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Science and The Death of Nature Western Culture and the Scientific Revolution [The] new Philosophy calls all in doubt, The Element of fire is quite put out; The Sun is lost, and th'earth, and no man's wit Can well direct him where to look for it.... 'Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone - John Donne (1572-1631)
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Salem Possessed February 1692, Samuel Parris’s daughter possessed - Sarah Good Arrests did not calm fears - Court of Oyer and Terminer Trial of George Jacobs
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Which witch is which? Malleus Maleficarum 1486 Folk knowledge; “magic” Carlo Ginzburg
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Satan’s Sisters - Tituba West Indian - Sarah Good homeless beggar - Sarah Osborne elderly; alone; poor church attendance - Martha Corey had illegitimate, mixed-race child; opinionated - Rebecca Nurse elderly; dispute with previous minister - Bridget Bishop #1 target 3 husbands; non-demure; worked in pubs
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The implications 1.Ooops! 1697 – Day of Atonement 1711 – Restitution to survivors and heirs 2. Reason triumphant? - Church/state separation - Natural Philosophy (science) - Age of Enlightenment Nathaniel Hawthorne Last gasp of the medieval world?
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How does Nature “die”? The Scientific Worldview removes “will” or “purpose” from natural functions. Science as a method of discovery. Science as a source of cultural authority.
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I. Cosmologies
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A. Judeo-Christian Genesis
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B. Medieval 1.Ptolemaic System “Geocentrism” ca.160 CE Observation & reason “first cause” natural order Aristotle/Plato - all nature has purpose (telos) - seeks it’s “place”
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2. Thomas Aquinas 1200s “the universal” Power of Authority
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3. Aristotelianism challenged William of Ockham d. 1348 Faith not compatible with reason “Ockham’s Razor”
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C. The Copernican Revolution 1. Nicholas Copernicus 1543 On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres Heliocentrism
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2.Timing is everything Renaissance realism Neo-Platonism Print Revolution 1450 - Gutenberg - movable type and ink Power of Nation over Church 1534 - Church of England 1598 - Edict of Nantes (France) 1689 - Act of Toleration (England)
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II. Scientia potentia est Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule. - Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Knowledge vs. Wisdom
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The Grand Embassy 1697-98 Peter Mikhailov
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A. The (New) Truth Is Out there 1.Galileo / Kepler - all realms unified by laws ; composed of the same stuff - math is the “language” of God
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B. Mechanistic World 1. Bacon - enrichment of humanity - induction: experiments first, generalities later - outside of church/university 2.Rene Descartes Discourse on Method (1637) - nature as “machine” / God as Watchmaker - logical deduction: generalities first - “I think, therefore I am” reductionism
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3. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Principia Mathematica 1687 – natural law - if not cause, then description and prediction - consistent with God “Check out my hair”
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III. The Machine in the Garden Are God and Nature then at strife, That Nature lends such evil dreams? - Alfred Lord Tennyson
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A. The Body Mechanical 1.Earth, Wind and Fire (and Water) - Galen (ca. 200 CE) - 4 humors SpleenBlack Bile Gall BladderYellow Bile LiverBlood Lungs Phlegm Body/nature require balance
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2. Andreas Vesalius - De humani corporis fabrica (1543)
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3.William Harvey - de Motu Cordis 1628 4.Paracelsus - chemical “purges”
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B. Ecological Evolution 1. Holistic - peasant culture - “bound” to natural cycles
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2. Imperial - Francis Bacon 1561-1626 Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778 Binomial nomenclature / taxonomy Establish dominion via organization “Nature’s Economy” reductionism
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3. Commodification Theory - organisms transformed into goods or services - psychic / ethical connection broken
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C. 2nd Agricultural Revolution 1750 - 1920 1.Scientific Farming - Jethro Tull T. Jefferson 2. Farm consolidation (enclosure)
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Impact The Enlightenment experience, reason, rationality Atlantic Revolutions Industrial Revolution Metallurgy, Chemicals, Steam Imperial conquest
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Science and the state A well conducted government must have an underlying concept so well integrated that it could be likened to a system of philosophy…All financial, political and military matters must flow towards one goal…the strengthening of the state and the furthering of its power. - Frederick II “The Great” d. 1786 - Académie des Sciences 1666 - Royal Academy 1660 Christopher Wren. d. 1723
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