GaryGaulin
Posts: 5385
Joined: Oct. 2012
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I was hoping that this one from the DI EN&V thread would be the post of the week, by now.
| Quote (Bob O'H @ Mar. 23 2014,16:52) | | Quote (Wesley R. Elsberry @ Mar. 22 2014,14:38) | | There seems to be quite a number of people who joined the DI in criticizing how "Cosmos" included Giordano Bruno in their script. |
Including several historians of science. Thorny C. has a guest post up about the problems with the cartoon, which makes the point that the Bruno story (like a lot of stories take from history) is being re-interpreted to fit into a
This betrays a mis-understanding of what the historians (at least) are complaining about:
| Quote | | And that is an unseemly outcome of this entire flap. A man who was imprisoned, tortured, and ultimately executed for disagreeing with authority is being vilified all over again by people who appear to be desperate to excuse a particular instance of action of the Inquisition, all the while also stating their general rejection of the methods of the Inquisition. Unsatisfied with the physical demise of Bruno, they persist in attempting an intellectual assassination at this late date. Others who think that there is something worth telling about this bit of history are reviled for a lack of nuance, or that they are necessarily adopting an extreme stance that religion is always and everywhere in conflict with science. It seems to me that an obstinate refusal to acknowledge an episode of religious interference in the matters of scientific inquiry does no favors to those who would like to see some comity between religion and science. |
If you want to actually know why historians of science are criticising Cosmos, Becky Higgett summarises the issues: turning history into parable "it doesn’t exactly sit well with claims to champion evidence-based knowledge". The historians of science I'm reading (the ones who actually study the period) are saying that what was done to Bruno wasn't "religious interference in the matters of scientific inquiry", for example
| Quote | But the truth is that Bruno's scientific theories weren't what got him killed. Sure, his refusal to recant his belief in a plurality of worlds contributed to his sentence. But it's important to note that the Catholic Church didn't even have an official position on the heliocentric universe in 1600, and support for it was not considered heresy during Bruno's trial.
On top of that, his support for Copernican cosmology was the least heretical position he propagated. His opinions on theology were far more pyrotechnic. For example, Bruno had the balls to suggest that Satan was destined to be saved and redeemed by God. He didn't think Jesus was the son of God, but rather “an unusually skilled magician.” He even publicly disputed Mary's virginity. The Church could let astronomical theories slide, but calling the Mother of God out on her sex life? There's no doubt that these were the ideas that landed Bruno on the stake. |
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From my research of the topic: Bruno was on a suicidal mission to use religion/philosophy to (what we now call) overthrow the government. He got Galileo involved in his personal feud by making it appear that their scientific work was part of a conspiracy to start a civil war. Hidebound university academics who hated Galileo (for such things as disagreeing with their Aristotelian curriculum) and wanted the pope to punish him did not help either.
If the pseudohistory/pseudoscience is good enough for an Atheist Convention then it's good enough for teaching to the US citizenry. But thankfully PBS did not get involved in this latest attempt to rewrite science history, to benefit a religion, and academics who benefit from the general public not knowing all that really happened.
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The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.
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