Abstract
In the period from 1300 to 1600 three strata of intellectual activity must be distinguished: university-scholars, humanists, and artisans. Both university- scholars and humanists were rationally trained. Their methods, however, were determined by their professional conditions and differed substantially from the methods of science. Both professors and humanistic literati distinguished liberal from mechanical arts and despised manual labor, experimentation, and dissection. Craftsmen were the pioneers of causal thinking in this period. Certain groups of superior manual laborers (artist-engineers, surgeons, the makers of nautical and musical instruments, surveyors, navigators, gunners) experimented, dissected, and used quantitative methods. The measuring instruments of the navigators, surveyors, and gunners were the forerunners of the later physical instruments. The craftsmen, however, lacked methodical intellectual training. Thus the two components of the scientific method were separated by the social barrier: logical training was reserved for upper-class scholars; experimentation, causal interest, and quantitative method were left to more or less plebeian artisans. Science was born when, with the progress of technology, the experimental method eventually overcame the social prejudice against manual labor and was adopted by rationally trained scholars. This was accomplished about 1600 (Gilbert, Galileo, Bacon). At the same time the scholastic method of disputation and the humanistic ideal of individual glory were superseded by the ideals of control of nature and advancement of learning through scientific cooperation. In a somewhat different way, sociologically, modern astronomy developed. The whole process was imbedded in the advance of early capitalistic society, which weakened collective-mindedness, magical thinking, and belief in authority and which furthered worldly, causal, rational, and quantitative thinking.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zilsel, E., Raven, D., Krohn, W., Cohen, R.S. (2003). The Sociological Roots of Science. In: Raven, D., Krohn, W., Cohen, R.S. (eds) The Social Origins of Modern Science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 200. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4142-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4142-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-1359-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4142-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive