PHILOSOPHY RESPONDS TO CHANGING SCIENCE

Cristian Guzman & Shawn WrightBlock 4G

12/12/11

IMPORTANT FIGURES

F

rancis Bacon

R

ene Descartes

T

homas Hobbes

J

ohn Locke

T

he proponents of the

new science sought to

explain the world in

terms of mechanical

metaphors, or the

language of machinery.

MECHANISM

“My aim in this is to show

that the machine of the

universe is not similar to a

divine animated being,

but similar to the clock.”

- Johannes Kepler

FRANCIS BACON (1561-1626)

E

mpirical Method• The approach of using a

collection of data to base a theory or derive a conclusion in science.

U

rged contemporaries to

strike out on their own in

search of a new

understanding in nature.

FRANCIS BACON: THE EMPIRICAL METHOD

L

ooked to a future of material

improvement through the

empirical examination of

nature.

B

elieved science had a practical

purpose and its goal was

future improvement.

RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650)

M

ethod of rational deduction:• He began by saying that

he would doubt everything except those propositions about which he could have clear and distinct ideas.

• Rejected all forms of intellectual authority except the convictions of his own reason

RENE DESCARTES:THE METHOD OF RATIONAL DEDUCTION

D

ivided existing things into two

basic categories:• Thinking things (mind)• Things occupying space

(body)

S

eparated mind from body to

banish such things from the

realm of scientific speculation

THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679)

W

as an atheist, but thoughts echoed

Calvinism

W

as a political philosopher

D

eeply concerned with the problem

of how a strong central political

authority might receive rigorous

philosophical justification

THOMAS HOBBES:APOLOGIST FOR ABSOLUTISM

H

e traced all psychological

processes to bare sensation and

regarded all human motivation as

egoistical, intended to increase

pleasure and minimize pain

H

uman reasoning penetrated to no

deeper reality or wisdom than

those physical sensations

U

nlike both previous Christian

philosophers human beings existed

for no higher spiritual ends or larger

moral purposes other than those of

meeting the needs of daily life

H

obbes didn’t believe humans were

naturally rather self-centered

creatures lacking a master

THOMAS HOBBES:APOLOGIST FOR ABSOLUTISM

A

ccording to his account human

beings in their natural state are

inclined to a “perpetual and restless

desire” for power

H

obbes analysis would grow over the

next three centuries as political and

religious authority in the west

became increasingly separated.“

A war of every man against every man”-

Thomas Hobbes

JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)

H

is philosophical works dealing

with human knowledge

became the most important

work of psychology for the

18th century

H

ad puritan sympathies

JOHN LOCKE:DEFENDER OF MODERATE LIBERTY AND TOLERATION

B

ecame deeply involved with

the politics of the English

restoration period

W

rote two treaties on

government published in

1960

In the first he rejected

arguments for absolute

government that based

political authority on

the patriarchal model

of father ruling over a

family

P

resented an extended

argument for a government

that must necessarily be

responsible for and responsive

to the concerns of the

governed and portrayed the

natural rights of life, liberty,

and property.

LOCKE’S TWO TREATIES

First Treaty Second Treaty

L

ocke, contrary to Hobbes,

regarded human beings in

their natural state as creatures

of reason and basic good will

I

f the rulers abuse the people’s

trust they have the right to

replace them

JOHN LOCKE:DEFENDER OF MODERATE LIBERTY AND TOLERATION

L

ocke’s Letter Concerning

Toleration, established a

powerful foundation for

the future extension of

toleration religious liberty

and the separation of

church and state

H

e hoped to elucidate the basic

structures of human thought

F

or Locke, reason and

revelation were compatible

and together could sustain a

moderate religious faith that

would avoid religious conflict

JOHN LOCKE:DEFENDER OF MODERATE LIBERTY AND TOLERATION

I

n the Essay Concerning Human

Understanding stated that

human knowledge is grounded

in the experiences of the senses

and in the reflection of the

mind on those experiences

R

ejected any belief in innate

ideas

MAJOR WORKS OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

1

543 – On Revolutions of the Heavenly Sphere (Copernicus)

1

605 – The Advancement of Learning (Bacon)

1

609 – The New Astronomy (Kepler)

1

620 – Novum Organum (Bacon)

1

632 – Dialogues on the Two Chief World Systems (Galileo)

1

637 – Discourse on Method (Descartes)

1

651 – Leviathan (Hobbes)

1

687 - Principia Mathematica (Newton)

1

689 – Letter Concerning Toleration (Locke)