Scholars have become increasingly aware of the need to understand the religious context of early modern natural philosophy. Despite some great strides in relating certain areas of Christian doctrine to the study of the natural world, the category ‘natural theology’ has often been subject to anachronism and misunderstanding. The term itself is difficult to define; it is most fruitful to think of natural theology as the answer to the question, ‘what can be known about God and religion from the contemplation of the natural world?’ There have been several erroneous assumptions about natural theology – in particular that it only consisted of rational proofs for the existence of God, that it was ecumenical in outlook, and that it was defined as strictly separate from Scriptural revelation. These assumptions are shown to be uncharacteristic of the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century. The study of natural theology needs to be better integrated into three contexts – the doctrinal, confessional, and chronological. Doctrinally, natural theology does not stand alone but needs to be understood within the context of the theology of revelation, justification, and the effects of the Fall. These doctrines make such a material difference that scholars always ought to delineate clearly between the threefold state of man (original innocence, state of sin, state of grace) when approaching the topic of ‘natural’ knowledge of God. Confessionally, scholars need to recognise that the doctrine of natural theology received different treatments on either side of the sectarian divide. In Catholicism, for instance, there were considerable spiritual benefits of natural theology for the non-Christian, while in Protestantism its benefits were restricted to those saved Christians who possessed Scriptural insight. Chronologically, natural theology does not remain uniform throughout the history of Christian theology but, being subject to changes occasioned by philosophical and theological faddism and development, needs to be considered within a particular locus. Research here focuses on late sixteenth-century orthodoxy as defined in confessional and catechismal literature (which has been generally understudied), and demonstrates its application in a number of case-studies. This thesis begins the work of putting natural theology into these three contexts. An improved understanding of natural theology, with more rigorous and accurate terminology and better nuanced appreciation of confessional differences, makes for a better framework in which to consider the theological context of early modern natural philosophy.

Le livre : Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis (1687) de Isaac Newton constitue pour la science moderne un texte fondateur. Le corps de cet ouvrage est constitué de trois parties principales appelées livres. Parmi ces trois livres, les livres I et III consacrés principalement à l'étude du cosmos ont fait l'objet de nombreuses études. Le livre II consacré à l'étude de la résistance au mouvement des milieux fluides a été quelque peu délaissé et même dévalorisé par l'historiographie. Dans le livre II Newton détourne son regard du ciel et le porte sur terre. L'étude de cette partie des Principia nous permet de : revisiter et d'approfondir le concept newtonien de force, de découvrir l'usage de la notion de pression, de préciser le rôle de la géométrie euclidienne. Pour la géométrie nous avons été particulièrement attentif aux différentes fonctions des figures. Nous avons travaillé à partir de plusieurs traductions, principalement celle de la marquise du Châtelet de 1759 et de celle plus récente de Cohen et Whitman. Nos référents essentiels sont : Blay, Cohen, De Gand, Janiak, Koyré, McMullin, Smith et Westfall. / Book : Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis (1687) represents a fundamental text for modern science. The body of that work is in three major parts called books. Among these three books, I and III are primarily dedicated to the study of the cosmos and have been the objects of numerous studies. Book II is dedicated to the study of resistance to movement of fluid environments and has been somewhat ignored and even devalued by historiography. In book II Newton turns away from the sky and looks down at earth. The study of that part of Principia allows us to revisit and deepen our knowledge of the newtonian concept of force, to discover and learn how to use the concept of pressure, and to clarify the role of euclidean geometry. As for geometry, we have paid special attention to the different functions of figures. We have worked with several translations, primarily Marquise du Chatelet 1759's translation, and the more recent one by Cohen and Whitman. Our essential references are Blay, Cohen, De Gand, Janiak, Koyre, McMullin, Smith and Westfall.

La thèse consiste en une nouvelle traduction du livre VIII de la Physique d’Aristote, suivie d’un commentaire linéaire et problématisé du traité. Ce travail propose de repérer et d’analyser aussi bien les difficultés d’interprétation que les problèmes philosophiques internes au système aristotélicien en prenant appui sur les apports de la riche littérature secondaire et en se nourrissant de l’exégèse ancienne grecque et arabe. Il montre que le livre VIII est consacré de bout en bout à la question de l’éternité du mouvement et est susceptible de trois interprétations très différentes en fonction de la manière dont on identifie la nature de cette éternité. Après avoir présenté la première lecture, commune à la tradition néoplatonicienne (Philopon et Simplicius) et à la première réception arabe du traité (Fārābī, Ibn Bāǧǧa et le jeune Averroès), puis la seconde interprétation, propre à l’Averroès tardif, cette recherche met à distance ces deux interprétations historiques pour déployer une nouvelle lecture, « sous-déterminée », du traité, plus fidèle à sa lettre. / The dissertation consists of a new translation of the eighth book of Aristotle’s Physics followed by a linear and analytical commentary of the treatise. Based on a study of the contemporary secondary literature and a close examination of the Greek and Arabic exegesis, the aim of this work is to identify and analyse the difficulties of interpretation as well as the philosophical problems that arise inside the Aristotelian system. It demonstrates that Book VIII is all the way long a study of the eternity of motion and gives rise to three very different interpretations according to the way one understands the nature of this eternity. After a presentation of the first reading of the treatise, common to the Neoplatonist tradition (Philoponus and Simplicius) and the first Arabic reception of the text (Fārābī, Ibn Bāǧǧa and the young Averroes), and of the second reading, specific to the late works of Averroes, this research distances itself from both historical interpretations and develops a new reading of the treatise closer to the Aristotelian text.

En recherchant la loi de force centripète inscrite dans les Principes Mathématiques de la Philosophie Naturelle, Newton donna au temps un statut de grandeur privilégiée de la philosophie naturelle. Cependant, celui-ci apparaît de façon ambiguë, tantôt grandeur discrète, tantôt grandeur continue. Sa manipulation mathématique, qui repose essentiellement sur la Méthode des premières et dernières raison et sur la loi des aires, laisse, en outre, apparaître un temps de nature géométrique. Confronté, dans la proposition X du livre II, à la résolution du mouvement d'un mobile qui éprouve une résistance en raison du carré de sa vitesse, Newton ne parvient pas à résoudre cette proposition au moyen de la géométrie. Il est contraint de reprendre son raisonnement et de recourir à une méthode algébrique pour énoncer de manière juste, dans l'édition de 1713, la solution de cette proposition, dans laquelle le temps apparaît alors sous une forme algébrisée, représenté par une lettre. Ainsi, d'un temps géométrisé, figuré par un élément d'espace dans l'édition de 1687, Newton en fit un être per se représenté par une lettre dans la proposition X de l'édition de 1713. Cependant, c'est à Varignon, qui aborda les propositions des Principia de Newton à l'aide du calcul différentiel, que l'on doit la fin de la mathématisation et la finalisation du concept de temps mathématique / By looking for the law of centripetal force registered in the Mathematical Principles of the Natural Philosophy, Newton gave to time a status of privileged magnitude of natural philosophy. However, this one appears in a ambiguous way, sometimes discrete magnitude, sometimes continuous magnitude. Its mathematical manipulation, which rests essentially on the Method of first and last ratios and on the law of areas, lets appear a time of geometrical nature. Confronted, in the proposal x of the book II, with the resolution of the movement of a mobile which tests a resistance which is proportional in the square of its speed, Newton does not succeed in solving this proposal by means of the geometry. It is forced to resume its reasoning and to resort to an algebraic method in order to express in a just way the solution of this proposal, in which the time appears then under an algébraic shape, represented by a letter. So, from a geometrical time, represented by an element of space in the edition of 1687, Newton made an entity per se represented by a letter in proposal x of the 1713 edition. But it is to Varignon, who approached the proposals of the Principia by means of the differential calculus, that we owe the end of the "mathematization" and the finalization of the concept of mathematical time

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This thesis explores the disciplinary relationship between natural philosophy (the study of nature or body) and theology (the study of the divine) in seventeenth-century England. Early modern disciplines had two essential functions. First, they set the rules and boundaries of argument – knowledge was therefore legitimised and made intelligible within disciplinary contexts. And second, disciplines structured pedagogy, parcelling knowledge so it could be studied and taught. This dual role meant disciplines were epistemic and social structures. They were composed of various elements, and consequently, they related to one another in a variety of complex ways. As such, the contestability of early modern knowledge was reflected in contestability of disciplines – their content and boundaries. Francis Bacon, Thomas White, Henry More and John Locke are the focus of the four chapters respectively, with Joseph Glanvill, Thomas Hobbes, other Cambridge divines, and a variety of medieval scholastic authors providing context, comparison and reinforcement. These case studies offer a cross-section of seventeenth-century thought and belief; they embody different professional and institutional interests, and represent an array of philosophical, theological and religious positions. Nevertheless, each of them, in different ways, and to different effect, put the relationship between natural philosophy and theology at the heart of their intellectual endeavours. Together, they demonstrate that, in seventeenth-century England, natural philosophy and theology were in flux, and that their disciplinary relationship was complex, entailing degrees of overlap and alienation. Primarily, natural philosophy and theology investigated the nature and constitution of the world, and, together, determined the relationship between its constituent parts – natural and divine. However, they also reflected the scope of man’s cognitive faculties, establishing which bits of the world were knowable, and outlining the grounds for, and appropriate degrees of, certainty and belief. Thus, both disciplines, and their relationship with one another, contributed to broad discussions about, truth, certainty and opinion. This, in turn, established normative guidelines. To some extent, the rightness or wrongness of belief and behaviour was determined by particular definitions of, and relationship between, natural philosophy and theology. Consequently, man’s place in the world – his relationship with nature, God and his fellow man – was triangulated through these disciplines.

Le manuscrit 2884 est un autographe du père Mersenne, unique exemplaire conservé à la bibliothèque de l’Arsenal. Cet écrit constitué en livre et chapitres est une théorie spéculative du son et des consonances inachevée. Comme le manuscrit n’a jamais été édité nous en proposons la transcription selon deux pratiques différentes, une selon le modèle de l’École nationale des Chartes et l’autre diplomatique selon le laboratoire de l’ITEM spécialisé dans les brouillons d’écriture. La transcription est complétée par des notes critiques et historiques, une table des théorèmes reconstituée, d’un index des noms propres. Le fac-simile du manuscrit est proposé dans un volume à part. Dans la première partie une étude codicologique permet de situer le manuscrit dans son aspect matériel. Une étude génétique détermine ses liens avec les imprimés du père Mersenne et retrace son parcours général de rédaction. La dernière partie de la thèse tente de cerner les motifs de son abandon par une analyse comparative avec quelques livres de l’Harmonie Universelle. Notre hypothèse de départ repose sur un changement de philosophie naturelle, passage de la philosophie aristotélicienne à la philosophie d’inspiration galiléenne. En effet nous montrons que tout le discours tenu dans le manuscrit 2884 est ontologiquement fondé dans la conception aristotélicienne alors que les mêmes sujets abordés dans l’Harmonie Universelle manifestent une rupture avec ce fondement ontologique ainsi qu’une profonde évolution de ses idées. / Manuscript 2884 is an autograph by Marin Mersenne, a unique document preserved in the Arsenal Library. This writing formed of books and chapters is an unfinished speculative theory of sound and consonance. As the manuscript has never been edited we propose a transcription following two different usages, the first according to the model of the École nationale des Chartes and the second a diplomatic transcription according to the laboratory of the ITEM (Institut des Textes et Manuscrits modernes) specializing in drafts of texts. The transcriptions are supplemented by critical and historical notes, a reconstructed table of theorems and an index of proper names. The facsimile of the manuscript is proposed in a separate volume. In the first part, a codicological study makes it possible to describe the manuscript in its material aspect. A genetic study determines its links with the printed works of Marin Mersenne and traces its general course of writing. The last part of the thesis attempts to define the reasons for its abandonment by a comparative analysis with some books of Harmonie Universelle. Our initial hypothesis supposes a change in natural philosophy, a change from Aristotelian philosophy to a philosophy of Galilean inspiration. We show that the discourse held in manuscript 2884 as a whole is ontologically based in the Aristotelian conception whereas the same subjects approached in Harmonie Universelle show a break with this ontological foundation as well as a profound evolution of Mersenne’s ideas.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:12:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 BrunoCO_DISSERT.pdf: 1224385 bytes, checksum: e81346840baebc6b478b882c9d426669 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-13 / The general objective of this dissertation is to analyze the metaphysical aspects of "rational mechanics" of Isaac Newton, clarifying, by scientific and philosophical discourse, their main elements, with emphasis to the presence of one entity infinitely rational behind all the phenomena of nature, and to the Newton's insight as certain empiricist which, however, accepts deductions metaphysics; a philosopher-scientist. The specific objectives are detailed below: a) brief presentation of the development of modern science, since the Pre-Socratics, seeking to understand the historical conjecture that enabled the rise of Newtonian mechanics; b) presentation of the elements of scientific methodology and philosophical, aimed at comprehension of certain "Newtonian methodology", understanding how this specific methodology able to present empirical aspects, mathematics, philosophic and religious in communion; c) to understand, from the Newtonian concepts, both concerning man's role in the world as the "notional notions" of mass, space, time and movement, necessary for analysis and understanding of certain metaphysical aspects in the Newtonian physics; d) to present the Newtonian concepts related to the ether, to understand why it necessarily assumes metaphysics characteristics and mediation between the bodies; e) to present and understand the factors that lead the empiricist Newton to assume the religion in his mechanics, as well as, the existence and functions of God in nature, to object to the higher content of his metaphysics; f) to highlight the metaphysical elements of his classical mechanics, that confirm the presence of concepts like God Creator and Preserver of the natural laws; g) at last, to analyze the importance of Newton to the modern metaphysics and the legacy to philosophy of science at sec. XVII to science contemporary / O objetivo geral dessa disserta??o ? analisar os aspectos metaf?sicos da mec?nica racional de Isaac Newton, esclarecendo, pelo discurso cient?fico e filos?fico, os seus elementos principais, com destaque para a presen?a de uma entidade infinitamente racional por tr?s dos fen?menos de toda a natureza, e para a percep??o de Newton como certo empirista que, no entanto, aceita dedu??es metaf?sicas; um fil?sofo-cientista. Os objetivos espec?ficos podem ser assim enumerados: a) breve apresenta??o do desenvolvimento da ci?ncia moderna, desde os pr?-socr?ticos, buscando compreender os aspectos hist?ricos que possibilitaram o surgimento da mec?nica newtoniana; b) apresenta??o dos elementos da metodologia cient?fica e filos?fica, visando ? compreens?o de certa metodologia newtoniana , compreendendo como essa metodologia espec?fica consegue apresentar aspectos emp?ricos, matem?ticos, filos?ficos e religiosos; c) exposi??o, a partir dos conceitos newtonianos, do papel concernente ao homem no mundo e das no??es nocionais de massa, espa?o, tempo e movimento, necess?rios ? an?lise e compreens?o de certos aspectos metaf?sicos na f?sica de Newton; d) elucidar os conceitos newtonianos referentes ao ?ter, para entendermos por que ele assume necessariamente caracter?sticas metaf?sicas e de media??o entre os corpos; e) apresentar e compreender os fatores que levam o empirista Newton assumir a religi?o na sua mec?nica, bem como, a exist?ncia e fun??es de Deus na natureza, para objetar o conte?do maior de sua metaf?sica; f) evidenciar os elementos metaf?sicos de sua mec?nica cl?ssica, que confirmam a presen?a de conceitos como Deus Criador e Preservador das leis naturais; g) por fim, analisar a import?ncia de Newton para a metaf?sica moderna e a heran?a da filosofia da ci?ncia do s?culo XVII para a ci?ncia contempor?nea

Cette recherche se constitue comme un parcours généalogique dans la pensée naturelle et politique de Giordano Bruno autour de la notion de « vinculum » ‘lien’ ou ‘relation’, à travers la reconstruction de son origine et de son élaboration à partir des écrits magiques jusqu’aux dialogues italiens et aux premiers ouvrages latins. L’exigence est de retracer dans l’œuvre ainsi que dans l’expérience intellectuelle et biographique du Nolain, quelle est la relation entre philosophie naturelle et politique et comment elle se constitue. En d’autres termes, il s’agit de comprendre si l’analyse du politique pourrait être déliée ou réellement distinguée de l’étude de la nature ou si elle prendrait plutôt son point d’origine et se développerait au cœur de la connaissance de la physis : isoler et analyser quel que soit le rôle et la fonction que la notion de « vinculum » assume entre la réflexion métaphysique et anthropologique de Bruno. Ces questions constituent le problème de fond qui anime ce travail et auquel j’ai essayé de répondre dans ces pages, bien que conscient du caractère jamais définitif et ouvert de cette réponse comme pour chaque recherche. / This research is a genealogic study of the natural and political thought of Giordano Bruno, about the notion of «vinculum», ‘bond’ or ‘relation’, by the reconstruction of its origin and development from the magic writing to the Italians dialogues and the firsts Latins works The necessity of this work is to track down the Bruno’s opera and in his intellectual and biographic experience which is the relation between natural and political philosophy. In others words, the work lies in understanding if is possible to separate and distinguish the analysis of the politic from the nature; or the political thought is originate and it is inseparable from the reflection about the physis: isolating and analyzing which is the role and the function of the notion of «vinculum» between the metaphysical and anthropological reflection of Giordano Bruno. Those questions constitute the problem of this research and to which I try to respond in theses pages, even if conscious of the character never complete of this answer, as well as every research.

L’évocation de la Renaissance italienne des XVe et XVIe siècles est souvent synonyme de la propagation d’une nouvelle pensée de l’homme, exaltant les valeurs oubliées de l’excellence et de la liberté humaines. Chez un philosophe comme Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), la question de la liberté ne se présente pas aussi facilement que chez d’autres grands auteurs des Quattrocento et Cinquecento (tel Marsile Ficin ou Pic de la Mirandole). Sa défiance héroïque envers l’autorité ecclésiastique et son exécution par l’Inquisition, le 17 février 1600, sur le campo dei Fiori, illustrent sa longue lutte pour libérer la philosophie des entraves de la religion révélée. Bruno peut se targuer d’être l’un des premiers penseurs depuis l’Antiquité à intégrer une cosmologie, une physique, une psychologie et une éthique dans un système de philosophie (la nova filosofia). Malgré une terminologie parfois fluctuante et des contradictions souvent apparentes, la philosophie de Bruno possède une réelle cohérence interne et peut être regardée comme annonçant celle de Spinoza. Or à la différence du déterminisme de ce dernier, Bruno soutient que l’homme est doté d’un libre arbitre, s’opposant en cela aux thèses de Luther et abondant dans le sens d’Erasme. Son affirmation d’une liberté humaine intimement liée aux problèmes éthiques et religieux de son époque n’est toutefois pas sans provoquer certaines tensions au regard de sa conception métaphysique d’un univers infini en acte. L’objet de ce travail est d’analyser la thèse brunienne de la compossibilité de la liberté humaine avec la nécessité divine qui s’exprime dans un univers métamorphique et infini, en recherchant, dans une première partie, les sources de son compatibilisme et en interprétant, dans une seconde partie, la manière dont Bruno concilie liberté et nécessité. / The evocation of the Italian Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is often synonymous with the spread of a new human thought, exalting the forgotten values of human excellence and freedom. For a philosopher like Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), the problem of freedom does not arise as easily as it does for other great authors of Quattrocento and Cinquecento (such as Marsilio Ficino or Pico della Mirandola). His heroic defiance of ecclesiastical authority and his execution by the Inquisition on 17 February 1600 onto the Campo de’ Fiori, exemplifies his long struggle to free philosophy from the trammels of revealed religion. Bruno can claim to be the first thinker since Antiquity to integrate a cosmology, physics, ethics and psychology into a system of philosophy (nova filosofia). Despite sometimes inconsistent terminology and often apparent contradictions, Bruno’s philosophy has a real inner coherence and can be seen as announcing Spinoza’s. However, unlike the latter’s determinism, Bruno maintains that human being is endowed with a free will, opposing Luther’s theses and agreeing with Erasmus. Nonetheless, his affirmation of human freedom, intimately linked to the ethical and religious problems of his time, is not without causing tensions with regard to his metaphysical conception of the actual infinity in the universe. The purpose of this work is to analyse the brunian thesis of the compossibility of human freedom with the divine necessity expressed in a metamorphic and infinite universe, by seeking, in a first part, the sources of its compatibility and by interpreting, in a second part, the way in which Bruno reconciles liberty and necessity.