERTHELESS SAW HOW
EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE COULD BE USED RHETORICALLY TO
CONVINCEHIS AUDIENCE
FOR THE RATIONALIST DESCARTES, EXPERIMENT WAS TO BE
EMPLOYED AS A MEANS OF TESTING AND DECIDING AMONG SEVERAL
POSSIBLE MECHANICAL EXPLANATIONS
AND FOR BACON, EXPERIMENTAL, OBSERVATION, AND THE GATHERING
AND COLLECTING OF FACTS WERE TO FORM THE BASIS OF HIS
REFORM OFALL NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
EMPIRICAL EFFORT WAS THE KEY INGREDIENT IN HIS FORMULA FOR
THELABOR-INTENSIVE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND
NOW EVEN THOUGH 'EXPERIMENT' AND 'EMPIRICISM' MEANT
SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR EACH OF THESE MEN, THEY ARE ENOUGH
ALIKE TO FORM A POSSIBLE UNIFYING FRAMEWORK FOR ALL THESE
VARIOUS AND DISCONNECTED ACTIVITIES
IT SEEMS THAT THE NOTION OF 'THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD'
RENDERED ITS GREATEST SERVICE AS A BANNER UNDER WHICH
COULD BE UNITED A VARIETY OF DISTINCT ACTIVITIES
AND PROCLAIMING ADHERENCE TO THE "EMPIRICAL METHOD" WAS A
MEANS OF PROCLAIMING YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN THE NASCENT SOCIAL
GROUPINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEW SCIENCE
IN OTHER WORDS, THE 'EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY' HELPED
DESIGNATE A NEW PROGRAM OF UTILITARIAN, PRACTICAL,
COOPERATIVE,AND OFTEN 'ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT' SCIENTIFIC
PRACTICES
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