The 3 Scientific Traditions in the Renaissance: organicism, neoplatonism & Mechanism

This article about Scientific Traditions in the Renaissance aims to explain the attempts by Renaissance figures to “order the disorder” and “find light amidst the scientific entropy” caused by our lack of understanding of the world around us. During this fruitful period of knowledge, three worldviews or scientific traditions coexisted: organicism, neoplatonism, and mechanicism. Let’s take a closer look at each of them in this article on the history of science!

The three worldviews or scientific traditions

Organicism

In organicism, the specific qualities of things and living beings, that is, beings with life, allow the knowledge of reality. In other words, what allows us to know nature is merely perceived by the senses. It is evident that this leads us to problems and multiple errors. If current scientific knowledge followed the laws of organicism, erroneous theories like the heliocentric one would continue to explain our place in the universe, since our eyes perceive how the Sun moves through the skies as if it revolved around us, on Earth.

In this sense, the investigation of nature will not depend on abstractions from fields such as mathematics. In fact, we could say that mathematics does not play a fundamental role in explaining natural phenomena since it cannot replace immediate experience. This vision, as students should be told -especially after having brought to mind what was learned about the Renaissance-, assumes the continuation of medieval scholastic thought.

Once the characteristics of organicism are understood, we will be able to explain to students how this changed in a short time: mathematics then becomes more than important. Neoplatonism and mechanism argue that the secrets of nature are written in the language of mathematics.

Neoplatonism

With references to ancient and pagan schools such as Pythagorean and Hermetic, neoplatonism argued that whoever wanted to explain the great natural secrets should act like a magician. The neoplatonics accepted the ideas of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) and proclaimed that the source of knowledge was mystical contemplation of the world.

Some representatives of neoplatonism were Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). As we know, Kepler formulated important laws of the motion of the stars, thus bringing astronomy to a mystically relevant place.

Johannes Kepler: one of the most important exponents of neoplatonism.

Mechanism

Finally, mechanism argued that the universe functioned like a “great machine” that could be analyzed according to its parts and thus understand its functioning. Mathematics was undoubtedly the language in which nature itself was written, but it did not have a mystical sense, as neoplatonism did. The productive needs of the time were the target of the workshops of the craftsmen. It was precisely in these workshops where mechanics, one of the most important branches of classical physics, was born.

Measurement procedures had to be as precise as possible. On the other hand, quantitative relationships had to be established between the measurements obtained.

Galileo Galilei (1542-1642) 

This is where Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) comes in: he was the first to introduce the experimental mathematical method in physics. His mechanistic tradition predominated over other traditions. The practical purposes of modern science and its methodological aspects had their foundations in the works of René Descartes and Francis Bacon. Likewise, Leonardo da Vinci, a high-caliber engineer and artist of history, helped to displace Aristotelian philosophy from the place it occupied for centuries.

Activities Proposal for Teachers

Activities

In this project, students will discover Galileo’s contributions to the world of physics. His interests in researching topics such as the fall of bodies and topography, his most notable inventions such as the machine for lifting water and the thermoscope, his research, observations, and the historical context in which he was immersed. It is in his invention of the thermoscope where his work will be connected to topics such as Thermodynamics, where contents related to heat and temperature are studied.

Museum of Arts and Measures. Galileo’s thermoscope (1592)