https://aeon.co/essays/how-protestantism...rn-science
INTRO (Peter Harrison): There is a stubbornly persistent version of the history of science, much beloved of more than a few popular writers, that has science first emerging with the ancient Greeks, sliding into a moribund stagnation in the Christian Middle Ages, and bursting forth again in the 17th century with scientific heroes such as Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. In this cartoon version of history, the long medieval hiatus of science and reason is often attributed to the influence of religion. The scientific revolution of the 17th century and the triumphant march of science ever since are said to be a consequence of the fact that science managed to extricate itself from the clutches of a censorial and stultifying religious establishment.
What is wrong with this picture? For a start, the beginnings of something like scientific activity can be found in a number of cultures, not just Ancient Greece. As for the Middle Ages, historians of science have long been aware of the remarkable scientific achievements of medieval Islamic and Christian thinkers, and of the key role played by the medieval universities, which, from the 12th century, sponsored scientific speculation and debate. However, there is an important grain of truth to the popular three-phase narrative, because there really was something quite distinctive and revolutionary about the new sciences of the 17th century: new experimental methods, new combinations of mathematics and physics, the idea of science as a collective enterprise, revised understandings of nature and its meanings, and, crucially, the alignment of science with a set of values that would sustain it, and eventually propel it right into the centre of Western culture. But this revolution was not accomplished through a radical separation of science from religion: rather, at a number of levels, the successes of the new sciences were vitally dependent upon religious considerations, not least of which were the conditions generated by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
In contending that Protestantism had an impact on the emergence of modern science, it is important to distinguish different ways in which this might have happened. First, distinctively Protestant doctrines or practices might have been relevant to the content or conduct of the study of nature. In addition to reinforcing the findings or methods of science, Protestantism might also have provided some of its presuppositions. Similarly, some versions of Protestantism might have fostered distinctive norms or attitudes – a Protestant ethic if you will – conducive to scientific activity. Less directly, it could be that the Reformation promoted a questioning of traditional authorities in a way that opened up possibilities for novel forms of knowledge, different social conditions, or new institutions for the pursuit of knowledge. Obviously, some of these likely influences belong to different possible modes, from theological to sociological. One thing we can be certain of is this: given the importance of religion to early modern European intellectual life, it would be remarkable if the tumultuous upheavals of the 16th century, and the subsequent schism between Catholics and Protestants, did not leave an indelible mark on an emerging modern science. The real question is how.
Already in the 17th century, people had linked religious reform to the reform of scientific knowledge... (MORE)
INTRO (Peter Harrison): There is a stubbornly persistent version of the history of science, much beloved of more than a few popular writers, that has science first emerging with the ancient Greeks, sliding into a moribund stagnation in the Christian Middle Ages, and bursting forth again in the 17th century with scientific heroes such as Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. In this cartoon version of history, the long medieval hiatus of science and reason is often attributed to the influence of religion. The scientific revolution of the 17th century and the triumphant march of science ever since are said to be a consequence of the fact that science managed to extricate itself from the clutches of a censorial and stultifying religious establishment.
What is wrong with this picture? For a start, the beginnings of something like scientific activity can be found in a number of cultures, not just Ancient Greece. As for the Middle Ages, historians of science have long been aware of the remarkable scientific achievements of medieval Islamic and Christian thinkers, and of the key role played by the medieval universities, which, from the 12th century, sponsored scientific speculation and debate. However, there is an important grain of truth to the popular three-phase narrative, because there really was something quite distinctive and revolutionary about the new sciences of the 17th century: new experimental methods, new combinations of mathematics and physics, the idea of science as a collective enterprise, revised understandings of nature and its meanings, and, crucially, the alignment of science with a set of values that would sustain it, and eventually propel it right into the centre of Western culture. But this revolution was not accomplished through a radical separation of science from religion: rather, at a number of levels, the successes of the new sciences were vitally dependent upon religious considerations, not least of which were the conditions generated by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
In contending that Protestantism had an impact on the emergence of modern science, it is important to distinguish different ways in which this might have happened. First, distinctively Protestant doctrines or practices might have been relevant to the content or conduct of the study of nature. In addition to reinforcing the findings or methods of science, Protestantism might also have provided some of its presuppositions. Similarly, some versions of Protestantism might have fostered distinctive norms or attitudes – a Protestant ethic if you will – conducive to scientific activity. Less directly, it could be that the Reformation promoted a questioning of traditional authorities in a way that opened up possibilities for novel forms of knowledge, different social conditions, or new institutions for the pursuit of knowledge. Obviously, some of these likely influences belong to different possible modes, from theological to sociological. One thing we can be certain of is this: given the importance of religion to early modern European intellectual life, it would be remarkable if the tumultuous upheavals of the 16th century, and the subsequent schism between Catholics and Protestants, did not leave an indelible mark on an emerging modern science. The real question is how.
Already in the 17th century, people had linked religious reform to the reform of scientific knowledge... (MORE)