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OverviewThis book focuses on issues in astronomy, cosmology, physics, matter theory, philosophy, and theology vital to the “Copernican Revolution.” It describes efforts among individuals advocating different world views to fit new ideas compatibly into broad perspectives reflecting four traditional patterns of interpretation: teleological, mechanical, occultist, and mathematico-descriptive. These four modes had guided medieval accounts of heavenly phenomena, material process, and motion. The teleological explanation, prevalent in Aristotle’s natural philosophy, posited “final causes” (ends or goals toward which objects strove or attempted to become). Ancient classical atomists had emphasized strictly mechanical explanations, invoking direct material contact and collision of moving matter as agents of physical change. Traditions of astrology, magic, and alchemy embraced an occultist pattern of interpretation—citing hidden forces opaque to both sensual detection and rational understanding as explanations of various phenomena. Finally, the mathematico-descriptive approach interpreted natural phenomena according to geometric or arithmetic relationships; unlike the other three, this did not involve causal explanation of a process. Part I treats development of the four patterns in the ancient period and discusses their uneasy medieval relationships with each other and with basic Judaeo-Muslim-Christian exigencies of faith. Theory of the heavens included the mathematico-descriptive approach of Ptolemaic astronomy, the teleological and mechanical cosmology of Aristotle, and occultist interpretations of astrologers and magicians. Part I then turns to matter and materiality, discussing differences among the mechanical philosophy of classical atomism, teleological emphases in Aristotle’s material theory, and occultist assumptions of some alchemists. Finally, Part I analyzes conceptions of motion, focusing on Aristotelian interpretations and critical commentaries thereon during the Middle Ages. Part II relates struggles of leading early-modern figures to adapt new concepts (e.g., Copernicus’ heliocentric astronomy/cosmology, Galileo’s inertial theories of motion, and Kepler’s elliptical planetary orbit) to an allegiance to two or more of the four patterns of interpretation. By this approach, it identifies decreasing dependence on teleological explanation of physical phenomena as crucial to decline of the medieval perspective, followed by rejection of teleology in the natural philosophy of Descartes, and subsequent fruitful confluence of the mechanical, mathematico-descriptive, and occultist patterns in the physics and cosmology of Isaac Newton. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Robert K. DeKoskyPublisher: University Press of America Imprint: Hamilton Books Edition: 2nd ed. Dimensions: Width: 15.10cm , Height: 2.90cm , Length: 22.80cm Weight: 0.721kg ISBN: 9780761874003ISBN 10: 0761874003 Pages: 532 Publication Date: 10 October 2023 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand  We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface Part 1: Knowledge and Cosmos: Development of the Medieval Perspective Section 1: Faith and Reason: Theories of Cognition and the Medieval Intellectual Background Introduction to Section 1 Chapter 1: Plato and Aristotle Chapter 2: Late Antiquity: The Platonic Philosophical Strain Chapter 3: Islamicate Philosophical Syncretism Chapter 4: High Scholasticism and the Universities: Aristotelian Thought Re‑enters Western Europe Chapter 5: William of Ockham and the 14th Century Critique of Human Knowledge Section Two. The Heavens: Astronomy, Cosmology, and Astrology Chapter 6: Development of Astronomy: A Mathematico-Descriptive Approach to Heavenly Phenomena Chapter 7: The Teleological-Mechanical Cosmos of Aristotle and Its Influence on Medieval Natural Philosophy Chapter 8: Astrological Causation and the Occultist Interpretation of Heavenly Bodies and Their Influences Chapter 9: Classical Atomism: A Mechanical Philosophy Chapter 10: Aristotelian Conceptions of Materiality and the Teleological Mode Chapter 11: Alchemy Section 4: Conceptions of Motion Chapter 12: Projectile Motion: Aristotle and His Critics Chapter 13: Falling Bodies: Aristotle and His Critics Chapter 14: Emergence of a Kinematic Approach to Motion Part II: Knowledge and Cosmos: Decline of the Medieval Perspective Introduction to Part II Section Five: The “Revolution” in Astronomy Chapter 15: Copernicus Chapter 16: Responses to Copernicus Chapter 17: Kepler Section 6: Galileo Galilei Between World Views Introduction to Section 6 Chapter 18: Galileo and Astronomy: Conflict Over World Systems Chapter 19: Galileo and the Science of Motion: Physical Justification for a Moving Earth Chapter 20: The Galilean Approach to Explication of Physical Process Chapter 21: Galileo and the Nature of Materiality Epilogue: Demise of the Medieval Perspective Bibliography Index About the AuthorReviewsAuthor InformationRobert K. DeKosky is professor emeritus of history at the University of Kansas Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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