The New Scientific Naturalism

Themes and Big Q’s How did natural history and religion interact in the 17 th and 18 th centuries? What major changes occurred in thinking about the organization and origins of the natural world during the early years of the Enlightenment?

Some key figures and works Newton’s Principia (1687): Inspired the search for all natural laws and laws for society John Locke (1690): Modern western theory of self and consciousness Diderot’s Encyclopedie ( ): The apex of Enlightenment thinking and an attempt to categorize and order the world according to rational thought Buffon’s Historie Naturelle ( ): Huge collection of natural knowledge Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (1781): Attempted to unite reason and empiricism/experience

The Enlightenment ( ) 1) Reason/Rationality: materialism and mechanism 2) Laws of Nature 3) Confidence in Human Reason for Government and Science 4) Progress 5) Practical knowledge derives from Science

Key Problems for Natural History/Theology The Problem of Mechanism The Age of the Earth The Problem of Fossils The Relation of Man and Animals The Problem of Generation

The Problem of Mechanism Scientific Revolution pushed man and earth out of center of creation and sought natural laws to explain EVERYTHING. Challenge to Biblical accounts of the creation.

Attempts to solve the problem of Mechanism Thomas Burnet’s Sacred Theory of the Earth (1691) Attempt to reinterpret the creation story in naturalistic terms. BUT where was the God who punished sinners and worked miracles?

The Age of the Earth Observations of earth suggested that more time was needed for big changes. Biblical account of creation did not allow this much time. Leibniz: cooling earth model and fossils created over time. de Maillet: ocean and sedimentation model suggesting a huge span of time.

The Problem of Fossils Location of deposits  suggested layering of sediment and the movement of rocks from under water to dry land (either uplift of land or receding of water). Presence of animals not found in the present day  seemed to suggest extinction. Why are these both a problem for the religious orthodoxy?

Attempts to solve the Fossil Problem Steno- two moments of deposits (the Creation and the Flood) account for the fossil record, while erosion and earth movements warped the layers. Hooke- sedimentary layers could be uplifted by earthquakes. Fossils may be extinct creatures destroyed in the Flood. BUT extinction is a major problem for believers in a benevolent and present God!

Drawing of ammonites from Hooke’s Postumous Works, 1705

The relation of Man and Animal Age of Exploration led to discovery of “primitive” tribes in Africa and the New World Observation of Great Apes revealed behavior very similar to humans. Challenges from Locke and Hobbes began with man in a “state of nature” either living peacefully or “nasty, brutish and short” lives.

Tyson’s drawing of chimp walking upright. 18 th century drawing of Khoisan people of South Africa

The Problem of Generation Mechanical philosophy could explain how things moved, but not how they were created. Alternative theories included: spontaneous generation; pre- formationism or epigenesis; ova or sperm?

Natural Theology- a response to the riddles of the new science Members of the Royal Society argued that the study of nature bettered the understanding of God’s creation. Nature is a machine, BUT it is clearly a purposeful one that requires a creator, God. The role of the scientist was to reveal the structure and design as well as the PURPOSE of God’s creation. BUT how to explain suffering and predation?

Scientific Naturalism by the 1720s Nature was an ordered system, governed by laws knowable to man. The key problems and questions of natural history were established for investigation. The new science was protected from religious persecution through natural theology. The major contribution of the early Enlightenment was to establish the basic units of the natural system.

Conrad Gesner’s History of Animals (1551) L’Rhinoceres from Historie Naturelle.Comte de Buffon ( )

The End!