Ancient Roots of Western Empiricism

The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer (ca. 1668)

Empiricism refers to the philosophical viewpoint that all true knowledge is based on experience and direct observation. The earliest expression of this perspective is found in ancient Greek philosophy as a reaction to the rationalism and idealism of Plato and other Greek thinkers who developed philosophy of “pure forms” that were inferred from deductive or a priori logic.

The Sophists challenged this idealist thought, introducing a new attitude of skepticism toward the abstractions of pre-Socratic philosophers such as Heraclitus, Pythagoras, and Parmenides. Instead, they encouraged a focus on the immediate and presumably more knowable realities of the visible world and human society (Dawes, 2017).

Aristotle (384–322 BCE), in reaction to Plato, argued for reliance on sense experience and direct observation and developed a posteriori or inductive reasoning as an alternative to deductive logic. The emergence of skepticism and Aristotle’s emphasis on inductive reasoning based on observable facts became key elements of the empirical attitude (Dawes, 2017). This foundation for empiricism was indispensable to the scientific revolution that would transform Western society beginning in the 17th century with the work of Kepler, Galileo, and Newton.

The Stoics proposed that the mind is filled through experience. Later, in the Middle Ages, the great Catholic thinker and scholastic Thomas Aquinas embraced and integrated aspects of Aristotelian philosophy into theological views, as reflected in his famous peripatetic axiom that “Nothing is in the intellect which is not first in the senses” (Lisska, 2016).

Some Contributors to (What We Call) the Scientific Revolution

The new trajectory of science in the 17th century had its origins in earlier times with a concern for empirical thought and evidence. Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 BCE), an ancient Greek astronomer, was the first identified thinker to present a heliocentric view of the known universe, with the sun at the center and the earth revolving around it. Even then, among many thinkers there was an understanding that observation, experiment, and invention were essential to understanding the natural world (Huggins, 2002).

The Flammarion engraving (1888) depicts a traveller who arrives at the edge of a Flat Earth and sticks his head through the firmament.

Behind the intense search for the secrets of the universe was the prevailing belief that there was a creator who had designed an orderly universe. The metaphor of the times was that it was a “clockwork universe” (Dolnick, 2011) and the workings of this universal order were for man to discover. Scientists who believed in such a creator approached science as a project to “to think God’s thoughts after him.” The field of mathematics and especially geometry and in time physics would be part of the search for new understanding. Natural philosophers viewed the world as operating by mechanical principles that could be described by mathematics. Such ideas appealed to Galileo, and others. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci investigated the optical properties of the eye and introduced new ways of demonstrating perspective in drawing and painting, as well as architectural improvements to building construction.

At about the turn of the century from 1500s to 1600s (the start of the 17th century), new ways of doing philosophy were influenced by the work of luminaries like Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes. Each saw a need to improve on the accomplishments of the thinkers of the classical era, believing that appropriate methods and experimentation would lead in steady advances from doubts to certainties, based not on abstractions and assumptions but on demonstrated facts.

Francis Bacon in particular did much to help shift the line of inquiry from abstract philosophical argument to empirical scientific study. He forwarded the inductive approach, which involved drawing general conclusions from systematic facts amassed over time by careful thinkers (Klein, 2003).

Before Bacon, great deference was paid to the inherited legacy of philosophical tradition, the wisdom of the past, and the pronouncements of the ancients, including Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and others. Bacon held that to raise science to a proper foundation and avoid hindrances that came with relying on the work of those in the past, the study of natural philosophy must be empirical. The proper work of observation, experimentation, and reconfirmation would lead investigators to greater certainties and more solid results. Thus, Bacon advanced the scientific endeavor and led to the separation of scientific investigation from reliance on philosophical argument (Klein, 2003).

In contrast, Rene Descartes on the continent used a deductive approach where truths were deduced by way of long chains of reasoning and explained most ideally with mathematical authority as proofs. He was attracted to the mechanistic view of the world. The advent of new mathematics featured prominently in the advancement of the new scientific enterprises. Descartes would help to develop analytical geometry, and Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) developed probability theory and invented a calculating machine of practical use. Isaac Newton (1642–1747), in addition to his work on the theories of light and mechanics of gravity, established a form of the field of calculus. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) also developed a calculus, and there was a “priority dispute” over who was first to do so. It is the contemporary perspective that both men likely did so independently (“History of Calculus,” n.d.; gotthegist, n.d.).

Watch this YouTube video “The Calculus Controversy,” for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axZTv5YJssA.

Scientific Sequences

The clockwork universe, a small orrery.

The prime movers of the 17th-century scientific revolution were men of their time, yet moving beyond it. Newton, Leibniz, Galileo, and Kepler all lived in a Europe wracked by war, plagues, savage religious conflict, and economic upheaval, yet each constructed cosmological theories in which the universe ran with clockwork perfection. It was a common belief that behind such divine order was a creator. These men believed science was a project “to think God’s thoughts after him.” As Edward Dolnick (2011) notes, these seminal thinkers believed that God had created flawless mechanisms that, through their labors, they could share with the world. Dolnick places these eccentric, tormented geniuses within the contexts of their radically tumultuous age.

Mathematics and Natural Philosophy

The field of mathematics, and especially geometry and in time physics, would be part of the search for new ways to understand the cosmos. Viewing the world as machine-like and operating by mechanical principles, natural philosophers sought to find mathematical patterns to describe it. Such ideas appealed to Galileo, Newton, and others known in (what we now call) physics. Others were drawn to these new ways, such as Leonardo da Vinci, who investigated the optical properties of the eye, introduced new ways of demonstrating perspective in drawing and painting, and discovered improvements for designing and constructing architecture (“Physics evolution,” n.d.). There were a number of leading scientific and philosophical luminaries:

Francis Bacon (1561–1626).

A strong proponent of this approach was Sir Francis Bacon. It was Bacon’s belief that appropriate methods and experimentation would lead seekers of knowledge in a steady advances from doubts to certainties, based not on abstractions and assumptions but on demonstrated facts. Bacon in particular did much to help shift the line of inquiry from philosophical argument to empirical fact-based study. He offered an inductive process that assembled data, subjected it to experimentation, repeated it, and reviewed it before drawing conclusions. Bacon saw the task of his era as the need to improve on, not just refine, the accomplishments of the thinkers of the classical era (Isaac Newton, Bacon & Descartes, n.d.).

Rene Descartes (1596–1650).

The advent of new mathematics featured prominently in the advancement of the new scientific enterprises. Rene Descartes would help to develop analytical geometry. In contrast to Francis Bacon in England, Descartes on the continent used a deductive approach in which truths were discerned by way of long chains of reasoning. Because, for him, mathematical thought expressed the highest level of reasoning and authority, the most ideal proofs were those that were mathematically proven. Descartes was successful in his development of analytical geometry and his philosophy was given recognition. Descartes was attracted to the mechanistic view of the world, explaining even the workings of the human body mechanically (Isaac Newton, Bacon & Descartes, n.d.).

Isaac Newton (1642–1727).

It was Newton who took the findings of Galileo’s experiments on motion and theories of inertia and articulated them into natural laws. His Principia Mathematica was published in 1687. It was in this work he stated his universal law of mass and motion: “All bodies whatsoever are endowed with a principle of mutual gravitation” (“Law of the land,” n.d.). The notion that bodies exerted forces that acted across space was truly unorthodox to many in his day, but he provided a coherent and unified vision of how the cosmos worked, calculating a theory that encompassed both celestial and terrestrial dynamics. He would conclude that all earthly and heavenly bodies obeyed the same basic laws (Isaac Newton, Bacon & Descartes, n.d.).

He was drawn to mathematics, and he contributed to the development of the field of calculus beside his work on the theories of the mechanics of gravity and light. His fascination with light led him to induce that light was composed of different colored rays. The esteem that Newton achieved is exemplified by his burial in Westminster Abbey (Isaac Newton, Bacon & Descartes, n.d.).

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716).

Leibniz, as well as Newton, worked on the calculus, and there was a “priority dispute” over who was first to develop it. The two men started out on amicable terms, but the dispute erupted when Leibniz published his work on calculus ahead of Newton, apparently hiding the fact that he was aware of the Englishman’s work and had learned something of its nature. There were charges and counter-charges of stealing information, plagiarism, and the mathematical inadequacies associated with the respective approaches. The mess quickly deteriorated and continued even after Leibniz’s death. It is the contemporary perspective that both men likely developed their own version independently (Jolley, 2011). See this YouTube video on this controversy: The Calculus Controversy (7:57).

The traditional way of speaking of what would become science was long termed natural philosophy. The discipline was based on the discovery of natural laws that involved observation, experiment, and empirical evidence. A new way of approaching the study of the world and its many subject areas was arising. No longer was the rationalistic approach with logical proofs sufficient to establish what was true. No longer was it sufficient to argue from first principles that could be misleading and involve philosophical errors.

Science and Astronomy

This important period of scientific and philosophical advance regarding the movement of the heavens began with the heliocentric (sun-centered cosmos) theory proposed by Nicholas Copernicus (De Revolutionibus—On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, 1543) in the mid-16th century and progressed into the 17th-century age of Enlightenment with Sir Isaac Newton. New ways of understanding and viewing the world were advanced as older beliefs were questioned. Swept along were changing conceptual, social, and institutional relationships with nature, with knowledge, and with religious belief.

Again and again, the sources of authority and foundations of certainty were brought into question—in particular, the church’s understanding and embraces of Ptolemy’s (100–178 CE) view of an earth-centered universe. This was to be challenged by evidence of the sun’s place at the center of the solar system. Direct observation of the heavens by Tyco Brahe (1557–1630) and Galileo (1564–1642) with the aid of telescopes and new mathematical computations of Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) confirmed Copernicus’s theories demonstrating that the earth moves around the sun, the process known as geokineticism (Williams, n.d.).

Copernicus (1473–1543).

Copernicus presented a theory that challenged the Ptolemaic System accepted in the late Middle Ages that the earth was the center of the solar system. The Ptolemaic System as accepted in spite of irregularities that produced problems with the calendars of the day. Nicholas Copernicus was a mathematicians and astronomers called upon by Catholic authorities to solve the calendar problems. Copernicus was a polymath and brilliant student of many disciplines. His mathematical calculations determined Ptolemy to have been wrong and that the earth rotated on its own axis while rotating with the other planets around the sun, a theory called heliocentrism. Knowing that his findings would be the source of immense controversy, he released his discoveries only a short time before his death in his work De Revolutionibus (Williams, n.d.).

Brahe (1557–1630) / Kepler (1571–1630).

Within the next 50 years help came from two astronomers who shared Copernicus’s criticism of the Ptolemaic system. Tycho Brahe, though not a Copernican, thought the planets orbited the sun and both the sun and planets revolved around the earth. He based this on the fact that the evidence from observation seemed to fit this model better. It also avoided the problematic theological implications that Copernicus’s views held, that the solar systems did not revolve around man on earth.

Galileo shows his telescope to the Doge of Venice (1858 painting by Giuseppe Bertini.

Moving to Prague, Brahe was joined by a mathematician named Johannes Kepler, who believed creation was ruled by mathematical laws. He devoted himself to studying God’s language. After Brahe’s death, he used his older mentor’s calculations and observations, the best available at the time, and determined that the planets traveled not in perfect circles but in elliptical orbits around the sun. The speed with which planets orbited around the sun varied according to the distance from the sun, and they moved in a uniform manner as Copernicus had specified (Williams, n.d.).

Galileo (1564–1642).

A copy of Kepler’s work was sent to an astronomer at the University of Padua by the name of Galileo. Galileo used observations with the telescope, noting the moons of Jupiter and sun spots, which confirmed that not all orbits had the earth at the center. His publishing of “Letters on Sunspots” in 1613 first openly committed him to the Copernican camp and brought controversy in its wake. Galileo maintained one could be a good Catholic and a good Copernican. He saw theologians and natural philosophers working together as partners seeking truth about the universe. He quoted one Cardinal Baronius as supporting his work: the Cardinal indicated the Bible was to “teach us how to go to heaven, not how heaven goes” (Holton, 1999).

Publishing material that was unfavorable to the church, Galileo stood trial for heresy in 1633. His sentence was to never teach or publish again and to be held in house arrest for life. He continued to work subversively, however, and his work Two New Sciences was smuggled out of his quarters and eventually published in Protestant Holland. Though he advocated the compatibility and peaceful coexistence of the Copernican model and religious belief, it was not to happen in his country or his lifetime (Williams, n.d.).