17th Century Europe: Social, Political, and Philosophical Shifts
Historical Context
In the mid-sixteenth century, Europe began experiencing a series of crises that would extend throughout the seventeenth century. Socially, this period corresponds to the rise of the bourgeoisie. Ideologically, it reflects a need for a new understanding of the world based on reason.
The development of capitalism was significantly boosted by the expansion of maritime trade and colonial activities. This was a period of commercial capitalism, where businessmen were also bankers and founders of new industries. We see the emergence of stock exchanges and large commercial companies. Industrial capitalism began to emerge in England in the first half of the seventeenth century.
The seventeenth century is known as the era of absolute monarchy, with figures like Louis XIV (the Sun King) in France, Philip IV in Spain, the dictatorship of Cromwell, and the absolutism of Charles II in England. Politically, it was a time of great instability and crisis, marked by wars and revolutions. Colonial expansionism led European states to fight on the seas. On the European continent, the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was fought for political and religious reasons. The medieval religious unity was shattered by the Lutheran Reformation, leading to conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, and in France, the Huguenots. Spain, under Habsburg rule, was involved in wars between German Catholic and Protestant states, and also intervened in the Netherlands. While Spain and Italy maintained Catholic unity, the rest of Europe was influenced by the ideals of the Reformation led by Luther. In Germany and the Netherlands, various competing heterodox movements emerged: Lutherans, Calvinists, and Catholics. In England, the political arena also included Catholics, Anglicans, and Puritans. The intellectual certainty of religion lost its authority, as did the clergy’s control over public morals. Europe was deeply divided, with internal conflicts creating a sense of total breakdown, necessitating a search for new foundations.
Cultural and Philosophical Context
The disintegration of Scholasticism, with Ockham’s nominalism, challenged the concept of universal abstract ideas, emphasizing the unique. This significantly impacted thought. The medieval possession of truth and its dogmatism were abandoned in favor of new scientific discoveries that raised questions. Three significant events revealed the breakdown of the cultural foundations: the flat earth theory, the geocentric model, and the unity of revelation. These were no longer considered irrefutable truths. The Renaissance questioned the ‘why’ of things, especially after the discovery of the Earth’s sphericity, the heliocentric model, and the diversity of divine revelations. The question arose: can man truly know the ‘why’ of things after being in error for so long? Should we doubt the mind’s ability to find truth? These questions led philosophy to rethink the nature of things. To find truth, it was necessary to investigate the mechanism of reason itself, to understand its potential and find a firm foundation for philosophy. The focus shifted from the objective world to the study of ideas and reason (the subject’s world). It is not surprising that Cartesian thought emerged in this context. René Descartes, born in 1593 and died in 1650, lived in a world where science was still influenced by the Neoplatonic idea that nature should be explained by mathematics. The rise of cities and the bourgeoisie, linked to trade and the use of money, was also crucial. This required the development of accounting, which promoted arithmetic and algebra.
This period saw both theoretical research, such as the study of pendulum oscillations and projectile trajectories, and practical applications in shipping, mining, defense, and various trades.
Two key elements define the development of science in the seventeenth century: experimentation and the interpretation of nature through mathematics. Both were rooted in the belief in a universal mechanistic view, as argued by Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, and Newton.
The time Descartes lived, the first half of the seventeenth century, coincided with the beginning of modernity. In 1637, at the age of forty-one, Descartes published Discourse on Method, along with Dioptric, Geometry, and Weather. Significantly, the book was written in French, not Latin, marking a departure from scholasticism and an embrace of the vernacular. The autobiographical form of Discourse on Method also shows that Descartes was aware that his philosophy was a break from previous thought. Descartes’ works reflect the historical problems of his time, the characteristics of rationalism, and a break with all previous philosophy.