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.