Unit 1 - Chapter 4 - Renaissance Science and Philosophy Flashcards
What does the word Renaissance mean?
rebirth
What period of time did the Renaissance encompass?
1450 to 1600
What four themes does renaissance humanism encompass?
1) individualism
2) personal religion
3) intense interest in the past
4) anti-aristotelianism
What is meant by Renaissance humanism?
human-centered, as if we were discovering ourselves for the first time.
Individualism
concern with human potential and achievement
Personal religion
religion less formal and ritualistic
Anti-Aristotelianism
- humanists believed Aristotle was capable of error and church emrbaced his philosophy too much
Francesco Petrarch
- writings mark the beginning of the Renaissance
- targeted scholasticism
Giovanni Pico
- argued that god had granted humans a unique position in the universe.
- humans are capable of change & freedom of choice
Desiderius Erasmus
- opposed fanatical belief
- nothing humans create can be perfect
- learn from Jesus not church
- progressive views on women
- views reflected ancient cynicism
Martin Luther
- followed erasmus lead
- downfall of catholicism was aristotle’s philosophy
- leader of protestantism
Protestantism
denies authority of the pope and insists that every individual has the right to interpret the Bible for themselves.
Negative aspects of early Protestantism
regresses to accepting the existence of God on faith alone.
What did reformation lead to?
division of western Christianity into Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.
Michel de Montaigne
demonstrated most skepticism among the Renaissance humanists.
In what respect did Montaigne’s philosophy stimulate Bacon and Descartes?
responded to his doubts concerning human knowledge.
Ptolemy
- Summarized mathematical and observational astronomy.
- Ptolemaic system
Ptolemaic system
belief that the heavenly bodies were spherical and that the sun, moon, and planets travel around the earth in orbits that are circular and uniform
- geocentric theory
Who arrived at Corpernican system before Copernicus?
Aristarchus of Samos
Nicolaus Copernicus
belief that the earth revolved around the sun (Heliocentric theory)
Johannes Kepler
- Paths of planets around the sun were elliptical.
- Mathematic deductions be verified by empirical observation.
- Objects project an inverted image onto retina.
Why did Ptolemy’s incorrect model of the universe prevail for over a thousand years?
1) Accorded with the testimony of the senses.
2) Allowed reasonable astronomical predictions.
3) Gave humans a central place in the universe.
Explain why Pythagorean and Platonic thinkers tended to be the first to embrace a heliocentric view of the solar system.
pythagorean-platonic belief that universe operated according to mathematic principles and occams razor.
Describe the roles that Giordano Bruno and Michael Servetus played in the history of science.
- were both burned at stake for their views
- explains why so many scientists and philosophers were cautious.