Beginning around 1650, the emergence of a number of new scientific concepts, methods, and instruments'including Copernicanism, the mechanical philosophy, and the microscope'challenged existing syntheses of science and religion. Physico-theology, which embraced the values of personal, empirical observation, was an international movement of the early Enlightenment that focused on the new science to make arguments about divine creation and providence. By reconciling the new science with Christianity across many denominations, physico-theology played a crucial role in diffusing new scientific ideas, assumptions, and interest in the study of nature to a broad public.
This book examines physico-theology as a distinctive strand within the long and versatile tradition of natural theology. Sixteen leading scholars in the field of science and religion contribute a rich array of analyses of the terms and scope of the movement, its scientific and religious arguments, and its aesthetic sensibilities. Surveying multiple national and linguistic contexts of early modern Europe, the book examines how the movement grew out of decisive works by British authors, including Walter Charleton, Robert Boyle, John Ray, William Derham, and William Whiston. It traces physico-theology to the Netherlands, Germanic lands, France, and Italy by considering the works of Bernard Nieuwentijt, Willem Goeree, J. A. Fabricius, J. J. Scheuchzer, Noël-Antoine Pluche, Antonio Vallisneri, and others.
This first major study of physico-theology focuses on books which reached a wide audience in their time through multiple editions and translations, even if they are not well known today. It should appeal to anyone interested in the histories of science, religion, and their interactions, or seeking a new perspective on naturalism and the origins of the European Enlightenment.
Contributors: Ann Blair, Simona Boscani Leoni, John Hedley Brooke, Nicolas Brucker, Katherine Calloway, Kathleen Crowther, Brendan Dooley, Peter Harrison, Barbara Hunfeld, Eric Jorink, Scott Mandelbrote, Brian W. Ogilvie, Martine P+¬charman, Jonathan Sheehan, Anne-Charlott Trepp, Rienk Vermij, Kaspar von Greyerz
ContributorsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction Ann Blair and Kaspar von Greyerz
Part I. Terms and Purview of Physico-theologyChapter 1. Was Physico-theology Bad Theology and Bad Science? John Hedley Brooke Chapter 2. What's in a Name? ""Physico-theology"" in Seventeenth-Century England Peter Harrison Chapter 3. The Form of a Flower Jonathan Sheehan
Part II. National TraditionsChapter 4. What Was Physico-theology For? Scott MandelbroteChapter 5. Physico-theology in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic: The Case of Willem Goeree (16351711) Eric JorinkChapter 6. Back to the Roots? J. A. Fabricius's ""Register of Ancient and Modern Writers"" of 1728 Kaspar von Greyerz
Part III. Styles of ReligiosityChapter 7. Miracles, Secrets, and Wonders: Jakob Horst and Christian Natural Philosophy in German Protestantism before 1650 Kathleen CrowtherChapter 8. ""Rather Theological than Philosophical"": John Ray's Seminal Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation Katherine CallowayChapter 9. Matters of Belief and Belief That Matters: German Physico-theology, Protestantism, and the Materialized Word of God in Nature Anne-Charlott TreppChapter 10. Pascal's Rejection of Natural Theology: The Case of the Port-Royal Edition of the Pensées Martine Pécharman
Part IV. Engagement with the New Science Chapter 11. Physico-theology or Biblical Physics? The Biblical Focus of the Early Physico-theologians Rienk VermijChapter 12. Maxima in minimis animalibus: Insects in Natural Theology and Physico-theology Brian W. OgilvieChapter 13. What Abbé Pluche Owed to Early Modern Physico-theologians Nicolas BruckerChapter 14. Antonio Vallisneri between Faith and Flood Brendan Dooley
Part V. Aesthetic Sensibilities Chapter 15. A Language for the Eye: Evidence within the Text and Evidence as Text in German Physico-theological Literature Barbara HunfeldChapter 16. A Hybrid Physico-theology: The Case of the Swiss Confederation Simona Boscani Leoni
