Topic 4: Renaissance Science and Philosophy Flashcards
Renaissance
the period from about 1450 to about 1600 when there was a rebirth of the open, objective inquiry that had characterized the early Greek philosophers
Humanism
a viewpoint hat 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
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499)
founded a Platonic academy in 1462 and sought to do for Plato’s philosophy what the Scholastics had done for Aristotle’s
Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)
a Renaissance humanist referred to by many historians as the feather of the Renaissance
he attacked Scholasticism as stifling the human spirit and urged that the classics be studied not for their religious implications but because they were the works of unique human beings
he insisted that God had given humans their vast potential so that it could be utilized
his views about human potential helped stimulate the many artistic and literacy achievements that characterized the Renaissance
Giovanni Pico (1463-1494)
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
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
a Renaissance humanist who opposed fanaticism, religious ritual, and superstition
he argued in favor of human free will
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
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 established church contributed to the Reformation, which divided Europe into warring camps
Reformation
the attempt of Luther and others to reform the Christian church by making it more Augustinian in character
this effort resulted in the division of western European Christianity into Protestantism and Roman Catholicism
Protestantism
the religious movement that denied the authority of the pope and of Aristotle
it argued against church hierarchy and ritual and instead wanted a simple, deeply personal and introspective religion like that described by St. Paul and St. Augustine
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
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
Ptolemy
the Greco-Egyptian astronomer whose synthesis of earlier and contemporary astronomical works came to be called the Ptolemaic system
Ptolemaic System
a conception of the solar system that has the earth as its center
during the Middle Ages, the Ptolemaic system was widely accepted because it (1) agreed with everyday experience, (2) was able to predict and account for all astronomical phenomena known at the time, (3) gave humans a central place in the universe, and (4) thus agreed with the biblical account of creation
Aristarchus of Samos (ca. 310-230 B.C.)
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
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
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
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
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)
accepted the mystical non-Christian philosophy of Hermetism and Copernicus’s heliocentric theory because he mistakenly believed that it supported Hermetism
he was burned at the stake for his beliefs
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
by observation and mathematical deduction, Kepler determined that elliptical paths of the planets around the sun
he also did pioneer work in optics
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
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
he argued that science could deal only with objective reality and that because humans perceptions were subjective, they were outside the realm of science
Secondary Qualities
those apparent attributes of physical objects that in fact only exist only in the mind of the perceiver
for example, the experiences of color, sound, odor, temperature, and taste
without a perceiver, these phenomena would not exist
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
extended the work of Galileo by showing that the motion of all objects in the universe could be explained by his law of gratification
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
Primary Qualities
attributes of physical objects
for example, size, shape, number, position, and movement or rest
Deism
the belief that God’s creation of the universe exhausted his involvement with it
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
urged an inductive, practical science that was free from the misconceptions of the past and from any theoretical influences
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
Induction
the method of reasoning that moves from the particular to the general
after a large number of individual instances are observed, a theme or principle common to all of them might be inferred
Positivism
the belief that only those objects or events that can be experienced directly should be the object of scientific inquiry
the positivist actively avoids metaphysical speculation
Idols of the Cave
Bacon’s term for personal biases that result from one’s personal characteristics or experience
Idols of the Tribe
Bacon’s terms for biases that result from human’s natural tendency to view the world selectively
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 terms for the inhibition of objective inquiry that results when one accepts dogma, tradition, or authority
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
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
Innate Ideas
ideas, like perfection and the axioms of geometry, that Descartes believed could not be derived from one’s own experience
such ideas, according to Descartes, were placed in the mind by God
Intuition
in Descartes’s philosophy, the introspective process by which clear and distinct ideas are discovered
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
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
Interactionism
the version of dualism that accepts the separate existence of a mind and a body and claims that they interact
What is the Renaissance?
the Renaissance is generally dated from approximately 1450 to 1600
moving past the Middle Ages
philosophy was distinct from theology
religion and faith were still important
Why did the Church’s authority start to decline?
Aquinas’s acceptance of reason and examination of nature as ways of knowing God
humanist philosophy: explore the potential of humans, shift in emphasis to understanding humans
exploration: Marco Polo’s exploration of central Asia and China, “discovery” of the New World by Columbus, Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe
invention of moveable type by Gutenberg (printing press)
What is Renaissance Humanism?
tendency to return to a more open-minded inquiry of earlier Greek philosophy
moved from more God-centered interests to more human-centered interests
humans had reliable sensory systems, reasoning powers, and ability to enjoy life (abilities were God-given)
Renaissance humanism denotes a strong interest in human beings
