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Abstract

Hooke’s project to reform natural knowledge aimed at the restoration of the original human condition lost in the Fall. Since then, humans have no more direct access to the hidden nature of things through their bare natural faculties. The only way to recover human “command over things” and “some degrees of those former perfections” consists in “rectifying the operations of the sense, the memory and reason.” As noted earlier, these are the “three faculties of the soul,” which are “to be examined how far their ability and power, when in the greatest perfection extends, and wherein each of them are deficient, and by what means they may be assisted and perfected.” Like Bacon, Hooke thought of the means for reforming natural philosophy as a set of artificial ministrationes directed to the three human faculties. Devoid of any assistance, these faculties have produced a “knowledge very confus’d and imperfect, and very insignificant as to the enabling a man to practise or operate by it.”

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a1r.

  2. 2.

    Id. (1705), 12.

  3. 3.

    Bacon (1996), 215.

  4. 4.

    Hooke (1705), 3–4.

  5. 5.

    Oldroyd (1987), 151.

  6. 6.

    Hooke (1705), 4, 6.

  7. 7.

    Guildhall Library, London MS 1757.11, f.107r.

  8. 8.

    Hooke (1705), 7.

  9. 9.

    Guildhall Library, London MS 1757.11, f.107r.

  10. 10.

    To avoid any confusion with the labels empiricism and rationalism, frequently used to describe a misleading distinction between continental Cartesianism and a supposedly Baconian British tradition, I do not follow Rees and Farrington in translating rationales as ‘rationalists’, see Farrington (1964), 97 and Bacon (2004), 153. I’m confident that ‘dogmatists’ and ‘empirics’ better conveys what Bacon described respectively as rationales or dogmaticos, and empirici.

  11. 11.

    Bacon (2004), 214–7.

  12. 12.

    Hooke (1705), 84.

  13. 13.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a2r; cf. Harrison (2011), 426–7.

  14. 14.

    Giglioni (2013), 50.

  15. 15.

    Cf. Gaukroger (2006), 356; Laudan (1966a), 96.

  16. 16.

    Hooke (1705), 3.

  17. 17.

    Cf. Clucas (1994), 56–8.

  18. 18.

    Hesse (1968), 132; Gaukroger (2001), 133–4; Giglioni (2013), 53–4.

  19. 19.

    Hooke (1665), sig. b1v–b2r.

  20. 20.

    Bacon (2004), 200–1; cf. Rossi (1996), 31.

  21. 21.

    Hooke (1705), 3.

  22. 22.

    Ibid., 44.

  23. 23.

    This was not unusual; see for instance Principe (1998), 48.

  24. 24.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a2v.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., sig. a1v–a2r.

  26. 26.

    Hooke (1705), 36.

  27. 27.

    Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 183v.

  28. 28.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a2r.

  29. 29.

    Bacon (1996), 102–3; cf. Giglioni (2013), 46; Grafton (2007), 188; Da Costa Kaufman (1993), 193–4; Gaukroger (2010), 22–3.

  30. 30.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a1r; Id. (1705), 532.

  31. 31.

    Bacon (2004) 462–3; cf. Farrington (1964), 93, 99; Bacon (1857–74), vol. III, 612, 617–8; Id. (1996), 100–1; Rossi 1996, 27.

  32. 32.

    Hooke (1705), 34.

  33. 33.

    Ibid., 24.

  34. 34.

    Ibid., 58.

  35. 35.

    Dear (2006), 106, 109, 121; Garber (2010), 2–16.

  36. 36.

    Van Helden (1983), 54–5, 65–6, 69.

  37. 37.

    Hooke (1677), 180; cf. Bacon (1857–74), vol. III; 584; Bennett (1989), 24–5; Applebaum (1996), 462–4; Vertesi (2010), 230–6.

  38. 38.

    Bacon (2004), 12–3.

  39. 39.

    Hooke (1705), 4, 535.

  40. 40.

    Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 174r.

  41. 41.

    Bacon (2004), 100–1.

  42. 42.

    Hooke (1705), 4–5.

  43. 43.

    Boyle (1999), vol. II, 221. Focusing on these very same aspects of medieval science, some historians have described it as “empiricism without observations” and “a natural philosophy without nature,” see Grant (2002), 141–6, 166; Murdoch (1982), 198–9.

  44. 44.

    Crosland (2005), 234, 238; Van Helden (1983), 50; Daston (2011), 81, 84–6; Dear (1995), 21, 28, 161–2; for a different view see Anstey and Vanzo (2012), 509–15.

  45. 45.

    Bacon (2004), 130–1; cf. Bacon (1857–74), vol. III, 600–1. Hooke (1705), 6.

  46. 46.

    Hooke (1705), 135, 532; cf. Bacon (1857–74), vol. III, 591, 601–6, 608–9, 612–7.

  47. 47.

    Guildhall Library, London MS 1757.11, f. 104r.

  48. 48.

    Hooke (1665), sig. g1v; The aspiration to a different relationship between philosophers and craftsmen was shared by many Baconians. According to William Petty, for instance, mechanical arts provide philosophers with a “better matter to exercise their wits upon, whereas now they pulse and tire themselves about mere words and chimericall notions. Petty (1647), 22; see also Glanvill (1665), sig. b4v.

  49. 49.

    Oldroyd (1987), 156–7.

  50. 50.

    Birch (1756–57), vol. I, 316, 490; Hunter and Wood (1986), 90; cf. Espinasse (1974), 365–6; Thomas (2011), 1.

  51. 51.

    Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 171v.

  52. 52.

    Galilei (1890–1909), vol. III.1, 99; vol. VII, 49.

  53. 53.

    Palmieri (2008), 10–1; cf. Lefévre (2001), 11–3; Valleriani (2010), 157–62; Strano (2012), 9–10, 18; Gal and Chen Morris (2010), 122, 128–9.

  54. 54.

    Bacon (2004), 340–3.

  55. 55.

    Such as si fides constet and si iis credimus quae Galilaeus tradidit. Bacon (1996), 132–3, 154–5, 156–7, 164–5.

  56. 56.

    Id. (2004), 342–5.

  57. 57.

    Id. (1996), 86–7; cf. Manzo (2001), 63–6; Id. (2006), 22, 175; Wilson (1995), 50.

  58. 58.

    Bacon (2004), 78–9. For the image of Bacon as “sceptical empiricist, biased in respect to senses” and defender of a “sensory relativism” see Hamou (2001), 35–7.

  59. 59.

    Cf. Bacon (2004), 346–9; Rossi (2003), 142; Giglioni (2013), 46.

  60. 60.

    Hooke (1665), 241.

  61. 61.

    Id. (1705), 12–3, 38–40.

  62. 62.

    Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 183r.

  63. 63.

    Hooke (1705), 478; Id. (1665), sig. a2v; cf. Gascoigne (2013), 219–20.

  64. 64.

    Hooke (1665), sig. d2v.

  65. 65.

    Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 172r.

  66. 66.

    Ruestow (1996), 39; Bradbury (1976), 151–2.

  67. 67.

    Fournier (2007), 212; Cf. Bennett (1997), 65.

  68. 68.

    Hooke (1665), sig. b2v.

  69. 69.

    For a different view, see Böhme (2005), 385–9.

  70. 70.

    Meinel (1998), 68, 72–6, 101; Lüthy (1996), 14; Van Helden (1983), 51. Like geocentricism, hylemorphism survived the advent of the new optical instrument for almost a century, cf. Buchwald and Feingold 2013:25–6.

  71. 71.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a2v.

  72. 72.

    Ibid., sig. g1r; cf. Wilson (1995), 41–3, 56; For a different view see Hutchinson (1982), 233, 242–3, 246

  73. 73.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a2r;

  74. 74.

    Bucciantini (2003), 174.

  75. 75.

    Hooke (1665), 114.

  76. 76.

    Rossi (1986), 126, 138–8, 141–3, 146; Mandelbaum (1964), 61–3; McGuire (1970), 4; Shapiro (2004), 214; Gabbey (1985), 12–4; Id. (2001), 454–7; Buchwald (2008), 6.

  77. 77.

    Guildhall Library, London MS 1757.11, f. 104r.

  78. 78.

    Bacon (2004), 296–7; cf. Id. (1996), 100–1.

  79. 79.

    Hooke (1726), 262–3; cf. Pyle (1995), 533.

  80. 80.

    Vickers (1984), 95; Rossi (1986), 129–31, 145; Wilson (1988), 90–1; cf. Bianchi (1987), 32–44.

  81. 81.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a1v.

  82. 82.

    Id. (1726), 263; cf. Hankins and Silvermann (1995), 41–2.

  83. 83.

    Pomata (2011), 65–6.

  84. 84.

    Harvey (1651), sig. B4r; Id. (1847), 162.

  85. 85.

    Hooke (1726), 263–4. Interestingly, Hooke defines these schools as “sects” because of their “division from the true philosophy. Cf. Voltaire (2004), 374: “Every sect of whatever kind is the rallying point for doubt and error.

  86. 86.

    Bacon (2004), 362–3.

  87. 87.

    Hooke (1705), 172.

  88. 88.

    Ibid., 573; Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 183v.

  89. 89.

    Hooke (1665), sig. a1v; Id. (1705), 6.

  90. 90.

    Hooke (1665), sig. d1r; Bacon (1996), 96–7.

  91. 91.

    Hooke (1705), 3–4; Id. (1665), sig. b2v.

  92. 92.

    Id. (1705), 338; cf. Bacon (2004) 468–69.

  93. 93.

    Hooke (1705), 26; Bacon (2004), 454–55.

  94. 94.

    Hooke (1705), 18; cf. Shapin and Schaffer (1985), 36; Jack (2009), 194.

  95. 95.

    Oldroyd (1987), 151, Hooke (1705), 18.

  96. 96.

    Hooke (1665), sig. d1r.

  97. 97.

    Cf. Rossi (1986), 145; Perez-Ramos (1988), 266–9.

  98. 98.

    Hooke (1705), 6; cf. Bacon (2004), 82–3.

  99. 99.

    Bacon (2004), 110–1, 162–3, 254–5.

  100. 100.

    Hooke (1705), 35.

  101. 101.

    Ibid., 18–9, 28; Oldroyd (1987), 158.

  102. 102.

    Hooke (1705), 357.

  103. 103.

    Id. (1661), 26; Id. (1665), sig. b1r.

  104. 104.

    Guildhall Library, London MS 1757.11, f. 103r.

  105. 105.

    Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 181r.

  106. 106.

    Hooke (1665), sig. b2r.

  107. 107.

    Birch (1756–57), vol. IV, 8.

  108. 108.

    Hooke (1661), 41–2; Birch (1756–57), vol. IV, 8.

  109. 109.

    Boyle 1999, vol. III, 50

  110. 110.

    Hooke (1665), 54; Guildhall Library, London MS 1757.11, f. 104r; Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 178r.

  111. 111.

    Anstey and Hunter (2008), 112; Pugliese (2004), 952.

  112. 112.

    Royal Society Classified Papers, vol. XX, f. 178r.

  113. 113.

    Hooke (1705), 35.

  114. 114.

    Newton (1959–77), vol. I, 94.

  115. 115.

    Hooke (1665), 54.

  116. 116.

    Webster (1967), 168.

  117. 117.

    Wren (1750), 224–7; Birch (1756–57), vol. I, 289.

  118. 118.

    Petty to Hartlib, Hartlib Papers 7/123/1A; cf. McCormik (2009), 62–3; Boas Hall (1963), 86; Clarke (1989), 131–212.

  119. 119.

    Henry (2013), 118–9; Laudan (1966a), 75; Rogers (1972), 238; Wilson (2008), 64–5. Which effective role experiments played in Descartes’ work is a controversial question, on which see Buckwald (2008), 3; Osler (1994), 140–1; Clarke (1990), 106–8; Gaukroger (2002), 68; Baldassarri (2017), 117–8, 129. Suffice here to note that like many other natural philosophers, Descartes often did not practice the method he prescribed, cf. Osler (1994), 145–6.

  120. 120.

    Hooke (1665), 46.

  121. 121.

    Id. (1661), 41; Id. (1665), 28 (italics in the texts); cf. Bacon (2004), 100–1.

  122. 122.

    Hooke (1678), 83, 94–5.

  123. 123.

    Sargent (1987), 486; Id. (1995), 30–1.

  124. 124.

    Bacon (2007), 11; Id. (2004), 131, 469, 457.

  125. 125.

    Bacon (1996), 135; Id. (1857–74), vol. III, 603; Farrington (1964), 85 cf. Vickers (1985), 12.

  126. 126.

    Bacon (2004), 59; Rossi (1984), 252; Urbach (1987), 31; Vickers (1992), 500.

  127. 127.

    Bacon (2004), 325

  128. 128.

    For instance Daston (1994), 152; Id. (2001), 746–50.

  129. 129.

    Zagorin (2001), 382–3; Giglioni (2011), 46; Sargent (2012), 82–3.

  130. 130.

    Bacon (1996), 104–5.

  131. 131.

    Giglioni (2011), 101; Id. (2013), 59; Rusu (2012), 117; Stewart (2012), 88, 109.

  132. 132.

    Bacon (2007), 110–1; cf. Hesse (1968), 115.

  133. 133.

    Bacon (2004), 131, 175.

  134. 134.

    Ibid., 111; Bacon (1857–74), vol. III 131, 583, 616; Farrington (1964)

  135. 135.

    Sargent (1987), 479; Anstey (2004), 254; Carey (1997), 253; Oldroyd (1972), 120–1.

  136. 136.

    Hesse (1964), 265.

  137. 137.

    Boas Hall (1983) 25.

  138. 138.

    Childrey (1662), sig. B2r.

  139. 139.

    Bacon (2004), 53, 158, 160–1.

  140. 140.

    Bacon (2007), 14–7.

  141. 141.

    Vickers (1992), 499; Urbach (1987), 33–4; Hesse (1968), 121–2; Laudan (1966b), 136; Lynch (2001), 9–11.

  142. 142.

    Pérez-Ramos (1988), 244, 254.

  143. 143.

    Anstey (2005), 224–6.

  144. 144.

    Anstey and Vanzo (2012), 500; Anstey (2011), 70–1, 73, 82.

  145. 145.

    Guicciardini (2009), 21, 24–5.

  146. 146.

    Zémplen (2011), 126–7, 130–1; Dear (1991), 136–7.

  147. 147.

    Newton (1959–77), vol. I, 96–7, 174, 187–8, 198, 209.

  148. 148.

    Id. (1779–85), vol. IV, 1.

  149. 149.

    Id. (1959–77), vol. I, 110–11, 200.

  150. 150.

    Shapiro (2004), 185.

  151. 151.

    Downing (1997), 287–88.

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Sacco, F.G. (2020). Ministrations. In: Real, Mechanical, Experimental. International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, vol 231. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44451-8_2

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