Sources

Descartes, Rene, and Maurice Dorolle. Discours De La Méthode,. Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1934.

"Rene Descartes." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/ren-descartes-37613>.

"The Galileo Project." The Galileo Project. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/descarts.html>.

"Rene Descartes - The World, or Treatise on Light." Princeton University. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://www.princeton.edu/~hos/mike/texts/descartes/world/worldfr.htm>.

"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/descarte/>.

Hatfield, Gary. "René Descartes." Stanford University. Stanford University, 3 Dec. 2008. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/>.

Research Questions

What is Descartes's view upon heliocentism and geocentrism?

What is Descartes's relationship with Galileo and the Church? Will either of his relationships with them factor into his decisions and thoughts on the trial?

What are Descartes's theories and ideas? Do any of them overlap with what is in question in Galileo's trial?

How does Descartes feel about Galileo's theories? Does he support them, disagree, or have no opinion on them?

Allies at Galileo's Trial

There are a few individuals that I should look to cooperate at Galileo's trial. Francis Bacon is perhaps as important to the development or empiricism as I have been. His ideas are very similar to mine and I am certain he also supports Galileo as I do. I hope that he to realizes that we have common goals in pushing the use of empiricism to all research and maybe even by the Church. Another ally I should look to work with is Copernicus. Nicholas Copernicus developed his heliocentric theory and has gained not only Galileo's support but mine as well. I should look to work with him to help convince the court that the notion of heliocentricism is completely valid, as Galileo has done extensive research using the empirical method and has come to the same conclusion as Copernicus. We can help steer the Church away from persecuting Galileo for his findings even though he has reached them through sound research and means. We do not look to clash with them and their ideas, we just seek to reach a sound conclusion for us all.

Enemies at Galileo's Trial

There are multiple people that I should look out for at the trial. Aristotle, John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes promote ideas and theories that completely contradict mine that are completely wrong. Aristotle promotes the old way of thinking, theorizing and jumping loosely to conclusions of observations that he finds "logical". He needs to see things through observable evidence instead of theorizing, he needs to use facts instead of guesses. Locke attacks my ideas on the idea of innate knowledge within humans. He challenges my ideas, believing that humans are born with a blank mind and that all behavior and knowledge is gained from our surroundings. Thomas Hobbes directly challenges my idea of the mind and believes that it is a physical thing. He does not think that I have proven it to be immaterial, although I have in my publication of Meditations. I will keep my eyes on these three so they do not promote more of their ridiculous ideas and theories upon the participants of Galileo's trial.

Reflection on Galileo's Trial

I was very happy with the outcome of Galileo’s trial, he drew large amounts of support from most of the field. Most voiced their opinions on their displeasure for the Church, while others brought upon rational arguments supporting Galileo instead of specifically targeting the Church. While personally I did not look to attack the Church as many did, I sought solely to support Galileo in his findings and perhaps for the Church to seek their desired stance of geocentricism through the same level of research and study as Galileo did. I applaud the adamant support that many had for the plight of scientists who have feared the Church and its responses to research and findings of particular scientists for ideas that contradict any of the Church’s beliefs. One group that I did not expect support from however were the ancient and pre-1563 scientists. Many of these scientists created or promoted the idea of geocentricism and were held in a higher light by the Church, and their support was not expected to say the least. The evidence promoted by Galileo through his meticulous and credible research must have convinced them otherwise from their original theories, as their support would have been crucial to the Church’s argument. The Protestants, while opposing the Church, were not supporting Galileo but rather going against the Church and pushing their own personal, extraneous agenda as expected. The philosophes brought strong support for Galileo, sharing their reasoning and theories on their observations on humanity and how it applied to the innocence of Galileo. The only group to really support the Church in Galileo’s trial was the nobility, and it was a very weak and loose support, as they only supported them in the sake of staying on the Church’s good side. In the end, the outcome of Galileo’s trial is a victory for scientists like myself; we no longer need to fear the Church trying to suppress our ideas and findings without the uproar and support of the community, as Galileo’s trial has shown. 

Group Script for Galileo's Trial

We, the post-1543 scientists, explorers and navigators, do decree the astronomer Galileo to be innocent. For the sake of our argument we shall describe in detail the theory for which our fellow intellectual is held as heretical. This heliocentric theory of the universe places the Sun at its center, rather than our mother Earth as is widely believed. In greater detail, the Sun is stationary near the center of the Universe, with the Earth and planets revolving around in epicycles at uniform speeds and the stars fixed at a large distance. This model also dictates that the Earth have two more motions with which to explain its night and day cycle, as well as the changing of the season. As such, the Earth herself rotates on an axis, this daily rotation gives us night and day. As for the seasons, the axis on which the Earth rotates tilts annually giving us our varying temperatures at certain times of year in varying angles towards or away from the Sun. These Earthly motions account perfectly for the observed retrograde motion of our neighboring planets.  By these findings the Heliocentric model perfectly quells the chaos, and imperfections of the ancient Ptolemaic model, and achieves the celestial perfection taught to us in the word of God. It is this perfection that has lead to this conclusive model, as all should be as God commands.

We fervently support his discoveries and inventions for the betterment of the scientific community and world at large. His findings correspond with previous discoveries attributed to our group. He came to his conclusions using proper scientific techniques, diligent data gathering and analysis, and an unbiased search for knowledge. His discoveries should be trusted and would lead to the advancement of society both in terms of science and the means to make more discoveries. In particular his studies of the heavens can usher in greater star charter that would would in turn give better navigation directions. This would aid travelers across vast lands and seas. His remodeling of the telescope is ground breaking. Not only was he able to make the telescope 20 times the magnification stronger, he was able to use his telescope to make ground breaking discoveries. while the instrument was used for stargazing, he was able to discover new planets, look at the moon, and map out the phases of Venus. He was also able to observe that the moon was not a perfect-lunar sphere but a moon that had an uneven and rough surface. Such discoveries can be nothing short of the grace of god for the betterment of mankind. If we are to truly fulfill God’s wishes we must better ourselves in any way possible. It is by this reasoning that punishing said Galileo would not only be ill founded, but a detriment to our society and our progress. We would be robbing ourselves and our posterity of knowledge, and skills that are so rightfully deserved.

It is in our opinion that this is not a conflict of the Catholic Church and science, but merely a conflict between classical science with the astronomy of Ptolemy, and a newer science with the use of Galileo’s invention of the telescope and the new Copernican astronomical knowledge we had acquired. In 1611, as Galileo traveled through Rome, the Jesuit astronomers even advocated the use of his telescope and found it quite helpful in their own discoveries!  Although his discoveries are contradictions of what we believe of the Lord, our God, they have sound base and offer a new way to look at the beautiful world created by our Holy Lord. In fact, religion really has no place in this argument, as the physical realm of science is very different from the spiritual realm of the Catholic Religion. They do not partake in one another and therefore really have no substantial evidence or necessity to step into the other.

Personal Agenda for Galileo's Trial

I hope to use Galileo's trial as a means of pushing ideas that I endorse upon the scientific community as well as the Church. I hope to push the use of the empirical method into the spotlight during the trial, highlighting the advantages and benefits of using observations and facts to draw conclusions. I hope to prove to the Church that Galileo's reasoning to reach his conclusion is sound, and rather to condemn him for this, I hope that they should use this method to prove their theory instead. I do not want the Church, as great and powerful as they are, to punish the scientific community for using a sound method to draw upon conclusions that they do not agree with, rather I would like to see them implement this method which I so highly support to try and prove their theories and ideas using this method. It is crucial that I find individuals that agree with me upon this, for I shall need their help to reason this with the Church, but if I can succeed at this, it shall be a great leap for the scientific community along with the Church in finding the true ways that everything works.

Stance Upon Galileo's Trial

Looking upon Galileo's eminent trial, I am forced to choose a side in this matter. As a devout Catholic and supporter of the Church, I look only to further further the power of the Church as its humble servant. But in this case of Galileo Galilei, he has not actively challenged the Church and its ideals directly, rather he has only searched for the truth of the actions of the world through observations and factual evidence. He has stated that he is not an enemy of the Catholic Church, and he only wishes to seek the true answers of the world and to what orbits what. In this, I feel that Galileo is not guilty of these "philosophically false" and "heretic" claims that he has made. He has done no wrong here, rather he has used empirical evidence to show what he believes to be true, his goal is not to attack and disprove the ideas of the Church, but rather they are to seek the real answer of the cosmos. I feel that there should be no punishment thrust upon Galileo, and that perhaps the two sides can reconcile through perhaps an official apology from Galileo to the Church. However, I feel that the Church should not seek for Galileo to retract his findings and ideas, but rather they too seek for the true answer through the empirical method of observations and facts. I shall always support the Church, as a devout follower my entire life, but I feel that Galileo has done no wrong here.

Thoughts on the Church and Its Ideas

I have always been a supporter of the Church my whole life, as a child I was raised as a Catholic in a predominantly Calvinist region, and as a thinker I still am today. What troubles me though is the Church's accusations against Galileo and his theories, his notion of a heliocentric world which he has proven clearly through his observations and undisputed facts. I do not challenge the Church, but rather I feel that its notion of strict adherence to the idea of a geocentric world even though factual evidence has been brought to the table by Galileo is counter-intuitive. We are living in a time where technology and discoveries are revealing to us the real truths behind almost everything we had been assuming for the last few centuries, and for the Church to throw away these ideas and theories as they do not completely fall in line with the Holy Scriptures is not an action that I fully agree with. Though as a pious man and a supporter of the Church, I shall not doubt them in their decisions and actions, I just seek for the truth and the furthering of science and the Church together.

Thoughts Upon Heliocentrism

As a man so invested in the empirical method, using facts and observations to help reach a conclusion, I cannot help but to agree with Galileo's claims of a heliocentric world. He has based his conclusions off of observations and facts that he has attained through his use of his telescope, which he has crafted to be able to see the planets and starts of the cosmos. Galileo brings strong evidence that cannot be disputed by any intellectual arguments. All I caution about is openly supporting it, as I fear the Church would condemn me as they are condemning Galileo, for I have been writing my piece the Treatise of the World, and if Galileo is found guilty of the crimes the Church has named against him, then I am scared to publish this work, as it will draw the same sort of punishment from the Church as it has to Galileo and his Dialogue. In my piece I have accepted Galileo's ideas and furthered upon them using the same sort of empirical reasoning, and I fear the Church would not approve of this work. I do not wish to go against the Church, even though I feel that Galileo's work is true.

Character Manifesto

René Descartes was born in plains of La Haye en Touraine, France in March of 1596 to a family of wealth and comfort. Enrolled into college at the age of twelve, Descartes developed his passion for mathematics as he studied until 1618. Descartes then joined in the Dutch States Army in Breda under the study of military engineering, and in his time there he became acquainted with Isaac Beeckman, who helped him further his scientific knowledge. While under service, Descartes gained the experiences in science that he so desired and visited the laboratories of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. After leaving the army, Descartes moved back to the Dutch Republic in 1628, enrolling and moving to different colleges while studying mathematics. He began work on his book Treatise on the World in 1629, where he accepted Galileo’s view of a heliocentric universe. The book touched upon his theory that there could be no vacuum in space and that all matter was constantly swirling to prevent a void. When Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church in 1633, Descartes abandoned his plans to publish his book in fear of his acceptance of the heliocentric theory. He would instead work on his three essays, The Meteors, Dioptrics, and Geometry, along with his introduction to these essays, Discourse on the Method, all published in 1637. His most famous work, Discourse on the Method, talked about skepticism and the notion of doubting, birthing the famous phrase “I think, therefore I am” (Descartes, Discourse on the Method). Descartes took reasoning and looked at it through a new way; he started by doubting everything, and when something that he initially doubted was decided to be irrefutable, it would then be proven as a fact. He was a big proponent of the development of empirical research, which led research away from theorizing and instead focused on the use of facts and observations to lead to a conclusion. As a supporter of empiricism, it was no surprise that Descartes agreed with Galileo’s ideas of a heliocentric universe, as Galileo used the empirical method to lead to his conclusion of this theory. When Galileo was tried by the Catholic Church in 1633, Descartes secretly supported Galileo and his work but was afraid of opposing the Church, evident by his reaction of refraining to publish his book that accepted heliocentricism. From birth, Descartes was raised a devout Catholic, and coming from a wealthy family in good standing with the Church, it only influenced him more to refrain from opposing them publicly in Galileo’s trial. He was also a member of the courts of many nobles in the Dutch Republic and northern Europe, many of which were supporters of the Church. Openly supporting Galileo and publishing his book in which he accepted heliocentrism would have derailed Descartes’s standing in Europe. Descartes’s book was finally published in 1677, twenty-seven years after his death, revealing his original acceptance of the heliocentric theory which he hid in fear of the Church.  

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/ren-descartes-37613#later-life-death-and-legacy
http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/descarts.html
http://www.iep.utm.edu/descarte/