1) a revival of ancient skepticism
2) a new realism / pragmatism
3) an attack on superstition and social and church traditions
It was driven by:
1) an increasing interest in empirical science
2) the advent of Protestantism and religious wars and persecution
3) the knowledge of new cultures (Amerindians) with different customs and moral codes than Europeans
4) the recently found texts of the Roman skeptic Sextus Empiricus (160 - 210 CE)
Church Reformers:
Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) "Free will is a fiction, for it is in no man's power to plan any evil or good." Either God or the Devil drives a man's will; man has no choice. Only Grace can turn the will to God.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484 - 1531)
John Calvin (1509 - 1564) Pre-destination. Calvin was also an early proponent of representative government and the separation of powers.
While the reformers engaged in debates among themselves over doctrines such as the Eucharist, they all held the Medieval scholastics in disdain for their belief that educated reason was necessary for knowledge of God. Protestants believed that all people had access to the revealed word of God through a personal reading of the Bible.
They share this disdain for scholasticism with Humanist Catholics like Erasmus and Thomas More as well as many of the early modern philosophers.
Philosophers:
Niccolò Machiavelli (1459 - 1527): The Prince (1513) How the Prince can gain and maintain power. Realpolitik.
Desiderius Erasmus (1466 - 1536): Defends freedom of the will against Lutheranism.
In Praise of Folly (1511) - A satirical attack on superstitions and other traditions of European society as well as on the western Church.
Thomas More (1478 - 1535) - Utopia (1516) A work about a perfected society with arguments for ease of divorce, euthanasia, married and female priests, no private property, and more. Scholars debate its meaning.
(1543 - Beginning of the Copernican Revolution)
Sebastian Castellio (1515 - 1563) - In response to the burning of the Spanish polymath Michael Servetus in 1553, Castellio claimed only the existence and goodness of God can be certain, so executing heretics for other offenses (e.g. denying the Trinity) is wrong. Also an early proponent of religious toleration, freedom of conscience, and separation of church and state.
Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592) - Christian Skepticism - Apology for Raimond Sebond (1569 - online text):
"An eloquent expression of Christian skepticism, it is an impassioned defense of Sebond's fifteenth-century treatise on natural theology, it was inspired by the deep crisis of personal melancholy that followed the death of Montaigne's own father in 1568, and explores contemporary Christianity in prose that is witty and frequently damning. As he searches for the true meaning of faith, Montaigne is heavily critical of the arrogant tendency of mankind to create God in its own image, and offers his personal reflections on the true role of man, the need to eschew personal arrogance, and the vital importance of faith if we are to understand our place in the universe." Montaigne made arguments that animals may be nearly as rational and have emotion similar to humans.
Francisco Suarez (1548 - 1617) - Suarez was the last important medieval Scholastic. His work on natural law, international law, the social contract, and attack on the divine right of Kings are precursors to 17th century philosophy.
Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600) Dominican friar who advanced Copernicus' heliocentrism and proposed that stars are distant suns. Was burned at the stake for denying eternal damnation, the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, Transubstantiation. Advocated pantheism and reincarnation.
Galileo Galilee (1564 - 1642)
Galileo upset confidence in Aristotle's scientific claims. He showed Aristotle was wrong about heavier objects falling faster than lighter ones, his finding of sunspots showed that the heavenly objects were not perfect and unchanging and he was critical of Aristotle's view that things in motion needed to be acted on by a force to stay in motion (this anticipates Newton's theory that objects in motion stay in motion unless acted on by another force.
In 1633, Galileo recanted his belief in a heliocentric solar system upon threat of torture by the Roman Inquisition. In 1638 he published Two New Sciences which summarized his life's work in physics.
Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626)
Philosopher of Science - Father of Inductive Reasoning. Although his system was flawed and later rejected, 20th century philosophers of science credit him with first understanding that the laws of nature cannot be absolutely proven, but can be disproven.
Bacon attacked Aristotle's Final Cause. "Inquiry into final causes is sterile, like a virgin consecrated to God, produces nothing." (Descartes would criticize Aristotle, too, but neither seemed to recognize it was only the medieval scholastic's interpretation of Aristotle they were attacking, and not Aristotle himself).
Bacon also differed from the ancients regarding the purpose of science. The ancients saw scientific knowledge as an end in itself. Bacon claimed the purpose of science was to create new technologies that were useful to people (and commercially viable).
Despite these new thinkers, there was a resurgence of Thomist philosophy in the late 16th century. Aquinas' Summa Theologica was placed next to the Bible at the Council of Trent and Aquinas was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope in 1567. Saint Ignatius of Loyola advised the recently founded Jesuits to follow Thomas' philosophy.
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