Skepticism's Pictures: Figuring Descartes's Natural Philosophy

In seventeenth-century northern Europe, René Descartes relied on the printed image to fortify his epistemology, which inspired a wide range of pictorial responses shaped by religious affiliation, political commitment, and cultural convention. Melissa Lo's book Skepticisms Pictures chronicles the visual idioms that made, sustained, revised, and resisted Descartess new philosophy, arguing that he transformed natural philosophy with the introduction of a new graphic language.

Format: Hardback
Length: 230 pages
Publication date: 23 May 2023
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

In the vibrant tapestry of seventeenth-century northern Europe, the Aristotelian foundations of scientia were shaken to their core by a symphony of observation, experiment, confessional strife, and political pressure. Amidst this tumultuous backdrop, natural philosophers, including the renowned René Descartes, found solace in the printed image, using it as a powerful tool to fortify their epistemologies. Melissa Lo, a historian of science, delves into this captivating narrative in her book, Skepticisms Pictures. Through a meticulous exploration of moon maps, political cartoons, student notebooks, treatises on practical mathematics, and various other sources, Lo argues that Descartes revolutionized natural philosophy with the introduction of a new graphic language that sparked a diverse range of pictorial responses, influenced by religious affiliation, political commitment, and cultural conventions.

Lo begins her journey by historicizing the graphic vocabularies of Descartes' Essais and Principia philosophiae, laying the foundation for her analysis. She then delves into the religious and civic volatility of Descartes' thought, which prompted his defenders to adapt his pictures to their local visual cultures and his enemies to unravel his visual logic with devastating irony. In the epilogue, Lo sheds light on why nineteenth-century French philosophers divorced Descartes' thought from his pictures, creating a modern image of reason and a version of philosophy that eschewed visuality.

Skepticisms Pictures is an engaging and accessible work that presents a fresh perspective on Descartes and the visual reception of seventeenth-century physics. It will captivate historians of early modern European science, philosophy, art, and culture, as well as art historians who are interested in exploring the argumentative power of images. Lo's meticulous research and insightful analysis make this book a valuable contribution to the field, offering a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between philosophy, science, and visual representation in the seventeenth century.

Weight: 726g
Dimension: 254 x 178 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780271094823