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Law, Renaissance Idea of Natural

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Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

Abstract

The introduction of laws of nature is often seen as one of the hallmarks of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. The new sciences are thought to have introduced the revolutionary idea that explanations of natural phenomena have to be grounded in exceptionless regularities of universal scope, i.e., laws of nature. The use of legal terminology to talk about natural regularities has a longer history, though. This article traces these earlier uses.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Maarten Van Dyck

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  1. Maarten Van Dyck
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Correspondence to Maarten Van Dyck .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Venezia, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Section Editor information

  1. University Ca' Foscari Venice, Venice, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

  2. The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK

    Peter Mack

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Van Dyck, M. (2018). Law, Renaissance Idea of Natural. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_71-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_71-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

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