Galileo and the church : political inquisition or critical dialogue?

Historians of science have tended to view Galileo's trials as an example of the conflict between science and religion in the seventeenth century. This book questions the traditional "grand narrative" that opposes science and religion, and thus attempts to reconceptualize a key episode in the history of modern science. Feldhay offers a new interpretation of the debate between Galileo and the Church, viewing it as a "dialogue" rather than a "conflict." The known contradictions between the documents of Galileo's "trials" are reread as expressions of the contradictory nature of the Counter Reformation Church. Torn between different cultural orientations (Dominican and Jesuit), the Church was unable to crystallize a coherent attitude towards Galileo's science. 0......Page 1 0 001......Page 2 0 002......Page 3 0 003......Page 4 0 004......Page 5 0 005......Page 6 0 006......Page 7 0 007......Page 8 0 008......Page 9 0 009......Page 10 0 010......Page 11 0 011......Page 12 0 012......Page 13 0 013......Page 14 0 014......Page 15 0 015......Page 16 0 016......Page 17 0 017......Page 18 0 018......Page 19 0 019......Page 20 0 020......Page 21 0 021......Page 22 0 022......Page 23 0 023......Page 24 0 024......Page 25 0 025......Page 26 0 026......Page 27 0 027......Page 28 0 028......Page 29 0 029......Page 30 0 030......Page 31 0 031......Page 32 0 032......Page 33 0 033......Page 34 0 034......Page 35 0 035......Page 36 0 036......Page 37 0 037......Page 38 0 038......Page 39 0 039......Page 40 0 040......Page 41 0 041......Page 42 0 042......Page 43 0 043......Page 44 0 044......Page 45 0 045......Page 46 0 046......Page 47 0 047......Page 48 0 048......Page 49 0 049......Page 50 0 050......Page 51 0 051......Page 52 0 052......Page 53 0 053......Page 54 0 054......Page 55 0 055......Page 56 0 056......Page 57 0 057......Page 58 0 058......Page 59 0 059......Page 60 0 060......Page 61 0 061......Page 62 0 062......Page 63 0 063......Page 64 0 064......Page 65 0 065......Page 66 0 066......Page 67 0 067......Page 68 0 068......Page 69 0 069......Page 70 0 070......Page 71 0 071......Page 72 0 072......Page 73 0 073......Page 74 0 074......Page 75 0 075......Page 76 0 076......Page 77 0 077......Page 78 0 078......Page 79 0 079......Page 80 0 080......Page 81 0 081......Page 82 0 082......Page 83 0 083......Page 84 0 084......Page 85 0 085......Page 86 0 086......Page 87 0 087......Page 88 0 088......Page 89 0 089......Page 90 0 090......Page 91 0 090 1......Page 92 0 091......Page 93 0 092......Page 94 0 093......Page 95 0 094......Page 96 0 095......Page 97 0 096......Page 98 0 097......Page 99 0 098......Page 100 0 099......Page 101 0 100......Page 102 0 101......Page 103 0 102......Page 104 0 103......Page 105 0 104......Page 106 0 105......Page 107 0 106......Page 108 0 107......Page 109 0 108......Page 110 0 109......Page 111 0 110......Page 112 0 111......Page 113 0 112......Page 114 0 113......Page 115 0 114......Page 116 0 115......Page 117 0 116......Page 118 0 117......Page 119 0 118......Page 120 0 119......Page 121 0 120......Page 122 0 121......Page 123 0 122......Page 124 0 123......Page 125 0 124......Page 126 0 125......Page 127 0 126......Page 128 0 127......Page 129 0 128......Page 130 0 129......Page 131 0 130......Page 132 0 131......Page 133 0 132......Page 134 0 133......Page 135 0 134......Page 136 0 135......Page 137 0 136......Page 138 0 137......Page 139 0 138......Page 140 0 139......Page 141 0 140......Page 142 0 141......Page 143 0 142......Page 144 0 143......Page 145 0 144......Page 146 0 145......Page 147 0 146......Page 148 0 147......Page 149 0 148......Page 150 0 149......Page 151 0 150......Page 152 0 151......Page 153 0 152......Page 154 0 153......Page 155 0 154......Page 156 This book questions the traditional "grand narratives" of science and religion in the seventeenth century. The binary oppositions underlying the story - between reason and faith, between knowledge and authority, between Scripture and the light of nature - have moulded it into a formative myth: the banner of modern rationalism, liberalism, and individualism. While deconstructing the oppositions behind the conflict, the book offers an analysis of the complex intellectual/institutional field in which the drama of Galileo and the Church unfolded. The well-known contradictions among the documents of Galileo's trials are reread as expressions of the contradictory nature of the Counter-Reformation church. A flashback into the formative years of Tridentine Catholicism demystifies its monolithic and brutally coercive tendencies. Rather, the church appears to have been torn between different cultural orientations and divided institutionally as well as theologically. The traditional intellectual elite of the Dominicans adopted an orthodox Thomist allegiance and refused innovation in the name of Thomist rationalism. Their reaction to the challenge raised by the Counter-Reformation consisted in dogmatic Thomism. The Jesuits reacted to the same challenge by developing their vocation as educators of the entire Catholic society. In that role they reconstructed the Thomist synthesis by assimilating new scientific contents and reinterpreting its theology. Theirs was a pragmatic Thomism. Galileo's Copernicanism emerged in the periphery of the cultural field newly organised by the Jesuits. The dispute on sunspots that took place between Galileo and the Jesuit astronomer Christopher Scheiner is the occasion signaling the emergence of a new discourse out of the Galileo-Jesuit dialogue. The act of silencing exemplified in the trials of Galileo is in no need of demonstration. It has been so imprinted in our consciousness that to reassert it is to state the obvious. The author's story is not about the repression of truth by religious authority. It is the story of an encounter between different types of power-knowledge structures within the framework of a dialogical model.