The philosophical structure of the writings of William Harvey, illuminated by disputes in renaissance natural philosophy
The historiography which is the basis of this thesis is the belief that, while a strictly causal and historically certain account of the derivation of Harvey's natural philosophical views is, for reasons of contingency, unattainable, nevertheless Harvey's position on certain fundamental issues, even those only partially explicit in his writings, can be explicated with a degree of historical probability, by relating it to the position of renaissance and classical authors whose works were central in delineating such polemics at that time. It will be argued Harvey's position can be determined in regard to epistemology, ontology, and method, and that this can be related to his notion of the aims and limits of explanation in natural philosophy, and to the status of informing explanatory concepts such as cause, soul, and instrument. The advantages of this exposition for an historical explanation are: 1. the analysis of Harvey's writings can be constructed with reference to renaissance concepts; 2. his views can be considered in relation to the disputes in natural philosophy that exercised philosophers of that period; 3. his thought can be seen in terms of similarities and differences in regard to that which was
Cook, C. J.
The philosophical structure of the writings of William Harvey, illuminated by disputes in renaissance natural philosophy. The historiography which is the basis of this thesis is the belief that, while a strictly causal and historically certain account of the derivation of Harvey's natural philosophical views is, for reasons of contingency, unattainable, nevertheless Harvey's position on certain fundamental issues, even those only partially explicit in his writings, can be explicated with a degree of historical probability, by relating it to the position of renaissance and classical authors whose works were central in delineating such polemics at that time. It will be argued Harvey's position can be determined in regard to epistemology, ontology, and method, and that this can be related to his notion of the aims and limits of explanation in natural philosophy, and to the status of informing explanatory concepts such as cause, soul, and instrument. The advantages of this exposition for an historical explanation are: 1. the analysis of Harvey's writings can be constructed with reference to renaissance concepts; 2. his views can be considered in relation to the disputes in natural philosophy that exercised philosophers of that period; 3. his thought can be seen in terms of similarities and differences in regard to that which was
philosophical structure writing william dispute renaissance natural_philosophy historiography basis belief strictly causal historically certain account derivation natural philosophical view reason contingency nevertheless position certain_fundamental issue even partially explicit writing explicate degree historical probability relate position renaissance classical author whose_work central delineate polemic time argue position determine regard epistemology_ontology method related notion aim limit explanation natural_philosophy status inform explanatory concept cause soul instrument advantage exposition historical_explanation analysis writing construct reference renaissance concept view consider_relation dispute natural_philosophy exercise philosopher period think_see term similarity_difference regard