Church, causes, and potato chips

 

The scientific revolution had 3 main causes:
1) Universities: the course of philosophy, newly developed, encouraged a new way of thinking. It was a minor branch of science but it was the instigator of the idea of science
2) Math: humanists studied the classics and with it came math. People back then wanted to solve the problems that arose in ancient times. By solving these problems, they began the progression of science.
3) Navigation: it was very difficult to find the longitude during this time. Science was needed to make such an instrument and help with the efficiency of ships.
            *** A chronometer(left) is the instrument that measures longitude, not a sextant (sorry Maria!).  That however measures the latitude.
                    VS.



Eventually, the scientific revolution resulted in empiricism and Cartesian dualism.

•        Empiricism (we like this concept!)
• Since we didn't have a concrete definition of this in class (ironic isn't is) here is what Bing's dictionary has to say:
1. application of observation and experiment: the application of observation and experiment, and not theory, in determining something
2. philosophical belief regarding sense-derived knowledge: the philosophical belief that all knowledge is derived from the experience of the senses

Using the 5 senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, hear, in case you need a reminder) scientists at this time had concrete understanding of life. For example, since we are not sciency people, I'll use food as my example.
1) Sight- One can see that potato chips can be grooved, thin, or kettle
2) Touch- One can feel the rough, fried texture
3) Smell- One can smell the potato chips...they smell like potatoes
4) Hear- One can hear the crunching of the potato chips when others eat them
5) Taste- One can taste the saltiness

Hungry yet?

Now back to science. So as you can see, at this time is was very easy to believe in the things we can physically come in contact with. The experience of eating potato chips is just as real as Locke's tabula rasa belief. Everyone writes his/her life with the experiences. If one chooses to make his or her life about potato chips so be it. It is the things in our life, the things we experience that mold us.


Another theory, unlike empiricism, is the Cartesian dualism (we don't like this one)
It is made up of two concept: inductive and deductive reasoning.

• Inductive: Johnny doesn't wear a wedding ring, he is single
• Deductive: Johnny is a bachelor, all bachelors are single, Johnny is single

This concept relates to the scientific method as well. The hypothesis is inductive (inferred) while the conclusion is deductive (based on facts).



















Finally, all this concrete evidence lead to the questioning of the church. The church was semi ok with the idea of science in the beginning because it didn't pose much of a threat. However, as time went on, the church and humanity was no longer the center of the world and physical experiments were proving some of the church's beliefs wrong. Since the ways of the church were questioned, the church leaders feared that their other doctrines would be questioned. It was a challenge of authority between scientists and the religious leaders at this point. It was a battle they couldn't afford to lose.

 

To sum this all up, here is a video: