Natural Philosophy and Natural Theology: The Apostolic and Devotional Aspect of the Study of Nature in 17th-century and 18th-century England

Doctoral Dissertation uoadl:1309504 813 Read counter

Unit:
Τομέας Φιλοσοφίας και Θεωρίας της Επιστήμης και της Τεχνολογίας
Library of the School of Science
Deposit date:
2016-06-15
Year:
2016
Author:
Πετάκος Δημήτριος
Dissertation committee:
Πατηνιώτης Εμμανουήλ-Αν Καθηγ. ΕΛΠΑ, Γαβρόγλου Κωνσταντίνος-Ομ. Καθηγ. ΕΚΠΑ, Αραμπατζής Θεόδωρος-Καθηγητής ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Φυσική Φιλοσοφία και Φυσική Θεολογία: Η Αποστολική και Λατρευτική Διάσταση της Μελέτης της Φύσης στην Αγγλία του 17ου και 18ου Αιώνα
Languages:
Greek
Translated title:
Natural Philosophy and Natural Theology: The Apostolic and Devotional Aspect of the Study of Nature in 17th-century and 18th-century England
Summary:
This dissertation aims to a different reading of Newtonian natural philosophy,
its role in the 17th and 18th centuries, the terms of its constitution and, in
particular, its assimilation by a great number of thinkers. Initially,
weexamine the socio-political and religious context of England in the 17th and
18th century and the intellectual shifts this contexttriggered in the
production of new knowledge. There is, also, an overview of the work and
methods of Newton, and their theological starting points and endpoints. The
main body of the dissertation deals with natural theologians and natural
philosophers, who imprinted in their work not only the Newtonian natural
philosophy but, also, the broader theological, ideological and political
context of that time. The socio-political and theological context of England
during the second half of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth
centuries defined not only the conceptual framework of Newtonian philosophy
but, also, the different assimilations of Newton’s works. The complexity of
historical context favored the development of multiple “Newtonianisms” in the
intellectual landscape of England. These English “Newtonianisms”, accommodated,
reshaped and expressed the sociopolitical and theological context along with
Newton’s fundamental ideas.The multiplicity of “Newtonianisms” is the main
argument of this thesis.
Keywords:
Newton, Natural philosophy, England, Newtonianism, Natural Theology
Index:
No
Number of index pages:
0
Contains images:
No
Number of references:
338
Number of pages:
473
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