Difference between revisions of "Marin Mersenne" - New World Encyclopedia
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
In 1648, Mersenne died through complications arising from a lung abscess. | In 1648, Mersenne died through complications arising from a lung abscess. | ||
| − | + | ==Philosophy== | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
Mersenne's mature philosophical thought centered around attacks on Pyrrhonist skepticism, which had regained popularity in the early 17th century. While Mersenne agreed that human knowledge was inevitably limited, he worries that more radical forms of skepticism threatened to undermine faith and marginalize the new scientific developments. | Mersenne's mature philosophical thought centered around attacks on Pyrrhonist skepticism, which had regained popularity in the early 17th century. While Mersenne agreed that human knowledge was inevitably limited, he worries that more radical forms of skepticism threatened to undermine faith and marginalize the new scientific developments. | ||
| Line 20: | Line 16: | ||
Pyrrhonist skepticism typically proceeds by finding some reason for doubting a given set of beliefs, and concludes that these beliefs should be abandoned (that assent should be withheld). Mersenne sympathized with this approach insofar as it undermined many forms of mysticism and alchemy, yet many Pyrrhonists extended their attacks to natural philosophy. What allows for such an extension, Mersenne believed, was the Scholastic view that natural philosophy was concerned with discovering and explaining the inner essences of things. Such inner essences cannot, he held, be known to us with certainty, so any discipline which attempts to understand them will fall to Pyrrhonist attacks. | Pyrrhonist skepticism typically proceeds by finding some reason for doubting a given set of beliefs, and concludes that these beliefs should be abandoned (that assent should be withheld). Mersenne sympathized with this approach insofar as it undermined many forms of mysticism and alchemy, yet many Pyrrhonists extended their attacks to natural philosophy. What allows for such an extension, Mersenne believed, was the Scholastic view that natural philosophy was concerned with discovering and explaining the inner essences of things. Such inner essences cannot, he held, be known to us with certainty, so any discipline which attempts to understand them will fall to Pyrrhonist attacks. | ||
| − | Mersenne's alternative view of natural philosophy came from his assumption that no real doubts could be raised concerning either mathematics or our access to how things appear. Given this assumption, he reasoned, the application of mathematics to the nature of appearances must likewise be immune from doubt, and so should be the starting point for natural philosophy. When this position was first formulated in the 1620s, Mersenne primarily had in mind geometrical optics and mathematical approaches to music. Later exposure to the works of Galileo and Descartes led to his including mechanics in this group as well. | + | Mersenne's alternative view of natural philosophy (the first serious presentation of which was his ''La verité des sciences'' of 1625) came from his assumption that no real doubts could be raised concerning either mathematics or our access to how things appear. Given this assumption, he reasoned, the application of mathematics to the nature of appearances must likewise be immune from doubt, and so should be the starting point for natural philosophy. When this position was first formulated in the 1620s, Mersenne primarily had in mind geometrical optics and mathematical approaches to music. Later exposure to the works of Galileo and Descartes led to his including mechanics in this group as well. |
While Mersenne held that such mathematical branches of natural science should be privileged, he was not dismissive of merely probable disciplines. Such disciplines were capable of uncovering much truth and of being of great value - they simply were of no use in combating the spread of skepticism. | While Mersenne held that such mathematical branches of natural science should be privileged, he was not dismissive of merely probable disciplines. Such disciplines were capable of uncovering much truth and of being of great value - they simply were of no use in combating the spread of skepticism. | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
| Line 44: | Line 32: | ||
===Works about Mersenne=== | ===Works about Mersenne=== | ||
| − | * | + | * Brown, Harcourt. 1934. ''Scientific Organizations in Seventeenth-Century France (1620-80)''. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins. |
| − | * | + | * Coste, H. de. 1649. ''La vie du R. P. Marin Mersenne, théologien, philosophe et mathématicien, de l’ordre des Pères Minimes''. Paris. Reprtinted in P.T. de Larroque. 1972. ''Les correspondants de Peiresc 2''. Geneva: Slatkine, 436–97. |
| − | * | + | * Dear, Peter. 1988. ''Mersenne and the Learning of the Schools.'' Ithaca: Cornell University Press. |
| + | * Hine, W.L. 1984 ‘Marin Mersenne: Renaissance Naturalism and Renaissance Magic’, in B. Vickers (ed.) ''Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press | ||
| + | * Lenoble, R. 1942. ''Mersenne et la naissance du mechanisme''. Paris: Vrin. | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 15:23, 3 August 2006
- For the primes named after Marin Mersenne, see Mersenne prime.
Marin Mersenne, Marin Mersennus or le Père Mersenne (September 8, 1588 – September 1, 1648) was a French theologian, philosopher, mathematician and music theorist. In philosophy, he is mainly remembered in his connection with Descartes, for whom he compiled a series of objections which were published as part of Descartes' seminal Meditations. Yet this task was merely one instance of his contribution to the spread of the Enlightenment - much of his life was devoted to assisting various thinkers, and putting them in contact with one another. Mersenne's philosophical contributions are relatively modest, but show a deep concern with how the place of the new natural philosophy should be understood.
Life
Marin Mersenne was born of near Oizé, Maine (present day Sarthe) on September 8, 1588. It appears that his family was of quite modest means, and it is likely that Mersenne received external financial support during the course of his studies. He began his education at the Collège du Mans, and continued at the Jesuit College of La Flèche, where he was a schoolmate of René Descartes (their friendship began later). In 1609, he moved to Paris in order to study theology at the Sorbonne, and was ordained in 1613. Two years prior to that, Mersenne joined the Order of the Minims, eventually taking up residence in their convent in Paris. It appears that the Minims allowed Mersenne substantial freedom to pursue his academic interests, and the convent remained his primary residence for the rest of his life.
Mersenne's early philosophical work is characterized by orthodox conservativism. He published an attack on Copernican astronomy on 1623, and initially accepted much of traditional scholastic philosophy. By the 1630s, however, he had accepted Galileo's ideas and the mechanical natural philosophy of Descartes. This development in his thinking corresponded to his taking up the role of a communicator of ideas. At the time, neither academic journals nor scientific academies had formed, and the established centers of education (Paris, Oxford) were still resistant to the new philosophies and sciences which were surfacing across Europe. These facts made it quite difficult for the new intellectuals to communicate with one another. Mersenne had a gift for correspondence, as well as a gift for communicating ideas other than his own. He therefore became roughly the equivalent of a journal himself, writing to and reporting the ideas of such people as Thomas Hobbes in England, the astronomer Hevelius in Danzig, Galileo in Italy and Descartes in the Netherlands. In addition, he was active in helping bring various works to publication (including Hobbes' De Cive, Galileo's Two Chief World Systems and Descartes' Discourse on Method), and personally hosted meetings of scientists and philosophers in his cell. When Descartes had composed his Meditations on First Philosophy, he turned to Mersenne to distribute the work and collect objections. The objections Mersenne gathered (by Arnauld, Hobbes, Mersenne himself, and others) formed the basis for the Objections and Replies that was attached to the Meditations when the latter was published.
In 1648, Mersenne died through complications arising from a lung abscess.
Philosophy
Mersenne's mature philosophical thought centered around attacks on Pyrrhonist skepticism, which had regained popularity in the early 17th century. While Mersenne agreed that human knowledge was inevitably limited, he worries that more radical forms of skepticism threatened to undermine faith and marginalize the new scientific developments.
Pyrrhonist skepticism typically proceeds by finding some reason for doubting a given set of beliefs, and concludes that these beliefs should be abandoned (that assent should be withheld). Mersenne sympathized with this approach insofar as it undermined many forms of mysticism and alchemy, yet many Pyrrhonists extended their attacks to natural philosophy. What allows for such an extension, Mersenne believed, was the Scholastic view that natural philosophy was concerned with discovering and explaining the inner essences of things. Such inner essences cannot, he held, be known to us with certainty, so any discipline which attempts to understand them will fall to Pyrrhonist attacks.
Mersenne's alternative view of natural philosophy (the first serious presentation of which was his La verité des sciences of 1625) came from his assumption that no real doubts could be raised concerning either mathematics or our access to how things appear. Given this assumption, he reasoned, the application of mathematics to the nature of appearances must likewise be immune from doubt, and so should be the starting point for natural philosophy. When this position was first formulated in the 1620s, Mersenne primarily had in mind geometrical optics and mathematical approaches to music. Later exposure to the works of Galileo and Descartes led to his including mechanics in this group as well.
While Mersenne held that such mathematical branches of natural science should be privileged, he was not dismissive of merely probable disciplines. Such disciplines were capable of uncovering much truth and of being of great value - they simply were of no use in combating the spread of skepticism.
Bibliography
Works by Mersenne
- Euclidis elementorum libri, etc. (Paris, 1626)
- Les Mécaniques de Galilée (Paris, 1634)
- Questions inouies ou recreations des savants (1634)
- Questions théologiques, physiques, etc. (1634)
- Nouvelles découvertes de Galilée (1639)
- Cogitata physico-mathematica (1644)
- Universae geometriae synopsis (1644)
Works about Mersenne
- Brown, Harcourt. 1934. Scientific Organizations in Seventeenth-Century France (1620-80). Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.
- Coste, H. de. 1649. La vie du R. P. Marin Mersenne, théologien, philosophe et mathématicien, de l’ordre des Pères Minimes. Paris. Reprtinted in P.T. de Larroque. 1972. Les correspondants de Peiresc 2. Geneva: Slatkine, 436–97.
- Dear, Peter. 1988. Mersenne and the Learning of the Schools. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- Hine, W.L. 1984 ‘Marin Mersenne: Renaissance Naturalism and Renaissance Magic’, in B. Vickers (ed.) Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Lenoble, R. 1942. Mersenne et la naissance du mechanisme. Paris: Vrin.
External links
- John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson. Marin Mersenne at the MacTutor archive
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
