The Rise of Modern Science and the Decline of Theology as the ‘Queen of Sciences’ in the Early Modern Era

It is often maintained that teleology was undermined in the early modern era by the scientific revolution. Hoping to correct this misperception, this essay looks at three areas in which teleology was upheld and developed by three pioneers of early modern science. The first main section argues that teleological reasoning is woven into the very fabric of William Harvey’s revolutionary work in biology. The second main section takes up Robert Boyle’s explicit and systematic defense of teleology and especially his effort to reconcile the methods and views of the new science with a deep-seated commitment to divine teleology. Finally, the last main section explores Pierre Maupertuis’s bold attempt to find a place for teleology in the heart of modern, mathematical physics.

Download Full-text

Anatomy and Visual Thinking in the Early Modern Era: Interdisciplinarity between Art and Medicine

The Journal of Art Theory & Practice ◽

10.15597/17381789201520061 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 62-91

Author(s):

Youngsil Sohn ◽

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Visual Thinking ◽

Art And Medicine ◽

Early Modern Era ◽

Modern Era

Download Full-text

Philosophic Pride

10.23943/princeton/9780691152080.001.0001 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Christopher Brooke

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Political Thought ◽

Historical Context ◽

Vital Role ◽

Intellectual Life ◽

Marcus Aurelius ◽

Hugo Grotius ◽

History Of ◽

Early Modern Era ◽

Modern Era

This is the first full-scale look at the essential place of Stoicism in the foundations of modern political thought. Spanning the period from Justus Lipsius's Politics in 1589 to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile in 1762, and concentrating on arguments originating from England, France, and the Netherlands, the book considers how political writers of the period engaged with the ideas of the Roman and Greek Stoics that they found in works by Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. The book examines key texts in their historical context, paying special attention to the history of classical scholarship and the historiography of philosophy. The book delves into the persisting tension between Stoicism and the tradition of Augustinian anti-Stoic criticism, which held Stoicism to be a philosophy for the proud who denied their fallen condition. Concentrating on arguments in moral psychology surrounding the foundations of human sociability and self-love, the book details how the engagement with Roman Stoicism shaped early modern political philosophy and offers significant new interpretations of Lipsius and Rousseau together with fresh perspectives on the political thought of Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes. The book shows how the legacy of the Stoics played a vital role in European intellectual life in the early modern era.

Download Full-text