The formation of new epistemologies of early modern science

Session Submission Type: Organized Session

English Abstract

Throughout the Renaissance and the early modern time a new attention to the sciences developed, something interpreters and historians have traditionally called the scientific revolution. While this definition may be subject of debates, the aim of this panel is to focus on the formation of new epistemologies as a benchmark to evaluate the transformations in the sciences in the pre-modern times. In this sense, our aim is to stress the importance of constructing new attempts of dealing with disciplines in diverse fields of knowledge, from medicine and anatomy to natural history and botany. The first paper concerns the changing perceptions of medicine in Arabic tradition from the thirteenth to the mid-Cinquecento. The second paper deals with the Italian physician Berengario da Carpi and anatomical knowledge. The third paper focuses on Ulisse Aldrovandi’s working method shaping new heuristic categories to describe and study nature. The fourth paper discusses the role of plants in crafting a new understanding of living nature in William Harvey. As a result, we aim to highlight the ways constructing new epistemologies shape the sciences.

Sub Unit

• Organized Session

Chair

• Fabrizio Baldassarri, Ca Foscari University of Venice/Indiana University Bloomington

Individual Presentations

• What kind of ‘ilm (science) is medicine? Epistemological Debates within Arabic Medical Commentaries, 1240–1520 - Nahyan Fancy, DePauw University

• Berengario da Carpi and the Problem of Knowledge from Books (as well as bodies) in the Early 16th Century - Robert Allen Shotwell, Ivy Tech Community College - Terre Haute Camnpus

• New Epistemologies of Nature: The Case of Ulisse Aldrovandi Florilegium admirandorum naturae et artis historia and and his Acanthologia - Monica Azzolini, University of Bologna

• The Fabric of Life: A new Heuristic Role for Plants from Bacon to Harvey (and Beyond) - Fabrizio Baldassarri, Ca Foscari University of Venice/Indiana University Bloomington

Session Organizer

• Fabrizio Baldassarri, Ca Foscari University of Venice/Indiana University Bloomington