Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert Boyle
In 1661, when Robert Boyle published The Sceptical Chymist, he was trying to assess the consistency of the works of contemporary chemists, while criticizing the imperfections of their theories. Boyle suggested that another methodical approach was necessary, a method he descri...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Rennes
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| Series: | Revue LISA |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/6305 |
| _version_ | 1797312858661322752 |
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| author | Jean-Pierre Grima-Morales |
| author_facet | Jean-Pierre Grima-Morales |
| author_sort | Jean-Pierre Grima-Morales |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In 1661, when Robert Boyle published The Sceptical Chymist, he was trying to assess the consistency of the works of contemporary chemists, while criticizing the imperfections of their theories. Boyle suggested that another methodical approach was necessary, a method he described in later books as based on rich experimental data and wary of the obsolete Aristotelian or Paracelsian theories. The sceptical approach thus gave him the opportunity to underline the inadequacies of their positions, as Gassendi and Descartes did with the scholastics. But is the category of “constructive or mitigated scepticism” still necessary to define this critical kind of philosophy ? Richard Popkin elaborated it as one of the responses to the general sceptical crisis. But today it seems necessary to incorporate this rhetorical scepticism into the evolution of the Ciceronian rhetoric of the Renaissance as well as into the dynamic propagation of mechanist ideas in Europe. Instead of being specific to the thinkers of the Royal Society, the sceptical approach then becomes a common trend, equally spread on both sides of the Channel. That is why the significance of the use of this modern scepticism in each thinker ought to be specified, particularly in Boyle’s work. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T02:20:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-982d37a152d14c7cba62f56ab07db328 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1762-6153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T02:20:22Z |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Rennes |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue LISA |
| spelling | doaj.art-982d37a152d14c7cba62f56ab07db3282024-02-13T14:37:04ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61531210.4000/lisa.6305Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert BoyleJean-Pierre Grima-MoralesIn 1661, when Robert Boyle published The Sceptical Chymist, he was trying to assess the consistency of the works of contemporary chemists, while criticizing the imperfections of their theories. Boyle suggested that another methodical approach was necessary, a method he described in later books as based on rich experimental data and wary of the obsolete Aristotelian or Paracelsian theories. The sceptical approach thus gave him the opportunity to underline the inadequacies of their positions, as Gassendi and Descartes did with the scholastics. But is the category of “constructive or mitigated scepticism” still necessary to define this critical kind of philosophy ? Richard Popkin elaborated it as one of the responses to the general sceptical crisis. But today it seems necessary to incorporate this rhetorical scepticism into the evolution of the Ciceronian rhetoric of the Renaissance as well as into the dynamic propagation of mechanist ideas in Europe. Instead of being specific to the thinkers of the Royal Society, the sceptical approach then becomes a common trend, equally spread on both sides of the Channel. That is why the significance of the use of this modern scepticism in each thinker ought to be specified, particularly in Boyle’s work.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/6305memorynatural philosophyFrancis Baconintellectual innovationintellectual culture |
| spellingShingle | Jean-Pierre Grima-Morales Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert Boyle Revue LISA memory natural philosophy Francis Bacon intellectual innovation intellectual culture |
| title | Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert Boyle |
| title_full | Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert Boyle |
| title_fullStr | Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert Boyle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert Boyle |
| title_short | Gold and Apes. Des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de Robert Boyle |
| title_sort | gold and apes des usages du scepticisme dans la philosophie de robert boyle |
| topic | memory natural philosophy Francis Bacon intellectual innovation intellectual culture |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/6305 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeanpierregrimamorales goldandapesdesusagesduscepticismedanslaphilosophiederobertboyle |