Epistemological Foundations of the Scientific Revolution pt 2

Vocabulary flashcards covering thinkers, concepts, and methods that shaped the new epistemology of the Scientific Revolution.

Scientific Revolution

17th-century movement that produced new knowledge and new ways of thinking about nature.

Epistemology

Branch of philosophy that studies the nature and grounds of knowledge; central to Bacon’s and Descartes’ work.

"Knowledge is power"

Slogan of the Scientific Revolution expressing the goal of using knowledge to control nature.

Francis Bacon

English thinker-politician who championed inductive reasoning and devised the scientific method.

Inductive Reasoning

Logic that moves from particular observations to general laws; starts with sensory data.

Empiricism

Philosophical view that knowledge comes through the senses—sight, touch, taste, etc.

Hypothesis

Initial, testable proposition formed at the start of an inductive investigation.

Axiom (in Bacon’s system)

Level of generalization; observations rise from lower to middle to higher axioms (scientific laws).

Scientific Method

Systematic process of hypothesis, observation, and experiment formalized by Bacon.

Deductive Reasoning

Logic that derives particulars from accepted general truths or first principles.

A priori Truth

Proposition accepted without empirical proof; starting point for traditional deductive logic.

Rene Descartes

French mathematician-philosopher who defended deductive reasoning and rationalism.

Cartesian Dualism

Descartes’ doctrine separating the thinking self (mind) from the external world (matter).

Cogito, ergo sum

Latin for “I think, therefore I am,” Descartes’ foundational certainty of his own existence.

First Principles (Descartes)

Self-evident truths—often mathematical—used to deduce further knowledge.

Rationalism

Theory that reason and mathematics are the chief sources of knowledge, exemplified by Descartes.

Discourse on the Method

Descartes’ 1637 work outlining his deductive, mathematical approach to knowledge.

Aristotelian Scholasticism

Medieval intellectual tradition relying on deductive logic from accepted authorities.