The Condemnations of Paris of 1277 and the Origins of Modern Science

Abstract

After discovering a treasure-trove of medieval manuscripts on various topics in the philosophy of nature, the French physicist, historian and philosopher of science, Pierre Duhem (1861-1916), concluded that the Middle Ages witnessed profound reflections in the understanding of the natural world.  He eventually argued that developments in the 14^th Century at the University of Paris concerning projectile motion anticipated the theories of inertia set forth by Galileo, Descartes, and Newton.  Scholars like Jean Buridan, according to Duhem, rejected the Aristotelian principle that everything that is moved is moved by another.  He claimed that the intellectual horizon in which Buridan and others operated was made possible by the actions of Étienne Tempier, Bishop of Paris, who in 1277 issued a list of 219 proposition condemned as false - many of them grounded in Aristotelian physics.  For Duhem, the real Scientific Revolution begins with Bishop Tempier's condemnations.  There are problems, however, with Duhem's thesis.  The theory of impetus set forth by Burdian is not so much a rejection of Aristotelian principles but a new development within the broad Aristotelian tradition. Duhem does help us to reject the view that there is a fundamental incompatibility between Catholic theology and science.  However, the Condemnations of 1277, in the appeal to divine omnipotence to counter claims about what is true in nature, incorporate a view that is really an obstacle to the development of science. Concerns about challenges of Aristotle to Christian faith, evident in the condemnations, were not shared by thinkers such as Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas