Descartes Rationalism And The Scientific Revolution

In Steven Shapin’s book, The Scientific Revolution, he described the massive scientific changes that occurred from the late 16th to the early 18th centuries. Shapin utilizes the scientists and their findings to demonstrate the changes that affected Western civilization. He describes his theory of the Scientific Revolution as he proves that the world has always had scientific advances. Steven Shapin states his thesis which influenced the modern world, that the Scientific Revolution did not happen during a single time period through the use of the three essential questions: What was known, How was it known, and What was the Knowledge for.

Up until this point, religious scripture was undisputed. The Church was the authority figure and all their science was based on the outdated theories of Aristotle. The most classic dispute between the Church and the scientific community was a debate over geocentrism vs. heliocentrism. The Church believed that earth was the

The Renaissance was a period in time where everything started to change after the middle ages. During this historical period humans stared evolving by becoming smarter and inventing useful recourses that have changed the world. The renaissance was a life changing period which brought more joy to the world after conquering the dark ages. The Renaissance changed man’s view on the world by using Art, Science and Literature to make humans brighter and because of the rapid information they were gaining.

In the early 17th century, there was no doubt that the Catholic church held extreme power throughout Europe. They also held to the geocentric theory (all planets, heavenly bodies and the sun revolving around the earth) put forth by Ptolemy and Aristotle because of how neatly it could fit into the current teachings. Unlike this theory, however, Galileo enforced Copernicus’ heliocentric theory with inductive reasoning rather than deductive. Galileo made observations about the moons of Jupiter and their orbit around Jupiter, which he likened to a smaller version of their solar system. He published these observations in the book Sidereus Nuncius (1610). The Catholic Church had formerly opposed Copernicus already in 1543, and met Galileo with the same opposition. The Church declared any documents on heliocentric theory were to be banned and considered heretical in 1616. That same year, Galileo proposed a new theory regarding tides, and three years later one regarding comets, claiming these as proof of the earth’s motion. Eventually in 1632, Galileo published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which became very popular, much to the alarm of the Catholic Church. A year later,

Methodological doubt is an approach in philosophy that employs distrust and doubt to all the truths and beliefs of an individual to determine what beliefs he or she is certain are true. It was popularized by Rene Descartes who made it a characteristic method of philosophy where a philosopher subjects all the knowledge they have with the sole purpose of scrutinizing and differentiating the true claims from the false claims. Methodological doubt establishes certainty by analytically and tentatively doubting all the knowledge that one knows to set aside dubitable knowledge from the indubitable knowledge that an individual possesses. According to Descartes, who was a rationalist, his first meditation

“The Elizabethan Period was the age of the Renaissance, of new ideas and new thinking” (Alchin). It was a time of many advances in a large variety of fields. Some of the most notorious advances during this time were in the field of science. Overall, the most well-known revolutions in science of the Elizabethan Era are attributed to the Scientific Revolution, which brought about many changes, especially in astronomy, physics, and mathematics, and innovations, which had a strong impact on the way of life during this time.

The Scientific Revolution occurred roughly between 1550 and 1700. Some people also refer to the time period to be between the lives of Nicholas Copernicus and Issac Newton, to state who the revolution started with and who it ended with (Hatch). It doesn't mean there aren't changes to our scientific processes today, this was just a time period in our history that has recorded information of large changes happening often. The changes were very large and many people were against the views of the men who made the changes/discoveries. Since people put their religion first, the sudden views that made God nonexistent were immediately ignored by citizens and courts ordered many scientists to stay in their homes at all times. "In the Middle Ages, many

During the 16th and 17th century areas that were forbidden before began to change. These were areas were humans were only entitled to know what God wanted to reveal, otherwise they were inaccessible or forbidden. The limits on the knowledge humans were able to possess became more accessible during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Reformation shows the decline of the Catholic Church and the rise of questioning authority leading to the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution showed that observations and conclusions became an acceptable source of knowledge and truth, where it had been less so in earlier times.

Philosophy reached an all-time rise during the 17th and 18th centuries. Following philosophy were the sciences, such as Astronomy and Geography, which advanced drastically during this period.The rise of Philosophy led to the decline of the church’s influence on the people, which led to a decline of faith and the church labelling philosophers as heretics. The Catholic church was prepared to do anything to crush these heretics in order to preserve the Catholic faith. Also, the inquisition extremely active during this time period, for hundreds of thousands of heretics were killed and/or burned at the stake. Following the advancements in the sciences, Astronomers such as Copernicus discussed new ideas that went against the holy scripture, which

In his philosophical thesis, of the ‘Mind-Body dualism’ Rene Descartes argues that the mind and the body are really distinct, one of the most deepest and long lasting legacies.

The struggle for truth has arguably inspired and produced the greatest achievements in human history. Truth is only attainable through change, and to change is to be open to truth. History's overwhelming presence of biases and dogmatism has contributed to stifled progress and deprived men from pursuing the truth. To oppose a viewpoint contrary to one that is strongly believed in, is characteristic of humans; however, few are open to change, even when confronted by the status quo. If observed, further, it is found that views which substitute the consensus for an objective standard have certain consequences which few would accept. The open-minded Galileo advocated that the earth revolves around the sun, with which few agreed during his lifetime,

“God, who has given the world to men in common, has also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience” (Locke, 35). The Scientific Revolution concentrated on understanding the physical world through astronomical and mathematical calculations, or testable knowledge. The Enlightenment focused more on “Spreading of faith in reason and in universal rights and laws” (Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, 535). While the Scientific Revolution preceded the Enlightenment, both time periods sought to limit and challenge the power of the Church, through the spread of science, reason and intellect, and political philosophies.

Historical knowledge and science provide a point where biblical and cultural stories collide (Goheen & Bartholomew, p. 130). Culture is communicated through common stories and events. Science or the human desire to explain what is seen can be identified within Greek mythology throughout history to the postmodern views of today. The Christian worldview provides a basis for belief in a creator, not dependent on human action continue existence (Goheen & Bartholomew, p. 23). Scientific exploration and discovery is a part of God’s creation. There ae sections of the Bible that discuss items such as dinosaurs, hydrology, physics, anthropology, biology and geology (Science and the Bible, 2003). Increasing scientific knowledge has supported the validity of the Bible. The postmodern worldview that does not acknowledge God as the singular source of creation should not be incorporated into a Christian

One of the most well known astronomers of all time is Nicolaus Copernicus. He was known to think outside of the box and dreamt of bigger things in life. Copernicus did not see the world and its surroundings like everyone else did. Having such a brilliant mind helped him discover an important theory. Many scientists and astronomers would never see our solar system the same. Nicolaus Copernicus established the concept of a heliocentric system that validates that the sun, rather than the earth, is at the center of our solar system. Later on, he is now known as the “Father of Modern Astronomy”.

Descartes and Hume. Rationalism and empiricism. Two of the most iconic philosophers who are both credited with polarizing theories, both claiming they knew the answer to the origin of knowledge and the way people comprehend knowledge. Yet, despite the many differences that conflict each other’s ideologies, they’re strikingly similar as well. In this essay I will attempt to find an understanding of both rationalism and empiricism, show the ideologies of both philosophers all whilst evaluating why one is more theory is potentially true than the other.