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Renaissance Natural Philosophy


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Critical Essays
Renaissance Natural Philosophy
Introduction
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Renaissance Natural Philosophy
Renaissance natural philosophy was a sixteenth- and seventeenth-century school of thought
which rejected the Aristotelian conception of form, matter, and the nature of the soul, among
other beliefs. The primary tenet of this philosophy focuses on the relationship between the
microcosm and the macrocosm. Philosophers of nature argued, and most people of the time
believed, that there exists a direct correspondence between man, the world, and the universe. The
universe, according to the cosmology of the time, was infinite and contained an infinite number
of solar systems with planets inhabited by conscious, rational beings. Most philosophers of
nature, such as Giordano Bruno and Tomasso Campanella, contended that all organic and
inorganic objects in the universe, including rocks, trees, animals, humans, stars, and planets,
have souls and are united by a greater world-soul. This linkage of all creatures of the world, the
microcosm, to those of the universe, the macrocosm, implies that the world of man mirrors that
of universal nature. Some natural philosophers, such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, focused
on the means by which the truth of nature and being could be revealed by observing and
examining the symmetries between man, the world, and the universe. These philosophers and
others further discussed astrology and magic as methods of understanding the relationship
between macrocosm and microcosm. In their writings they also proposed how this knowledge
might be practically utilized.
As the belief in the relationship between man and the universe was a widely held one, the belief
in and practice of both astrology and magic were similarly common. Throughout the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, astrology gradually grew from an aspect of the worldview into a
distinct system of belief. Astrologers were commonly consulted by rulers such as Henry VIII,
Edward VI, and Elizabeth I. Also interested in astrological forecasts were courtiers and
intellectuals in England and Europe. Astrologers servicing this elite class made general
predictions regarding subjects such as weather, war, and politics. Another branch of astrology
included the mapping of the stars and planets as they were situated at the time of a person's birth.
This map, known as a nativity, was necessary for an astrologer to predict the right moment for a
person to take specific actions in fulfilling his or her destiny. Astrology was made available to
society as a whole primarily through almanacs, which predicted astronomical events, marked
days of festivals and similar activities, and made prognostications, or forecasts, of notable events
of the year. Astrology was also used in the practice of medicine, as different organs and parts of
the body were thought to be influenced by planets and signs of the zodiac. Throughout all of
these activities, numerous opportunities for astrologers to cheat and deceive people presented
themselves, and this made the profession and its practitioners the target of satire in the literature
and drama of the time.
The practice of magic, on the other hand, was viewed more seriously by society and by the
Roman Catholic Church. Magic, like astrology, was understood to be a means of deciphering the
relationship between man and the universe. The practice of natural magic utilized knowledge of
occult forces within nature gained through experience, observation, and experiments. As
supernatural aid was not involved in natural magic, its practitioners were not harshly judged.
However, some forms of magic employed supernatural assistance, such as the aid of spirits and
demons, and were practiced only in secrecy. Suspected practitioners of magic were accused of
witchcraft and executed. Natural philosophers, such as Marsilio Ficino, Campanella, and Pico
della Mirandola, who wrote about the nature of magic and its possibilities, were often imprisoned
for their writings, and their works were condemned by the Church.
As the scientific revolution swept through England and Europe in the late seventeenth century,
the popularity of the beliefs regarding nature and the universe upheld by Renaissance natural
philosophers dwindled. The world and the universe began to be viewed as mechanical in nature.
Astrology eventually became less widely practiced. Almanacs, perhaps the most widely utilized
form of astrology, began to focus primarily on meteorological predictions and the designation of
upcoming holidays and festivals. Magic became a less frequent topic of philosophical discussion.
People were no longer executed for witchcraft. The scientific revolution hastened the death of
Renaissance natural philosophy and forever changed literature, as the common faith of poets and
dramatists in a correspondence between man, his world, and the universe was eliminated. As
Marjorie Hope Nicolson has stated in regard to the effect of the "new science" on seventeenth-
century poetry," the animate macrocosm and living microcosm disappeared, and their places
were taken by a mechanical clock and men with mechanical hearts."

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