Knowledge and Cosmos: Development and Decline of the Medieval Perspective

Knowledge and Cosmos: Development and Decline of the Medieval Perspective, 2nd Edition, by Robert K. DeKosky, explores the Copernican Revolution and the medieval world views that shaped it. It discusses astronomy, cosmology, physics, matter theory, philosophy, and theology, and how different world views were adapted to fit new ideas. The book describes the four traditional patterns of interpretation: teleological, mechanical, occultist, and mathematico-descriptive, and how they guided medieval accounts of heavenly phenomena, material process, and motion. It also analyzes the development of these patterns in the ancient period and their uneasy medieval relationships with each other and with basic Judaeo-Muslim-Christian exigencies of faith. Part II relates struggles of leading early-modern figures to adapt new concepts to an allegiance to two or more of the four patterns of interpretation, and identifies decreasing dependence on teleological explanation of physical phenomena as crucial to the decline of medieval interpretations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 532 pages
Publication date: 15 October 2023
Publisher: University Press of America

Knowledge and Cosmos: Development and Decline of the Medieval Perspective, 2nd Edition, by Robert K. DeKosky, delves into various issues related to astronomy, cosmology, physics, matter theory, philosophy, and theology, all of which played a significant role in the "Copernican Revolution." The book explores the efforts of individuals with different worldviews to integrate new ideas into broader perspectives that align with four traditional patterns of interpretation: teleological, mechanical, occultist, and mathematico-descriptive. These patterns had previously guided medieval accounts of celestial events, material processes, and motion. The teleological explanation, prevalent in Aristotelian natural philosophy, posited "final causes" or goals that objects sought to achieve. Ancient classical atomists, on the other hand, emphasized purely mechanical explanations, involving direct material contact and collisions of moving matter as agents of physical change. Traditions of astrology, magic, and alchemy embraced an occultist pattern of interpretation, attributing various phenomena to hidden forces that were beyond sensory detection and rational comprehension. Finally, the mathematico-descriptive approach interpreted natural phenomena through geometric or arithmetic relationships, focusing on describing the patterns and relationships without necessarily providing causal explanations for the processes involved. Part I of the book delves into the development of these four patterns during the ancient period and their complex relationships with each other and with the fundamental Judaeo-Muslim-Christian faith requirements. It then explores the theory of the heavens, including the mathematico-descriptive approach of Ptolemaic astronomy, the teleological and mechanical cosmology of Aristotle, and the occultist interpretations of astrologers and magicians. Part I also discusses matter and materiality, examining the various theories and perspectives on the nature of matter and its properties. Overall, Knowledge and Cosmos provides a comprehensive overview of the intellectual and cultural milieu that shaped the development of the "Copernican Revolution" and its impact on our understanding of the universe.

ISBN-13: 9780761874003
Edition number: 2nd ed.