Politicized Physics in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy : Essays on Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, and Spinoza

In the origins of Western philosophical thought, doctrines of physics intertwined with the debate between political philosophers. It is for this reason that Plato devoted his dialogues Theatetus and Parmenides to investigating and meeting the arguments of his principal philosophical adversaries. The doctrine of atomism, which developed under the influence of Parmenides’ philosophy, is one that Plato refutes directly. In the modern era of philosophy and science, a revived doctrine of atomism has been treated as apolitical. Atomistic postulates lay at the root of the doctrines of Early Modern philosophers and exert a great influence upon cultural and political teachings. In order to understand Early Modern Philosophy, therefore, and especially in order to examine Early Modern political science, one must address the atomistic theory of body which lies at the root of Early Modern metaphysics. In the metaphysical domain, or in the domain of natural philosophy, the Early Modern philosophers radically reduce the role that ordinary opinion may play in political and cultural life. The majestic declarations concerning the rights of man, and the gospel of utility characteristic of the political domain of Early Modernity, therefore conceal a shrunken influence fated for the demos in the new politics. In order to take the measure of the new political science, it is necessary to take the measure of the revived doctrines of atomism. If these doctrines can be disproved, by reviving Plato’s critique, we will be able to take a critical look at the political doctrines that lie upon the foundations of the politicized atomism. In the origins of Western philosophical thought, doctrines of physics intertwined with debates among political philosophers. It is for this reason that Plato devoted his dialogues Theatetus and Parmenides to investigating and meeting the arguments of his principal philosophical adversaries. The doctrine of atomism, which developed under the influence of Parmenides's philosophy, is one that Plato refutes directly. In the modern era of philosophy and science, a revived doctrine of atomism has been treated as apolitical. Atomistic postulates lie at the root of the doctrines of Early Modern philosophers and exert a great influence upon cultural and political teachings. In order to understand Early Modern Philosophy, therefore, and especially in order to examine Early Modern Political Science, one must address the atomistic theory of body that lies at the root of Early Modern metaphysics. This is the primary contribution of Politicized Physics in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy: Essays on Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, and Spinoza. In the metaphysical domain, or in the domain of natural philosophy, the Early Modern philosophers radically reduce the role that ordinary opinion plays in political and cultural life. As Robert J. Roecklein demonstrates, the majestic declarations concerning the rights of man and the gospel of utility characteristic of the political domain of Early Modernity therefore conceal a shrunken influence fated for the demos in the new politics. In order to take the measure of the new political science, it is necessary to take the measure of the revived doctrines of atomism. If these doctrines can be disproved by reviving Plato's critique, we will be able to take a critical look at the political doctrines that lie upon the foundations of the politicized atomism. The insights of this book will be particularly valuable to students and scholars of Early Modern Philosophy and political theory, especially anyone who works on Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, or Baruch Spinoza. Book jacket This book examines the role that natural philosophy (that is, doctrines of physics) plays in the emergence of Early Modern political thought. Robert J. Roecklein argues that the natural philosophy of Early Modernity, especially its indictment of sense perception, constitutes a major political foundation for the more concrete doctrines of political science developed by Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, and Spinoza. Introduction: Physics and Politics Francis Bacon’s Uncharitable Charity: The Birth of a New Rationality Descartes and the Science of Authority Hobbes’s Natural Science Hobbes’s ‘Right of Nature’ and the Politics of Agony On Spinoza’s ‘Substance’ or ‘God’ Conclusion: Early Modern Philosophy, Just the Facts