Philosophy 2006 Lecture Notes - New World Crops, Michel De Montaigne, Scientific Revolution
15 Apr 2012
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Unit iv lecture ii march 1, 2012. Philosophically: 2 world systems: (1) aristotelian [medieval church, universities]; (2) Neoplatonic/magic [renaissance humanism]: these replaced by mechanism in 17th & 18th c. Changes in understanding of the natural world (skepticism, empiricism, mechanism) Scientific revolution broad, unsystematized movement that abandoned received science; took people & their curiosity back to the world, and into the operations of the mind itself. Other revolutions: geography (columbus, new world); time (pocket watch); medicine (college of physicians); religion (reformation); agriculture (spain, maize, new world. 2 varieties of old-school skepticism: pyrrhonian suspended judgment on all matters. Goal peace of mind, freedom from disturbance: academic denied possibility of knowledge. Method produce arguments refuting both of 2 contrary positions (for & against something) Produce arguments in favour of various/contradictory positions. Goal cultivate free enquiry, train to be free of dogmatism [unquestioning belief in basic principles of a system] and vanity.
