Chapter 4: Renaissance Science and Philosophy Flashcards
Aristarchus of Samos
Sometimes called the Copernicus of antiquity,Aristarchus speculated that the planets, including the earth, rotate around the sun and that the earth rotates on its own axis, and he did so almost 1,700 years before Copernicus
Francis Bacon
Urged an inductive, practical science that was free from the misconceptions of the past and from any theoretical influences
Nicolaus Copernicus
Argued that the earth rotated around the sun and therefore the earth was not the center of the solar system and the universe as the church had maintained
Rene Descartes
Believed that much human behavior can be explained in mechanical terms, that the mind and the body are separate but interacting entities, and that the mind contains innate ideas. With Descartes began comparative-physiological psychology, stimulus–response psychology, phenomenology, and a debate over whether innate ideas exist. Descartes also focused attention on the nature of the relationship between the mind and the body
Michel de Montaigne
Like the earlier Greek and Roman Skeptics, Montaigne believed there was no objective way of distinguishing among various claims of truth. His doubts concerning human knowledge stimulated a number of subsequent thinkers such as Bacon and Descartes
Desiderius Erasmus
A Renaissance humanist who opposed fanaticism, religious ritual, and superstition. He argued in favor of human free will
Galileo
Showed several of Aristotle’s “truths” to be false and, by using a telescope, extended the known number of bodies in the solar system to 11. Galileo argued that science could deal only with objective reality and that because human perceptions were subjective, they were outside the realm of science
Johannes Kepler
By observation and mathematical deduction, Kepler determined the elliptical paths of the planets around the sun. He also did pioneer work in optics
Martin Luther
Was especially disturbed by corruption within the church and by the church’s emphasis on ritual. He believed that a major reason for the church’s downfall was its embracing of Aristotle’s philosophy, and he urged a return to the personal religion that Augustine had described. He accepted Augustine’s concept of predestination but denied human free will. His attack of the established church contributed to the Reformation, which divided Europe into warring camps
Issac Newton
Extended the work of Galileo by showing that the motion of all objects in the universe could be explained by his law of gravitation. Although Newton believed in God, he believed that God’s will could not be evoked as an explanation of any physical phenomenon. Newton viewed the universe as a complex machine that God had created, set in motion, and then abandoned
Francesco Petrarch
A Renaissance humanist referred to by many historians as the father of the Renaissance. He attacked Scholasticism as stifling the human spirit and urged that the classics be studied no
Giovanni Pico
Maintained that humans, unlike angels and animals, are capable of changing themselves and the world. He believed that all philosophical positions should be respected and the common elements among them sought
Ptolemy
The Greco-Egyptian astronomer whose synthesis of earlier and contemporary astronomical works came to be called the Ptolemaic system
Animal spirits
The substance Descartes (and others) thought was located in the cavities of the brain. When this substance moved via the nerves from the brain to the muscles, the muscles swelled and behavior was instigated
Deduction
The method of reasoning by which conclusions must follow from certain assumptions, principles, or concepts. If there are five people in a room, for example, one can deduce that there are also four; or if it is assumed that everything in nature exists for a purpose, then one can conclude that humans, too, exist for a purpose. Deductive reasoning proceeds from the general to the particular
Deism
The belief that God’s creation of the universe exhausted his involvement with it
Dualist
One who believes that a person consists of two separate entities: a mind, which accounts for one’s mental experiences and rationality, and a body, which functions according to the same biological and mechanical principles as do the bodies of nonhuman animals
Geocentric theory
The theory, proposed by Ptolemy, that the sun and planets rotate around the earth
Heliocentric theory
The theory, proposed by Copernicus, that the planets, including the earth, rotate around the sun
Humanism
A viewpoint that existed during the Renaissance. It emphasized four themes: individualism, a personal relationship with God, interest in classical wisdom, and a negative attitude toward Aristotle’s philosophy
Idols of the cave
Bacon’s term for personal biases that result from one’s personal characteristics or experiences
Idols of the marketplace
Bacon’s term for error that results when one accepts the traditional meanings of the words used to describe things
Idols of the theatre
Bacon’s term for the inhibition of objective inquiry that results when one accepts dogma, tradition, or authority
Idols of the tribe
Bacon’s term for biases that result from human’s natural tendency to view the world selectively
