MMW 13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Scientific Revolution, Scholasticism, Empiricism
Key Focus:
How did Britain become the fountainhead of the Industrial Revolution?
1)
How did the Scientific Revolution set the stage for the Enlightenment?
2)
The Development of the Scientific Method
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Someone more in the position of influence
(1)
Lord Chancellor of England in early 1600s
Essentially the highest legal official
(1)
i)
Aura of an English “Renaissance man”
Acted as a prophet for science
(1)
This is where we could go "if we pursue it with rigor"
(2)
ii)
a)
Inductive Empiricism
Basis for knowledge of the natural world
All knowledge should be based on empirical, verifiable
evidence
(1)
Arriving to the truth through observation
(2)
Increase understanding of nature by observing the particulars
(3)
i)
Inductive Empiricism vs. Deductive Rationalism
Renee Descartes rationalist approach
Using deduction
(a)
Start with a broad hypothesis and deduce
(b)
(1)
Cartesian reliance on mathematical deduction
Can not rely on just chance, subjective judgement, and
superstition
(a)
(2)
ii)
b)
Bacon’s Iconoclasm
Iconoclastic: going against the old
(1)
Out with the Old, In with the New
Attack on scholasticism and even humanism
Criticize humanism because it was still to wetted on the
past
(a)
Past is based on fatal error so you have to start fresh
(b)
(1)
i)
c)
I)
Lecture 25
Monday, June 4, 2018
10:02 AM
Document Summary
Lord chancellor of england in early 1600s (1) Aura of an english renaissance man (1) (2) This is where we could go "if we pursue it with rigor" b) Basis for knowledge of the natural world (1) All knowledge should be based on empirical, verifiable evidence. Increase understanding of nature by observing the particulars (2) (3) Can not rely on just chance, subjective judgement, and superstition c) Out with the old, in with the new (1) Criticize humanism because it was still to wetted on the past. Past is based on fatal error so you have to start fresh (b) ii) iii) iv) (b) Past is based on fatal error so you have to start fresh. The smashing of the four idols of false belief (1) Tribe: "human" tribe and it is in our nature to be prone to subjective judgements. Prone to be misled by our senses and nature.
