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

Lecture 9: The Scientific

RevolutionGalileo 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

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

The Scientific RevolutionTransition 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

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

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 ReasonNature vs the Bible literal vs figurative interpretation

Letter to the Grand DuchessAcknowledges 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)

Copernicus vs GalileoCopernicus 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)

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?

Bible vs NatureBible 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 NatureBook 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)

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)

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

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

The New Method

Novum Organum – 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!

“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)

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 CaveSpecifically, individuals have their own unique prejudices

that blind them to truth (#53)

The Last Two Idols

Idols of the Market-Place Instability of language

corrupts transmission of knowledge (#59)

Idols of the TheatreWe allow flashy

demonstrations to distract use into believing what is not true (#61)

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)

Reminders!

TOMORROW – 2:30 – 4:30 @ Galbraith Hall 174

Final Exam – Friday11:30 to 2:30Bring blue books, writing utensils