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Final Exam: Aug 2, 11:30-2:30PM

Final Exam: Aug 2, 11:30-2:30PM. Lecture 9: The Scientific Revolution. Galileo and Bacon. Renaissance or the Early Modern Period. Humanism – valorization of the individual and the power of reason Protestant Reformation – challenge to all-encompassing power of the old church

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Final Exam: Aug 2, 11:30-2:30PM

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  1. Final Exam: Aug 2, 11:30-2:30PM

  2. Lecture 9: The Scientific Revolution Galileo and Bacon

  3. Renaissance or the Early Modern Period • Humanism – valorization of the individual and the power of reason • Protestant Reformation – challenge to all-encompassing power of the old church • From unity to multiplicity – local identifications precede idea of universal Christendom • Struggle between secular and religious authority – lays groundwork for separation of church and state • Rejection of superstition and the Scientific Revolution

  4. The Scientific Revolution • Transition from Renaissance into Enlightenment • Enlightenment = “Age of Reason” • 1534: • Copernicus’s On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres • Vesalius’s On the Fabric of the Human Body • Fundamental changes in the ways that European society viewed the world: • Heliocentrism • Rejection of Aristotelian Theories • Principle of Inertia • Discovery of the circulatory system • The Scientific Method

  5. Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) • “father of modern science” • Born in Pisa; studied mathematics at U of Pisa • 1616 – theories of tides • 1616 – Galileo to Rome to defend heliocentrism • 1632 – Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems • 1633 – Galileo’s trial in Rome • Guilty of heresy • Lifelong house arrest • All writings banned • Forced to recant • 1642 – death by fever and heart problems

  6. Who was Christina? • Grand Duchess Christina = granddaughter of Catherine and Ferdinand de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany • Responding to the Duchess’s questions about heliocentrism • Letter used as evidence against Galileo during Inquisition • Two major ideas: • Faith vs Reason • Nature vs the Bible • literal vs figurative interpretation

  7. Letter to the Grand Duchess • Acknowledges hostility against himself (90: 175) • Reliance on St. Augustine (90: 175) • “I hold the sun to be situated motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs hwile the earth rotates on its axis and revolves about the sun. They know also that I support this position not only by refuting the arguments of Ptolemy and Aristotle, but by producing many counterarguments; in particular, some which relate to physical effects whose causes can perhaps be assigned in no other way” (91: 177) • Only evidence held against him = Biblical (91: 177)

  8. Copernicus vs Galileo • Copernicus said these things before me! (92: 178) • Dismissing argument without even reading it (97: 179) • How far does the bible’s authority go? • “purely physical matters” vs matters of faith (92: 179) • Who determines proper interpretation? • “[Copernicus] did not ignore the Bible, but he knew very well that if his doctrine were proved, then it could not contradict the Scripture when they were rightly understood” (92-93: 179-180, italics mine)

  9. Figurative vs Literal • Bible cannot tell an untruth (93: 181) • But there is a difference between literal and figurative truth! • Is it literally true that God has body parts? • “From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears… He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet… and then the Most High uttered his voice,… at the blast of the breath of his nostrils” (Psalm 18) • Why does the bible seem literal?

  10. Bible vs Nature • Bible seems literally true because it has to make itself understandable to the masses (94: 182) • Astronomy and physics are not necessary to salvation • “the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how heaven goes” (96: 156) • God is the source of both the Bible and Nature • Book of Nature is thus equal to Book of Revelation • God gives the gifts of revelation, reason and Nature! (94: 183) • Stop using biblical interpretation for selfish reasons! (97: 189)

  11. Theology and Science • Theology = Queen of the Sciences (99: 192) • Because it is more authoritative? • Because it’s subject is more excellent and spiritual? • If something has been physically proven true, then theologians must work to reconcile scripture with physical observation (102: 199) • You make Christianity look stupid if you hold to truths that are clearly not physically true (107: 208) • Of the pope: “it is not in the power of any created being to make things true or false, for this belongs to their own nature and to the fact” (108: 210)

  12. Galileo's Major Arguments: • Nature and the bible both come from God • Reason is just as much a gift as revelation • There must be two modes of interpretation: figurative and literal Consequences: • Scientific observation is just as legitimate access to God as scripture • Science and theology are necessarily intertwined • Individual reason must be respected as much as priestly authority • There must be established, reasonable interpretations

  13. Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626) • Born in London; educated at Cambridge; became a lawyer • 1584 – entered Parliament • 1603 – knighted by James I • 1618 – becomes Lord Chancellor • 1620 – The Great Instauration • 1621 – stripped of his office, fined, and imprisoned for taking bribes • 1626 – death by pneumonia

  14. The New Method • NovumOrganum – book 2 of The Great Instauration • Aphorisms = concise statement of a scientific principle • #9 – mind is powerful but we use the wrong methods for thinking • #18-19: • BAD – trying to make assumptions about the nature of the world based on a few observations and then making the rest of your observations fit into those assumptions • GOOD – the scientific method!

  15. “Whle the former just cursorily skims experience and particulars, the other engages properly and methodically with them; the former, again, sets up certain abstract and useless generalities from the beginning, the other rises us gradually to those things that are more general in Nature” (#22)

  16. The First Two Idols • #37 – radical skeptic vs scientific method • Idols of the Tribe (#41) • Because we are human,we can never see objectively (#45) • Emotions and desire corrupt knowledge (#47-49) • We rely too much on senses and assumptions; not enough on experimentation and critical thinking (#50-51) • Idols of the Cave • Specifically, individuals have their own unique prejudices that blind them to truth (#53)

  17. The Last Two Idols • Idols of the Market-Place • Instability of language corrupts transmission of knowledge (#59) • Idols of the Theatre • We allow flashy demonstrations to distract use into believing what is not true (#61)

  18. Galileo & Bacon • Healthy skepticism • Galileo – do not pretend to know you know the extent of Nature • Bacon – the mind is great but easily mislead by its very nature • Dependence on physical observation • Galileo – God has given the gift of reason and Nature • Bacon – rigorous experimentation! • Theology and Science • Galileo – Theology and science must be mutually dependent • Bacon – “give to faith only that which is faith’s” (#65)

  19. Reminders! • TOMORROW – 2:30 – 4:30 @ Galbraith Hall 174 • Final Exam – Friday11:30 to 2:30 • Bring blue books, writing utensils

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