Pierre Gassendi and his Trials to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity.
Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655). You have read the title? I guess, you might be scared now, but Pierre Gassendi was a decent fellow. On January 22 1592 French philosopher priest scientist astronomer and mathematician Pierre Gassendi was born. Gassendi revived Epicureanism as a substitute for Aristotelianism attempting in the process to reconcile Atomism mechanistic explanation of nature with Christian belief in immortality free will, an infinite God and creation clashed with his contemporary Descartes on the possibility of certain knowledge. He was also an active observational scientist publishing the first data on the transit of Mercury in 1631. Pierre Gassendi was born at Champtercier near Digne in France to Antoine Gassend and Françoise Fabry, a family of commoners. Already at a very early age he showed academic potential and attended the college at Digne where he displayed a particular aptitude for languages and mathematics. At age 16, he entered the University of Aix-en-Provence to study philosophy. In 1612 the college of Digne called him to lecture on theology Four years later he received the degree of Doctor of Theology at Avignon and in 1617 he took holy orders. In the same year he answered a call to the chair of philosophy at Aix-en-Provence University and seems gradually to have withdrawn from theology. Pierre Gassendi career as a priest is a crucial facet of his intellectual constitution his writings reflect an unbending allegiance to Holy Scripture and Church teachings though not necessarily in orthodox doctrinal lights. He was ordained at the age of 24 or 25 and, while there is no question of the strength of his faith one motivation for his career in the Church appears to be its provision of a sinecure . He lectured principally on the Aristotelian philosophy conforming as far as possible to the traditional methods while he also followed with interest the discoveries of Galileo and Kepler. He came into contact with the astronomer Joseph Gaultier de la Vallette (In 1623 the Society of Jesus took over the University of Aix. They filled all positions with Jesuits who disapproved of Gassendi’s anti-Aristotelianism, and compelled him to leave. He left, returning to Digne and then travelled for the chapter to Grenoble. In 1624 he printed the first part of his Exercitationes paradoxicae adversus Aristoteleos (Exercises Against the Aristotelians. Pierre Gassendi thereafter engaged in many scientific studies with his patron Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc until the latter’s death in 1637 which seemed to afflict him deeply. Gassendi travelled in Flanders and in Holland and returned to France in 1631 and two years later became provost of Digne Cathedral During this time he wrote some works, at the insistence of theologian and mathematician Marin Mersenne. They included his examination of the mystical philosophy of Robert Fludd an essay on parhelia and some observations on the transit of Mercury. In 1641 he met Thomas Hobbes in Paris where Gassendi also gave some informal philosophy classes, which according to the biographer Grimarest included Molière and Cyrano de Bergerac . In 1642 Mersenne engaged Gassendi and other eminent thinkers in controversy with René Descartes to contribute a commentary on the manuscript of René Descartes Meditations. This led to Gassendi's objections to the fundamental propositions of Descartes published as the Fifth Set of Objections in the works of Descartes. In 1645 Gassendi was appointed professor of mathematics at the Collège Royal in Paris, and lectured for several years with great success. In addition to controversial writings on physical questions there appeared during this period the first of the works for which historians of philosophy remember him. Gassendi attempted to find what he called a middle way between skepticism and dogmatism. He argued that, while metaphysical knowledge of the “(inner natures) of things is impossible, by relying on induction and the information provided by “one can acquire probable knowledge of the natural world that is sufficient to explain and predict experience. The best theory of such a world in Gassendi’s opinion is the ancient atomism according to Epicurus There, atoms are eternal, differently shaped, and moving at different speeds Gassendi argued that such atoms must have some of the physical features of the visible objects they constitute, such as extension size, shape, weight and solidity. The atoms collide and agglomerate, resulting in events in the perceptible world. In 1647 he published the well-received treatise De vita, moribus, et doctrina Epicuri libri octo followed by further publications on Diogenes Laërtius and another commentary on Epicurus Gassendi believed that there was no conflict between his mechanistic atomism and the doctrines of Roman Catholicism indeed, he took pains to emphasize their compatibility. In 1648 ill-health compelled him to give up his lectures at the Collège Royal. He travelled in the south of France and spent nearly two years at Toulon where the climate suited him. In 1653 he returned to Paris and resumed his literary work publishing lives of Copernicus and of Tycho Brahe. He died at Paris in 1655 from a lung disease. At yovisto, you may enjoy a video lecture by Dr. Richard Brown on Rene Descartes Method of Doubt.