Julius Caesar Scaliger, Renaissance Reformer of Aristotelianism: A Study of His Exotericae Exercitationes

224 Pages·2016·3.83 MB·English

by  Kuni Sakamoto

17 mm
HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND MEDICINE LIBRARY 54 HSML 54 HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND MEDICINE LIBRARY 54
MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE 26 MEMPS 26 MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE 26
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This monograph is the fi rst to analyze Julius Caesar Scaliger’s Exotericae l N
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Exercitationes (1557). Though hardly read today, the Exercitationes was Reformer of Aristotelianism
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a detailed textual analysis and reveals the basic tenets of Scaliger’s c
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of Scaliger’s Aristotelianism and the way it subsequently infl uenced some of
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the protagonists of the “New Philosophy.” This monograph thus bridges the r
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of seventeenth-century philosophy. n
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KUNI SAKAMOTO s SUBSERIES EDITORS
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Ph.D. (2012) in the history of science, University of Tokyo, is Assistant n C.H. LÜTHY AND P.J.J.M. BAKKER
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Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Toyo University, and Associated e

Researcher at Radboud University, Nijmegen. His publications are in the fi eld R
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“At long last, one of the most versatile and infl uential naturalists e
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Prof. Mordechai Feingold, n
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California Institute of Technology, s
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Division of the Humanities & Social Sciences
ISBN: 978-90-04-31009-4
9 789004 310094
ISSN 2468-6808 BRILL.COM/MEMPS
Julius Caesar Scaliger, Renaissance Reformer of Aristotelianism
History of Science
and Medicine Library
VOLUME 54
Medieval and
Early Modern Philosophy
and Science
Editors
C.H. Lüthy (Radboud University)
P.J.J.M. Bakker (Radboud University)
Editorial Consultants
Joël Biard (University of Tours)
Simo Knuuttila (University of Helsinki)
Jürgen Renn (Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science)
Theo Verbeek (University of Utrecht)
VOLUME 26
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/memps
Julius Caesar Scaliger,
Renaissance Reformer of
Aristotelianism
A Study of His Exotericae Exercitationes
By
Kuni Sakamoto
LEIDEN | BOSTON
A portrait of Julius Caesar Scaliger by Hendrick Goltzius. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Inv. RP-P-OB-10.157.
Photograph and Permission: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Public Domain.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sakamoto, Kuni, author.
Title: Julius Caesar Scaliger, Renaissance reformer of Aristotelianism : a
 study of his Exotericae Exercitationes / by Kuni Sakamoto.
Description: Boston : Brill, 2016. | Series: History of science and medicine
 library, ISSN 1872-0684 ; Volume 54 | Series: Medieval and early modern philosophy and
 science ; Volume 26 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016009127 (print) | LCCN 2016011158 (ebook) | ISBN
 9789004310094 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789004310100 (E-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Scaligero, Giulio Cesare, 1484–1558. Exotericae
 Exercitationes. | Philosophy, Renaissance. | Aristotle--Influence.
Classification: LCC B785.S43 E967 2016 (print) | LCC B785.S43 (ebook) | DDC
 195—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016009127
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issn 2468-6808
isbn 978-90-04-31009-4 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-31010-0 (e-book)
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1 Creation, the Trinity, and Prisca theologia 15
1 Introduction 15
2 God as Efficient Cause 16
3 Creatio ex nihilo 20
4 The Trinity 22
5 Prisca theologia 24
6 Conclusion 28
2 Against the World-Soul 32
1 Introduction 32
2 God’s Triune Power 33
3 The Soul and Heat 37
4 Form, the Soul, and the Platonic Idea 42
5 Platonic Sublunary God and Aristotelian Nature 45
6 The Order and Unity of the World 47
7 Conclusion 51
3 The Best Possible World 53
1 Introduction 53
2 The Number of Species 55
3 The Possibility of a Better World 56
4 Humans in the Hierarchy of Being 60
5 The Completeness of the World 63
6 Conclusion 68
4 Void and Place 71
1 Introduction 71
2 Cardano, Averroes, and “Recent Philosophers” 72
3 The Double Performance of Form 77
4 Place as Void 82
5 Against Aristotle and Scotus 84
6 Conclusion 86
vi contents
5 Angels and Intelligences 88
1 Introduction 88
2 Cardano and the Naturalists 89
3 The Nature and Attributes of Intelligences 92
4 Celestial Movements and the Imitation of God 94
5 Cognition of Intelligences 98
6 Angelic Motion, Prime Matter, and the Value of Learning 103
7 On Copernicus and Melanchthon 106
8 Conclusion 108
6 Generation and Form 110
1 Introduction 110
2 Doctrinal Background 111
3 Criticism of Fernel 113
4 Spontaneous Generation 116
5 Generation from Seeds 118
6 Human Generation 123
7 The Formative and Informative Souls 125
8 Plastic Power 131
9 The Soul as the Divine Fifth Essence 135
10 Conclusion 142
7 Mixture 145
1 Introduction 145
2 Criticism of Avicenna 146
3 A New Definition of Mixture 149
4 Objections of Basson and Sennert 152
5 Form as Mixture 153
6 Creation of Mixtures 157
7 Scaliger and the Franciscan Tradition 160
8 Conclusion 162
General Conclusion 164
Bibliography 181
Index 208
Acknowledgements
Like human beings, no scholarly work reaches maturity without receiving
continuous support from those who affectionately care about its growth.
This book is no exception. It first took shape when I completed my PhD dis-
sertation at the University of Tokyo in 2012. During the course of its composi-
tion, I benefited enormously from the guidance of my supervisor, Takehiko
Hashimoto. It is my pleasure to thank him here.
My greatest debt is to Hiro Hirai. I have learned much from him over the
years, via his published writings, through personal exchanges of ideas, and
thanks to his comments on my work. It is impossible to find appropriate words
to express the full extent of my appreciation. This book would have never
existed without him.
I completed the book’s manuscript during my stay at Radboud University,
Nijmegen (The Netherlands) as a member of the Center for the History of
Philosophy and Science in 2014–2015. The Center offered an ideal environment
for carrying out the last phase of this project. I am most grateful to its direc-
tor, Christoph Lüthy. A historian who published a groundbreaking article on
Scaliger, he showed great interest in my subject and, in reading the entire book
draft with much enthusiasm, provided numerous comments and corrections
in content and style. Three further wonderful colleagues deserve my special
gratitude: Adam Takahashi originally suggested the plan of producing a mono-
graph on Scaliger, which I can now deliver to him with genuine appreciation.
Davide Cellamare generously shared with me his immense knowledge on the
theology and philosophy of the German-speaking lands of the sixteenth cen-
tury; anything of interest to Reformation scholars in this book is due to his
influence. And William Duba opened my eyes to the full richness of the Scotist
tradition, which has been far more pertinent to my subject than I had origi-
nally realized.
Many others provided me with indispensable assistance. I am deeply grate-
ful to John Henry, Leen Spruit, and Anke Timmermann, who read the entire
manuscript and gave invaluable comments and suggestions. Sae Kitamura,
Jill Kraye, Hidemi Takahashi, Schunichiro Yoshida, and Hideyuki Yoshimoto
helped me during various stages of the project. My research was made pos-
sible thanks to the generous funding of the Japan Society for the Promotion of
Science and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, for which I
would like to express my sincere gratitude.
viii acknowledgements
Finally, I thank my wife Masayo, who has always been supportive of me
and my pursuits. The growth of this book and its author owes much to her
affection.
Kuni Sakamoto
January 2016
Introduction
In March 1597, Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) published his first work, Mysterium
cosmographicum, at Tübingen. Unknown to most of today’s readers, this title
is abridged from “The forerunner (prodromus) of the cosmographical essays,
containing the Mysterium cosmographicum [. . .].” What did Kepler mean by
the word “forerunner”? In the revised edition of 1621, he explained:
Forerunner.] After I came to the study of philosophy in my eighteenth
year, in the year of Christ 1589, the Exotericae Exercitationes of Julius
Caesar Scaliger was passing through the hands of the younger gen-
eration; and taking up the opportunity offered by that book, I began to
devise various views on various questions—on the heavens, on souls,
on characters, on the elements, on the nature of fire, on the origin of
springs, on the ebb and flow of the sea, on the shape of the continents
of the earth, and the seas that flow between them, and the like. But since
the discovery of the proportion of the heavenly spheres seemed to me
outstanding, I thought I should not wait until I could traverse all the parts
of nature, and that this discovery should not be published incidentally,
thrown onto a pile of other inquiries, achieving but a slight probability.
Rather, I decided to make the publication of this discovery the starting
point of my dissertations and dared to hope for a similar success in all the
remaining inquiries; but in vain. For the heavens, the prime of the works
of God, are much more notably embellished than the rest, which are pal-
try and mean. While the forerunner was, indeed, excellent, the intended
successors did not follow, because in the remaining inquiries I did not
achieve anything which was equally satisfactory. However, the reader will
be able to have my astronomical works, and especially the books of the
Harmonice [mundi], as the authentic and appropriate successor of this
little book [. . .].1
Kepler had originally planned to expand his research to the terrestrial region
and to present his findings in a series of “cosmographical essays.” However, as
1  Kepler, Mysterium cosmographicum, 2nd ed., in Gesammelte Werke, 8:15, trans. Duncan, 51
(slightly modified). On the date of printing for the Mysterium cosmographicum, see Voelkel,
Kepler, and the New Astronomy, 38. Kepler also recorded his enthusiasm for the Exercitationes
in the autobiography that he wrote in preparation for drawing up his own horoscope. See
Kepler, Gesammelte Werke, 19:329: “In physica Scaligerum suspexit.”
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