It is no secret that plants are very good at converting sunlight into energy. Ever since solar cells were invented, scientists have been struggling to achieve just a fraction of the efficiency of photosynthesis. One of the major problems has been that direct sunlight is inherently destructive. Solar panels have to be sturdy enough to last for long periods of time, which comes at the cost of efficiency in converting sunlight into electricity. One of the reasons that plants are so efficient is that they simply let their cells burn out and recycle them, sometimes as often as every 45 minutes. Scientists at MIT believe that they have managed to recreate this process with synthetic materials.
These synthetic chloroplasts are able to form themselves into crude solar cells under certain conditions. When they inevitably become damaged from exposure to the sun, they can be broken back down into their components by having a surfactant or solvent sprayed on them. Once the solvent is removed the components will once again assemble into functioning solar cells. Researchers say they they can currently get the cells to work at 40% efficiency, and they do not degrade over time as they can be automatically repaired.
These cells are still very far away from any practical use, but they show that the concept is feasible and has the potential to be much more efficient than current solar panels. Should we ever get something like this into production, it may actually be able to make fully-renewable energy production a reality. Current solar panels are great for powering a single structure, but are too bulky and inefficient for the large-scale power production that we require. These highly-efficient, regenerating cells could allow solar energy to become practical and competitive with other types of power, particularly fossil fuels.
Sources:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-09/mits-self-assembling-pv-cells-recycle-themselves-repeatedly-just-plant-cells
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-09/miot-mrc090110.php
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wireless Energy Transfer
Wouldn't it be wonderful if our rechargeable electronics could simply recharge themselves when their battery(s) began to get low on power all on their own? This is the question that Marin Soljacic, an assistant professor at MIT's Department of Physics and Research Laboratory of Electronics, asked himself that inspired him to develop the theory of wireless energy transfer with the help of his colleagues.
Soljacic's theory stands upon the fundamental knowledge that electricity does not necessarily need to be physically connected between two points for an energy exchange to occur (i.e: the coils in electronic transformers that rely on electromagnetic induction to transfer the electricity without actually touching one another). Thus, he believes that with the right technology, this ability to transfer energy "wirelessly" across very short distances can be greatly enhanced to extend that distance potentially indefinitely.
If Soljacic were able to make this become a reality, it could enable us to inhabit harsher regions of the earth, provide electricity to third world countries (via satellite), and even extend our reach into space. In 2007, in fact, Soljacic successfully lit a 60 watt light bulb wirelessly from 7 feet away using magnetic coils. The phenomena has been coined with the term "WiTricity", and is now being extensively researched by companies such as WiTricity Corp. and PowerBeam. In my personal opinion, we may just have a slight revolution on our hands.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/wireless.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=wireless-energy-lights-bulb-from-seven-feet-away
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Alchemy: A Journey through Time
Colin Goodenow, Mike Tobin, Brendan Tanner, Roy Baron
10/21/10
Scientific Revolutions
Professor Brandenburg
Alchemy: A Journey through Time
For a long time, alchemy has been considered merely the illusory precursor to chemistry. While it is true that alchemy did play a direct and substantial role in the development of chemistry, it is significant for reasons far beyond just that.
Beginning from its roots, alchemy has played an important role in many societies. The city of Alexandria in Hellenistic Egypt is considered to be the craft’s birthplace. The Egyptian god Thoth, ruler of magic, written word, and medicine is considered to be the ancient figurehead of alchemy. Only the priests who worshipped under him were permitted to take part in the sacred rites of alchemy, as they were viewed as his sons.
Once the Greeks realized how closely Thoth resembled their own god of medicine, Hermes, a sort of synthesis occurred. Thoth and Hermes were essentially combined to form one cross-cultural god, Hermes Trismegistus, thrice-great Hermes. This new god would go on to become the classical world’s representation of the ideals of alchemy. This combining of gods was actually a fairly commonplace occurrence between the Egyptians and the Greeks, as Alexandria was under heavy Greek influence after Ptolemy was made its ruler.
Aristotle too was fascinated by the field of alchemy and made several contributions to it. Amongst the most important was his proposal of a fifth element, aether. At the time, it was widely accepted that all things were comprised of primal forms of four different elements: water, fire, earth, and air. Aristotle’s views were revolutionary because he proposed that aether comprises the heavens, that which we cannot see. This idea moved on even into the medieval ages.
The medieval ages were a strange time for the field of science. The Christian church tried to suppress teachings and ideas that conflicted with their scripture and as a result the advancement in science slowed. If a scholar was to educate his apprentice in any of those sacrilegious teachings they would have to do so in a clandestine manner, out of fear that they would get killed or imprisoned. Luckily the spread of Christianity was not able to reach what is now the Middle East. With this freedom, the controversial and heretical ideas were able to flourish in this area, one of these ideas being alchemy.
The world alchemy shows its Arabic roots in its etymology. Though there are different theories on how the world came to be, it is commonly agreed that the “al” in alchemy was an Arabic article that became the prefix in the word when it was brought to Europe. The part that is disputed is where the chemy came from. The first theory is that it came from the Greek word chumeia, a word meaning pouring or infusion. The other theory is based on the word Khem, a word that derives from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Either way, the word shows how the teaching of alchemy traveled from Rome to Arabia and then finally back to Europe.
Over time the view of Arabic scholars in Europe changed and instead of fearing the alchemist, saying they were witches, the Europeans opened up to their teachings. They justified this change in thinking by saying that what alchemist were doing was good magic, a magic that only used powers that occurred in natural things. The changed view on alchemy allowed it to spread quicker and gain power. By the time of Tudor England it became normal for alchemists to reside in the royal courts. Queen Elizabeth even commissioned a project to create the philosophers stone.
With this new acceptance, scholars were able to work more freely, allowing them to test new theories and create new methods. One scholar that was able to take advantage of this was Henning Brand. Brand was able to try different experiments in an attempt to turn his urine into gold; they were both yellow in color after all. He never quite succeeded in this, but he was able to discover phosphorus because of it.
Through it’s “journey” through time and across continents alchemy influenced many great minds. Instead of being a distant and occult art totally unrelated to anything we might know today, like many think, it is very possible to look into other fields and see links to alchemy and the philosophy behind the study. Paracelsus, one of the most influential thinkers in the field of medicine, had a very deep background in alchemy. Like medicine, fields like chemistry, astronomy, psychology and botany have been directed by alchemists in one way or another.
Modern medicine may seem light years ahead of what existed in the Renaissance, but if it were not for the contributions Paracelsus and others like him had made it is very possible we would some very different ideas about how to treat illnesses. He pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in healing as well as the technique of weighing urine; which is still used today. He was also the first to speak specifically about the human subconscious and how it can affect over-all health: “It is not the curse or the blessing that works, but the idea. The imagination produces the effect.” More important than that was the new idea of symptom vs. disease. Before Paracelsus, it was thought health was balanced between the four humors of blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile, as taught by the Greeks. But when Paracelsus dared to branch away from the ancient texts and take the time to study the body he found diseases were localized to certain organs and could be caused by external forces. This new understanding of “germs” and contagiousness helped greatly during the time of the Bubonic Plague and outbreaks of venereal diseases throughout Europe.
Chemistry is one of the fields we can most directly associate with alchemy if we can forgive the latter for its occult roots. Many of the different pieces of equipment still used in laboratories today were invented by Muslim alchemists hundreds of years ago. Things like beakers, flasks and different kinds of distillation equipment were first used long ago for experiments in the occult. In fact, one could almost argue that chemistry is the same thing as alchemy, only with the theology removed. It was a very gradual shift as ideas and beliefs changed throughout time. Alchemists like Boyle developed rules and laws like the Scientific Method and Boyle’s Law that are the basis for many studies now.
Because the idea of macrocosm and microcosm was so important to alchemists, they spent many hours studying the stars in hopes to better understand what was happening inside of the human body. They believed each of the seven planets (known at the time) corresponded to one of seven different organs. The sun to the heart, the moon to the brain, tin to liver, copper to kidneys, lead to spleen, iron to the gallbladder and mercury to the lungs. While that may not have been the most effective strategy, this interest did lead to great new discoveries and understanding of the planets.
With these examples and many more we can start to see how alchemy may have had a more significant role in our understanding of the world than it appears. The ideas may have had some basis in occult philosophies that do not agree with our ideas, but that does not make the intricate research these great thinkers did any less significant to the fields they impacted.
Today’s media industry is thriving with themes, characters and applications of Alchemy. The related ideas to what went on during Greece and the Egyptians all the way to present day. Alchemy is full of some very rich history and content that makes for amazing work in media. Some examples that have used this information to the fullest would be the movie industry as well as television shows. Recent movie plots include, Perfume-a murderer has mastered the art of distillation and extracts the essence’s of woman and turns their oil into world renown perfumes. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a second example. The first of a series based around the use of magic and alchemy alike. The first movie specifically being about the legendary philosopher’s stone, a long sought after substance in the history of alchemy.
Alternative to movies, cartoons like Avatar the air bender, an American telling the story of ancient race of simple people. They are able to live their lives just by tapping into internal Chi energy manipulating fire, water, earth and wind. As the story unfolds there is a great struggle finding a balance between each other. Captain planet a 90’s cartoon based around a group of kids each endowed with a ring controlling one of various earth elements. Combining the energy of the rings summons a deity of earth who is able to shape shift and manipulate all elements. But the media is not limited to just America. One of most intricate of shows surrounding Alchemy get its origins from Japanese based Animation. The show is purely based around a society that has a major conflict around the use of alchemy. In addition to the conflict the whole society is able to sustain itself on the use of alchemy. Today alchemy’s popularity has grown even larger then before being fueled by the entertainment industry.
http://www.hyle.org/journal/issues/9-2/obrist.htm
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Hennig_Brand
Magic and Science: Alchemy
Justin Maher, Timothy Scribner,
Sam Notelovitz, & Noah Merle
Scientific Revolutions October 21, 2010
Magic and Science: A Fine Line - Abstract
Magic and science are generally considered to be starkly contrasting concepts, but while they may be polar opposites, there does exist a grey area between them. This grey area is Alchemy, a curious blend of magic, mysticism, pseudo-science, and chemistry that was, at one point, considered the number one form of “science” in medieval times.
Generally-speaking, the majority of ancient alchemical literature seems to originate from Egypt and China. Most scholars conclude from this that both countries can be considered the “birthplace” of Alchemy. While both countries had very different cultural stylings, they both embraced similar rules and doctrines when they developed Alchemy. It is worth noting, however, that these origins are still subject to considerable scholarly debate due to the fact ancient western alchemic writings are highly diverse in style and doctrine.
Interestingly enough, the Egyptians are the ones credited, however, with creating the concept of the “essential unity” of matter, which is the key concept that allowed philosophers much like Aristotle, to believe in the transmutation of gold from other substances.
When Alchemy expanded into Europe, Alchemy morphed into a new form often referred to as “Pseudo Alchemy”. Those that studied this version of Alchemy did not do so to help others or to explore its mysticism, rather, they studied and performed alchemy for personal gain. Many of these people were con-artists selling fake elixirs to uninformed citizens (this was a major contribution to some of the negative energy some alchemists received). By colleagues and other members of the community, these “alchemists” were simply called “puffers”. As the alchemic expansion continued through Europe, personal greed took over and alchemists became obsessed with finding a way to create gold, and the majority of Alchemyʼs original mysticism was tossed aside. Alchemyʼs final major change came with the publishing of “The Skeptical Chemist” by Robert Boyle, which provided valid chemical observations to certain phenomena, and an over all more scientific approach to chemical processes.
But what really is Alchemy? If we know science to be the objective study of the world around us, and magic to (seemingly) be a supernatural force that exerts control over the world around us, then what is Alchemy? The answer isnʼt very simple Iʼm afraid. Alchemy encompasses many of the concepts and methods modern science currently does, but at the same time readily employs the supernatural as explanation for things that cannot be explained by observation with the naked eye. Where Science would investigate something more aggressively and thoroughly if it met an obstacle it could not explain, Alchemy offers far more limited interest in further research. Instead it utilizes mysticism and the four elements to explain what it cannot.
Justin Maher, Timothy Scribner,
Sam Notelovitz, & Noah Merle
Scientific Revolutions October 21, 2010
Works Consulted
Ball, Philip. The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.
Down, Jim. “The Ancient Path of Alchemy.” Newsfinder
<www.newsfinder.org/site/more/the_ancient_path_of_alchemy/>.
Linden, Stanton J. "Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton."The Alchemy Reader: from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton. New York:
Cambridge UP, 2003. 234-47.
Redgrove, Stanley H. Alchemy: Ancient and Modern. Trowbridge: Harper and Row Publishers, 1922.
Reither, Bob. “The Nature and History and The Great Art of Alchemy.” BeeZone. <www.beezone.com/edwardo/Alchemy/alchemy.htm>.
Zetterberg, J. Peter. “The Mistaking of Ê»the Mathematicksʼ for Magic in Tudor and Stuart England.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 11 (1980):
83-87
Friday, October 22, 2010
Katie Brockway
Sarah Gingras
James Nixon
Kyendamina Mukeba
Elliot Lutton
Witchcraft and Science
The general concept of witchcraft was created by the early 15th century, and by the end of the 16th century most educated Europeans believed witches not only practiced harmful magic, but made a pact with the devil. Throughout Europe, the details of the Sabbath varied from place to place and time to time. The learned thoughts about witchcraft were transferred from one area to another and from one generation to the next.
Many Europeans were convinced that at certain times hundreds and thousands witches gathered together. The devil would appear and the witches would sacrifice infants to the devil for him to eat. The witches would dance naked and have sexual relations with the devil and other witches. The upper class stated Satan worked not miracles but wonders, he was different from god because of his morals. Among the “crimes” purportedly committed by witches were: participation in sabbats; metamorphosis into animals; pacts and sexual intercourse with the Devil; inflicting illness or death on their enemies, or damaging their property; eating human flesh; murdering children; raising storms; and preparing diabolical potions and philters.
Relations between witches and devil were the beliefs of the literate, ruling classes, and not the common people. Peasants gained a limited amount of information, but once they were informed they didn’t struggle to believe it. Their primary concern was that their magic could harm members of their community, not necessarily the pact with the devil. Witches’ neighbors were relied upon to identify suspects and testify against them. Peasants had to believe in witchcraft so they could help the ruling class with the hunt, but because many of them were illiterate they did not know enough about witchcraft.
There are six people in this time period who were accused of witchcraft practices and superstitious practices were Paracelsus, John Dee, Giordano Bruno, Anna Maria Zieglerin, Laura Malipiero, and lastly, Marrietta Battaglia. The first born was Paracelsus, a scientist who found new discoveries in medicine.
The “father of toxicology” was born in 1493, in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. He was a mine analyst as a child, for his father was a chemist and physician. At the age of sixteen, Paracelsus began studying medicine at the University of Basel. He pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine, and knew sickness and health in the body (microcosm) and harmony in nature (macrocosm.)
He stood by the phrase “the dose makes the poison,” that evil could heal evil, and that poison could have beneficial effects on the body. The scientist knew that for every evil there was a good that would eliminate it, and that there was a cure for every disease. His reason for studying alchemy was to prolong his life and restore his youth, and said alchemy shouldn’t be limited to chemistry because it existed in all of nature. It was a very spiritual science, and the person who practiced it must have moral virtue.
Although it made seem arrogant, he preferred to lecture in German rather than Latin, and openly challenged traditional books on medicine, and teaching of medicine by textual analysis. Therefore, he refused to prescribe the medicines of the local apothecaries. Paracelsus was sympathetic with some of the ideas of the Reformation, but he was a Roman Catholic. Because of this, he had to flee Basel to avoid imprisonment.
He is accused of being the true identity of the mythical alchemist Christian Rosenkreutz who was the major figure in the Fama Fraternitatis, which was published in 1614, in Germany. It is said that he died September 24th 1541, from mysterious causes originating from a leg wound.
John Dee was known as a math legend, and was born July 13th, 1527. He is said to have grasped the concept of mathematics and magic just as both were becoming distinguishable. He studied Greek, Latin, philosophy, geometry, arithmetic and astronomy at Cambridge University, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1546.
Dee understood mathematics mystically, and thought it was central to the progress of human learning. Additionally, that everything revolved around numbers, and that the divine power of man could be exercised through mathematics. In 1553 he became an astrologer to the queen, Mary Tudor. But two years later John was imprisoned for heresy and being a magician accused of ‘calculating’ as a form of magic. His work was said to be “ Work of mathematical legerdemain mistaken for the work of the devil.”
He was released two years later and became a consultant for the Muscovy Company. It was formed by the navigator and explorer Sebastian Cabot. With a number of London merchants who were granted a monopoly of Anglo-Russian trade, they aimed to search for the Northeast Passage. He prepared nautical information, including navigation charts, and instructed the crews on geometry and cosmography before they left for voyages to North America. One of Dee’s greatest accomplishments was publishing “Propaedeumata Aphoristica”, and presenting his work about mathematics, astrology and magic to Queen Elizabeth.
Dee married his third wife Jane Fromond, who he had eight children with, and met his friend Edward Kelley, to start on their “mystical experiments.” Edward was highly skilled and claimed to be able to contact angels and spirits by gazing into a crystal ball. Dee became deeply involved in conversing with angels and spirits through Kelley, and it dominated the latter part of his life. In 1583 John Dee and Edward Kelley were foretold by the Angel Uriel of the death of the Queen of Scots, which occurred in 1587, and the coming of the Spanish Armada, which occurred in 1588.
After this accomplishment, Dee and Kelley broadened their perspective by moving to Cracow and then Prague before returning to England. John Dee became warden of Manchester College in 1595, and that same year, his dear friend Kelley died. In 1605 Jane Dee and several of their eight children died of plague in Manchester. Following this tragic event, John Dee returned to live in London ,and died three years later in 1608.
Giordano Bruno was an Italian philosopher born in 1548. He believed the universe was infinite, that God was everywhere, and God was so broadminded that in the end he would even pardon the demons. Bruno is also one the earliest thinkers to imagine that living creatures might be found elsewhere in the universe. Therefore, Bruno concluded, God must be within the universe and not outside of it. His philosophy was “flaming bodies are the ambassadors who proclaim the glory and majesty of God. Thus we are moved to discover the infinite effect of the infinite cause, the true and living footprint of the infinite vigor, and we have a teaching that tells us not to seek divinity outside ourselves, but within, more deeply in us than we are ourselves.”
Bruno was excommunicated as catholic in Naples, as Calvinist in Geneva, and as a Lutheran in Wittenberg. The Inquisitors had good reason to suspect, then, that Bruno’s idea of seeking God within, “more deeply in us than we are ourselves” might indicate an independent religion that had no need of any prophet but Giordano Bruno. The former employer who had originally denounced him to the Inquisition was a Venetian nobleman named Giovanni Mocenigo. He declared that Bruno had in fact intended to establish a sect called the “Gordanisti” with himself as its head. These intentions soon lead to superstitious and the dislike of Bruno.
When the Roman Inquisition killed the philosopher Giordano Bruno on the morning of February 17, 1600, the capital charge against the victim was obstinate and pertinacious heresy. He was charged for adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma, denial of a revealed truth by a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church, and an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma. As well as dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice, and finally, an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs or standards. That charge, as Bruno’s sentence specifies, hinged on two precise points: first denying the divinity of Jesus, and second, refusing to recant on eight propositions presented by the most of his ten Inquisitors, the Jesuit cardinal and future saint, Roberto Bellarmino. Like so many others of his time, Bruno was put to death merely for his opinions and beliefs.
As far back as historians can find, alchemy was primarily a male dominant practice. That would soon change after Anna Maria Zieglerian was born in the early 1550’s. Zieglerian had a different childhood then most people, she was born premature, and her family was of German nobility. She was later arranged to marry a man named Heinrich Schombach. In 1571 her new husband got a job at the court of Duke Julius of Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel practicing alchemy. She had no official job title at the court, but did have her own office where she began doing experiments with alchemy.
Three years later, in 1573, she presented the Duke a book on how to create the ‘Philosophers stone.’ The ‘Philosophers stone” was a combination of oils and stones that Anna believed could be used to create humans , grow plants, and essentially create any form of life.
In her book she introduced a man named Count Carl von Oettenge. Anna claimed he was the son of Paracelsus who was a well-known medical practitioner in the early 1500’s. She claimed that Paracelsus taught Count Carl von Oettengen everything he knew; therefore he was an expert himself. Confidently, Anna told the Duke she and the Count discovered a way to reproduce using alchemy rather than natural reproduction. Anna continued, making the bold claim that these children would never become ill and never die.
The Duke soon found out that she was lying and would be unable to deliver what she had promised. She and her fellow alchemists were promptly shunned and executed. Her followers were charged with fraud and treason, while Anna was charged with ‘sorcery’ and ‘adultery’. On February 7th, 1574, Anna was put to death at age twenty five. After her skin was ripped apart by scorching tongs, she was burned to death.
Women were more likely to be prosecuted as witches during the craze, but there was no exclusion on men. Men thought women were morally weaker than them, and would fall for temptation because women witches were driven by “carnal lust,” made pact with the devil, and then had sex him and other witches.
Some women saw witchcraft as an alternative to marriage or motherhood, and it gave them control of their environment. For single or widowed women, the only way to prove themselves as adults was to get a profession. Laura Malipiero and Marrietta Battaglia were two sisters in Venice, Italy, who saw witchcraft as a career option rather than their fate or destiny. They chose to be witches, unlike many others, who were thought to have the permanently assumed role of a witch.
Marrietta Battaglia used available, least specialized, magic, often times even stealing or borrowing from others, including her sister. A widow at age thirty eight, she used witchcraft as alternative to marriage but ideally she did want marriage and would have been much better off having some form of stability. Marrietta was a prostitute and sought after for "love magic." In the 18th century European prostitutes were said to make up ten percent of the population. A few years after her first witchcraft trial in 1637, she began to deny men of relations due to a "change of heart." A customer of seven years was so upset he beat her, demanded money, and then broke her nose. A document was found later that she had actually been pregnant during this time, and she lost the baby. Her second trial took place when a man she was going to marry found she was a witch, so he accused her as way of preventing their mother. Her third trial in 1649, also included her mother, Isabella, and sister Laura. Marietta was accused of performing sexual acts with the devil and worshipping him. Instead of being burned, she was supposed to be banned from the city. Unfortunately, she was so poor she had nothing to wear, and did not know how to survive outside of Venice. So, she was sentenced to jail and everlasting banishment as a single woman and witch.
Laura Malipiero, Marrietta’s sister, was significantly more accomplished than her sister. She used an array of witchcraft practices, and moved from least to most advanced, and had a number of specialties. Unlike Marrietta, her work offered a positive alternative to her three negative marriages. Laura had four husbands, two of which charged her with witchcraft, bigamy and polygamy. The other two disappeared, and all of her spouses beat her. Disrespecting and making women feel dependent on men was common; Laura’s daughter Malipiera was so abused by her own husband that her eye was permanently loose in the socket. Laura had four accusations of witchcraft.
Instead of living a spiteful life, Laura focused on her witchcraft, and considered herself a trained healer. She thought of witchcraft has labor studies and something mysterious because she believed women had choices and opportunities. Her practices differed from trial to trial so she could keep her accusers questioning her actions. By her final trial in 1654 she was considered the most famous witch. She later died of natural causes next to her monogamous lover of twenty years.
The use of these sister’s witchcraft and their success was determined by the market and how well they played it. Laura was more successful because she used her career as a post-plague survival and had economic and social sense that was unknown to her sister. Mariretta never performed medical magic because she turned to others, leaving her very vulnerable. The sisters were equal in recognizing witchcraft as a survival strategy, but unequal in their ability to use it to their advantage.
Sarah Gingras
James Nixon
Kyendamina Mukeba
Elliot Lutton
Witchcraft and Science
The general concept of witchcraft was created by the early 15th century, and by the end of the 16th century most educated Europeans believed witches not only practiced harmful magic, but made a pact with the devil. Throughout Europe, the details of the Sabbath varied from place to place and time to time. The learned thoughts about witchcraft were transferred from one area to another and from one generation to the next.
Many Europeans were convinced that at certain times hundreds and thousands witches gathered together. The devil would appear and the witches would sacrifice infants to the devil for him to eat. The witches would dance naked and have sexual relations with the devil and other witches. The upper class stated Satan worked not miracles but wonders, he was different from god because of his morals. Among the “crimes” purportedly committed by witches were: participation in sabbats; metamorphosis into animals; pacts and sexual intercourse with the Devil; inflicting illness or death on their enemies, or damaging their property; eating human flesh; murdering children; raising storms; and preparing diabolical potions and philters.
Relations between witches and devil were the beliefs of the literate, ruling classes, and not the common people. Peasants gained a limited amount of information, but once they were informed they didn’t struggle to believe it. Their primary concern was that their magic could harm members of their community, not necessarily the pact with the devil. Witches’ neighbors were relied upon to identify suspects and testify against them. Peasants had to believe in witchcraft so they could help the ruling class with the hunt, but because many of them were illiterate they did not know enough about witchcraft.
There are six people in this time period who were accused of witchcraft practices and superstitious practices were Paracelsus, John Dee, Giordano Bruno, Anna Maria Zieglerin, Laura Malipiero, and lastly, Marrietta Battaglia. The first born was Paracelsus, a scientist who found new discoveries in medicine.
The “father of toxicology” was born in 1493, in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. He was a mine analyst as a child, for his father was a chemist and physician. At the age of sixteen, Paracelsus began studying medicine at the University of Basel. He pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine, and knew sickness and health in the body (microcosm) and harmony in nature (macrocosm.)
He stood by the phrase “the dose makes the poison,” that evil could heal evil, and that poison could have beneficial effects on the body. The scientist knew that for every evil there was a good that would eliminate it, and that there was a cure for every disease. His reason for studying alchemy was to prolong his life and restore his youth, and said alchemy shouldn’t be limited to chemistry because it existed in all of nature. It was a very spiritual science, and the person who practiced it must have moral virtue.
Although it made seem arrogant, he preferred to lecture in German rather than Latin, and openly challenged traditional books on medicine, and teaching of medicine by textual analysis. Therefore, he refused to prescribe the medicines of the local apothecaries. Paracelsus was sympathetic with some of the ideas of the Reformation, but he was a Roman Catholic. Because of this, he had to flee Basel to avoid imprisonment.
He is accused of being the true identity of the mythical alchemist Christian Rosenkreutz who was the major figure in the Fama Fraternitatis, which was published in 1614, in Germany. It is said that he died September 24th 1541, from mysterious causes originating from a leg wound.
John Dee was known as a math legend, and was born July 13th, 1527. He is said to have grasped the concept of mathematics and magic just as both were becoming distinguishable. He studied Greek, Latin, philosophy, geometry, arithmetic and astronomy at Cambridge University, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1546.
Dee understood mathematics mystically, and thought it was central to the progress of human learning. Additionally, that everything revolved around numbers, and that the divine power of man could be exercised through mathematics. In 1553 he became an astrologer to the queen, Mary Tudor. But two years later John was imprisoned for heresy and being a magician accused of ‘calculating’ as a form of magic. His work was said to be “ Work of mathematical legerdemain mistaken for the work of the devil.”
He was released two years later and became a consultant for the Muscovy Company. It was formed by the navigator and explorer Sebastian Cabot. With a number of London merchants who were granted a monopoly of Anglo-Russian trade, they aimed to search for the Northeast Passage. He prepared nautical information, including navigation charts, and instructed the crews on geometry and cosmography before they left for voyages to North America. One of Dee’s greatest accomplishments was publishing “Propaedeumata Aphoristica”, and presenting his work about mathematics, astrology and magic to Queen Elizabeth.
Dee married his third wife Jane Fromond, who he had eight children with, and met his friend Edward Kelley, to start on their “mystical experiments.” Edward was highly skilled and claimed to be able to contact angels and spirits by gazing into a crystal ball. Dee became deeply involved in conversing with angels and spirits through Kelley, and it dominated the latter part of his life. In 1583 John Dee and Edward Kelley were foretold by the Angel Uriel of the death of the Queen of Scots, which occurred in 1587, and the coming of the Spanish Armada, which occurred in 1588.
After this accomplishment, Dee and Kelley broadened their perspective by moving to Cracow and then Prague before returning to England. John Dee became warden of Manchester College in 1595, and that same year, his dear friend Kelley died. In 1605 Jane Dee and several of their eight children died of plague in Manchester. Following this tragic event, John Dee returned to live in London ,and died three years later in 1608.
Giordano Bruno was an Italian philosopher born in 1548. He believed the universe was infinite, that God was everywhere, and God was so broadminded that in the end he would even pardon the demons. Bruno is also one the earliest thinkers to imagine that living creatures might be found elsewhere in the universe. Therefore, Bruno concluded, God must be within the universe and not outside of it. His philosophy was “flaming bodies are the ambassadors who proclaim the glory and majesty of God. Thus we are moved to discover the infinite effect of the infinite cause, the true and living footprint of the infinite vigor, and we have a teaching that tells us not to seek divinity outside ourselves, but within, more deeply in us than we are ourselves.”
Bruno was excommunicated as catholic in Naples, as Calvinist in Geneva, and as a Lutheran in Wittenberg. The Inquisitors had good reason to suspect, then, that Bruno’s idea of seeking God within, “more deeply in us than we are ourselves” might indicate an independent religion that had no need of any prophet but Giordano Bruno. The former employer who had originally denounced him to the Inquisition was a Venetian nobleman named Giovanni Mocenigo. He declared that Bruno had in fact intended to establish a sect called the “Gordanisti” with himself as its head. These intentions soon lead to superstitious and the dislike of Bruno.
When the Roman Inquisition killed the philosopher Giordano Bruno on the morning of February 17, 1600, the capital charge against the victim was obstinate and pertinacious heresy. He was charged for adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma, denial of a revealed truth by a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church, and an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma. As well as dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice, and finally, an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs or standards. That charge, as Bruno’s sentence specifies, hinged on two precise points: first denying the divinity of Jesus, and second, refusing to recant on eight propositions presented by the most of his ten Inquisitors, the Jesuit cardinal and future saint, Roberto Bellarmino. Like so many others of his time, Bruno was put to death merely for his opinions and beliefs.
As far back as historians can find, alchemy was primarily a male dominant practice. That would soon change after Anna Maria Zieglerian was born in the early 1550’s. Zieglerian had a different childhood then most people, she was born premature, and her family was of German nobility. She was later arranged to marry a man named Heinrich Schombach. In 1571 her new husband got a job at the court of Duke Julius of Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel practicing alchemy. She had no official job title at the court, but did have her own office where she began doing experiments with alchemy.
Three years later, in 1573, she presented the Duke a book on how to create the ‘Philosophers stone.’ The ‘Philosophers stone” was a combination of oils and stones that Anna believed could be used to create humans , grow plants, and essentially create any form of life.
In her book she introduced a man named Count Carl von Oettenge. Anna claimed he was the son of Paracelsus who was a well-known medical practitioner in the early 1500’s. She claimed that Paracelsus taught Count Carl von Oettengen everything he knew; therefore he was an expert himself. Confidently, Anna told the Duke she and the Count discovered a way to reproduce using alchemy rather than natural reproduction. Anna continued, making the bold claim that these children would never become ill and never die.
The Duke soon found out that she was lying and would be unable to deliver what she had promised. She and her fellow alchemists were promptly shunned and executed. Her followers were charged with fraud and treason, while Anna was charged with ‘sorcery’ and ‘adultery’. On February 7th, 1574, Anna was put to death at age twenty five. After her skin was ripped apart by scorching tongs, she was burned to death.
Women were more likely to be prosecuted as witches during the craze, but there was no exclusion on men. Men thought women were morally weaker than them, and would fall for temptation because women witches were driven by “carnal lust,” made pact with the devil, and then had sex him and other witches.
Some women saw witchcraft as an alternative to marriage or motherhood, and it gave them control of their environment. For single or widowed women, the only way to prove themselves as adults was to get a profession. Laura Malipiero and Marrietta Battaglia were two sisters in Venice, Italy, who saw witchcraft as a career option rather than their fate or destiny. They chose to be witches, unlike many others, who were thought to have the permanently assumed role of a witch.
Marrietta Battaglia used available, least specialized, magic, often times even stealing or borrowing from others, including her sister. A widow at age thirty eight, she used witchcraft as alternative to marriage but ideally she did want marriage and would have been much better off having some form of stability. Marrietta was a prostitute and sought after for "love magic." In the 18th century European prostitutes were said to make up ten percent of the population. A few years after her first witchcraft trial in 1637, she began to deny men of relations due to a "change of heart." A customer of seven years was so upset he beat her, demanded money, and then broke her nose. A document was found later that she had actually been pregnant during this time, and she lost the baby. Her second trial took place when a man she was going to marry found she was a witch, so he accused her as way of preventing their mother. Her third trial in 1649, also included her mother, Isabella, and sister Laura. Marietta was accused of performing sexual acts with the devil and worshipping him. Instead of being burned, she was supposed to be banned from the city. Unfortunately, she was so poor she had nothing to wear, and did not know how to survive outside of Venice. So, she was sentenced to jail and everlasting banishment as a single woman and witch.
Laura Malipiero, Marrietta’s sister, was significantly more accomplished than her sister. She used an array of witchcraft practices, and moved from least to most advanced, and had a number of specialties. Unlike Marrietta, her work offered a positive alternative to her three negative marriages. Laura had four husbands, two of which charged her with witchcraft, bigamy and polygamy. The other two disappeared, and all of her spouses beat her. Disrespecting and making women feel dependent on men was common; Laura’s daughter Malipiera was so abused by her own husband that her eye was permanently loose in the socket. Laura had four accusations of witchcraft.
Instead of living a spiteful life, Laura focused on her witchcraft, and considered herself a trained healer. She thought of witchcraft has labor studies and something mysterious because she believed women had choices and opportunities. Her practices differed from trial to trial so she could keep her accusers questioning her actions. By her final trial in 1654 she was considered the most famous witch. She later died of natural causes next to her monogamous lover of twenty years.
The use of these sister’s witchcraft and their success was determined by the market and how well they played it. Laura was more successful because she used her career as a post-plague survival and had economic and social sense that was unknown to her sister. Mariretta never performed medical magic because she turned to others, leaving her very vulnerable. The sisters were equal in recognizing witchcraft as a survival strategy, but unequal in their ability to use it to their advantage.
Science vs. Religion and the Bubonic Plague: Parker Cohn, Charlie Giancola, David Gormley, Jake Swift
Towards the end of the bubonic plague the Church had drastically lost its prestige. People’s faith had decreased due to their desperate prayers for good health. But in return they discovered that since only praying will not save yourself or your family and loved ones there must be another way to fight it. They had a number of methods of avoiding the epidemic, like the attire of which the physicians wore or people walking around with flowers over their nose. In the end there is no cure for the bubonic plague and it still exists today. The bacteria is kept under control today due to advances in antibiotics but if the condition goes untreated it is still fatal.
There were benefits of the bubonic plague surprisingly. The poor became wealthier and the wealthy became poorer. This occurred because the nobles were use to having hundreds of poorly paid serfs cultivating their land had a severe labor shortage. Even those still with labor and crops found that there was a severe decrease in the market for their produce. On the other hand the serfs had realized that they were in high demand elsewhere so they fled to other places to learn a new trade and start receiving better wages. After the plague had ended the average families food intake had doubled and for the first time working class people could be seen sporting fur coats.
The Bubonic Plague caused much devastation in the society that it affected. To despite all of this devastation there were many benefits derived from it. Medicine was advanced, the Feudal System collapsed, and there was more food to be eaten. All of these led to a better lifestyle and a higher standard of living in the long run.
The bubonic plague was one of the worst epidemics in human history ultimately claiming 137 million lives. In the 1300s over one third of Europe's population was wiped out. The plague was carried to Europe by fleas riding on rats that hid on trading vessels. In a few short years the disease spread throughout Europe and east into China causing the collapse of the Yuan dynasty. The plague changed the way people saw the church and the way people viewed disease. In the wake of the plague an able-bodied work force was in high demand. Suddenly indentured servants and serfs who once worked for a meager wage were in high demand. This undermined the power of their lords who suddenly were faced with more expensive labor. Many serfs traveled to the cities to learn trades. Wealth was redistributed and for the first time the lower classes were able to buy food and clothes of higher quality. This period marked the birth of the middle class in Europe.
This presentation will explore the changes in methods of healing and the understanding of disease. It will document the fall of the church as the predominant medical authority and the rise of true medical understanding.
As we looked into the religious aspects of the Bubonic Plague, we found that as the numerous “cures” failed, many people began to doubt the authority of the Church. This theory was reinforced as many priests and clergymen began to contract the plague. As more and more members of the Church fell victim to the plague, it became widely believed that the Church was to blame for the outbreak across Europe. Before the plague entered Europe, Jews throughout Europe had already begun to be prosecuted for their beliefs. Many couldn’t own landed estates, be seen during the holy week, or dress as their fellow gentile citizens. In 1290 the king of England expelled the Jews from England and other kingdoms tried to do the same, but never took action. Once the Bubonic Plague struck Europe, the already existing hatred and fear of the Jews was amplified as different groups of people began to believe they spread it. This was mainly because many Jews at this time were merchants, and it was the infected rats on many merchant ships coming from Asia to Europe that initially caused the outbreak. As the plague spread onward, the people of Europe chose two primary scapegoats: the Jews and the upper echelons of the Church. Different groups of people made their own theories on how the plague was spread from these two groups of scapegoats. One of these groups was the Flagellants, originating in central Italy within the late fourteenth century. The Flagellants would wear robes and travel from village to village, offering “cures” to the victims of the plague. To “cure” the participating victims, the Flagellants would congregate in the center of each village and proceed to whip them with scourges, which were wooden sticks that had three to four leather straps at one end with iron spikes at the ends. These rituals would happen numerous times a day for up to three days straight before they moved on to the next village. While their “cures” were ineffective, and in many instances exacerbated the cases of the plague throughout the villages, they were effective in spreading the theory that the Jews were poisoning wells throughout the cities of Europe in an attempt to attack Christendom. Pope Clement VI urged the gentiles of Europe to be tolerant of the Jews, but by that time, the Church had already lost most of their authority to the plague.
Early disease was widely thought to be caused by sin or was a punishment for sin. Many people who would become ill would often blame their illness on their own sin. As a result, the cure for one's own sickness of the body was combined with the cure for the sickness of one's soul. Many religious people were in charge of helping the sick and dying. However, their goal wasn't to help by necessarily offering medicine or treatment as we may think of it, but rather they would offer enlightenment to the religious aspects of health and disease and about what may lie ahead for them in the afterlife.
Often the sick were treated in “hospitals.” Hospitals were often attached to churches and staffed by various clergymen who would preach and sometimes would offer a limited amount of medicine.
“Before all things and above all things, care must be taken of the sick, so that they will be served as if they were Christ in person; for He Himself said, "I was sick, and you visited Me" (Matt 25:36), and, "What you did for one of these least ones, you did for Me" (Matt. 25:40). But let the sick on their part consider that they are being served for the honor of God, and let them not annoy their sisters who are serving them by their unnecessary demands. Yet they should be patiently borne with, because from such as these is gained a more abundant reward. Therefore the Abbess shall take the greatest care that
they suffer no neglect.” (Saint Benedict)
“The cure comes from God” They didn't believe in treating the sick but rather taking care of them. It was God’s will to either heal the sick or to let them die. This stemmed from the belief that everything happens for a reason and it is all gods will. While people did use medicine they were encouraged not to put their full faith into it but instead put their faith into God and the afterlife. This later evolved into the idea that god has put certain things in nature to be used man in order to sustain himself. "Health obtained through medicine is one of these things that has its origin and existence as a consequence of divine Providence as well as human cooperation" (Amundsen 135).
Exotic Philosophy: A Walk Through History By: Derek Edry, Daniel Novick, Kristie Adonizio, Michael Hennessey, and Heather Gorawski.
Throughout history, there has been constant development to our understanding of exotic creatures. Ever since the beginning of man and rational thought, we have been fascinated with these animals and their existence in relation to ours. There are 4 basic periods of natural philosophy—Aristotelian philosophy, supernatural philosophy, preternatural philosophy, and modern science. The best way to understand these perspectives is to organize them in a linear fashion. For their group project, Derek Edry, Daniel Novick, Heather Gorawski, Michael Hennessey, and Kristie Adonizio analyzed each of these philosophies in relation to the naturalistic perspectives throughout history. Let us begin in Ancient Greece, with Aristotelian philosophy.
Before and during the 16th century, there wasn’t a genuine scientific study of creatures. Aristotelian philosophy states that only normally occurring things are worth being studied and further explored, and any anomalies should be ignored and are considered to be nothing more than freak occurrences. While there were supposed sightings, they were ignored for the most part, and the scientists that chose to pursue these findings were generally seen as crazy. While Aristotle’s writings combined the ideas of morality aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics, they were flawed because they didn’t take into consideration anything supernatural. Because the foundation of Aristotle’s ideas were formed around reason, it allowed him to explore the role of senses, the role of abstraction, the laws of logic, and the laws of reasoning, all in a very objective way. In his studies with metaphysics he stressed what was real, in nature, in law, and how only one reality exists, because that is all that graspable by man. In his book, Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume, Leonard Peikoff claims that Aristotle made many errors, and that people weren’t able to branch out to more extensive philosophies until his errors were corrected. “…An inadequate explanation of sense perception and the nature of the mind.”
Supernaturalism is the logical counterpoint to Aristotle’s ideas. The supernatural is anything above or beyond what holds to be natural and exist outside of the observable universe. Science limits its explorations and explanations for phenomena to natural explanations and cannot consider supernatural explanations, as they cannot be investigated empirically. The supernatural concept is generally identified with religion or spirituality though there is debate as to whether a supernatural is necessary for religion, and the other way around. There are also those skeptical of the supernatural philosophy and deny the plausibility of it, typically claiming the events which cannot be studied and verified scientifically are unable to be perceived by any means.
Many supporters of supernatural explanations believe that the past, present and future complexities and mysteries of the universe cannot be explained solely by naturalistic means and argue that it is reasonable to assume that a non-natural entity can resolve the unexplained. This the supernatural as a higher power and scientists and non-believers state that human beings appoint supernatural attributes to purely natural events in an attempt to cope with their own fear, ignorance and the accordance to natural laws in which they do not yet fully understand. So as the predecessor to the supernatural philosophy, the Aristotelian philosophy, had scientists prodding and pushing the scientific knowledge of their time and gathering new information and making new discoveries, the uneducated people of the later years were placing spiritual theories to unexplainable events, creating supernatural stories and creatures such as Demons, ghosts, Bigfoot and even Champ to this day. This goes to show that the belief in magic, the supernatural entities originally stem from ones origins and surrounding daily practices. Acceptance of ghosts and similar impressions during the medieval times were simply the effect of humans following suit of their society’s structures and ways of functioning at a given point in time. Our beliefs and the imaginary are all extremely relevant to our cultures way of thinking; if you were somehow mistaken to believe you are not a conformist, think again.
As we all are well aware of, humans are known to be a bit lazy (well, really just Americans..) but don’t be worried, this isn’t a new discovery. In fact, this dates back to when the idea of magic and supernatural explanations became prominent in society. Both science and magic stem from the human imagination, observation and contemplation; but whereas science requires time and effort, magic simply provides an immediate solution to the unexplainable while being more appealing to the unscientific and perhaps uneducated mind. In this era, people may have been too adamant about finding easy answers, as not much was known to them if they were not privileged enough to receive an education. God was another outlet for those who yearned for answers, the unexplainable was simply met with the retort that God had wanted it so and no further investigation was necessary. Eventually the people began to find actual answers and data to confirm it, and this began the preternatural philosophy where the unexplainable was to finally be explained.
Preternatural Philosophy explained rarities and anomalies in nature. It became a somewhat scientific study in the sixteenth century and eventually dissolved into other forms of thought in the eighteenth century. As we know the naturalist philosophers at the time, following Aristotle's beliefs, only dealt with regularly occurring events in nature. Supernaturalists, dealt with these natural anomalies yet justified them as divine or godlike intervention. For the first time, Preternatural philosophers were using what they knew about nature to try and explain these anomalies.
Pretty much anything that was not naturally explained was subject to preternatural study: earthquakes, the reasoning behind why sheep and wolf were eternal enemies, rains of blood, two headed cats, etc. Monstrous beasts were certainly a hot topic in Preternatural Philosophy. Aristoteleans at the time, although they did not deny these phenomena occurred, did not deem them worthy of study of a philosophy since they were not regularly occurring and ‘demonstrable’.
A problem that developed in the preternatural was that a phenomenon's rarity can more often than not be subject to the type of observation. “What astonished the homebound lay reader might elicit only a yawn from a seasoned traveler or naturalist,” (Daston 44). Basically a rarity for some is not a rarity for all. In England, during the 1600s, a sketch of a giraffe or elephant would be subject to preternatural inquiry whereas to an African or Indian these are common animals, and would not be a rarity at all.
Although Preternatural philosophy did eventually diffuse itself in the eighteenth century, its ideas lived on. We no longer exclude something from scientific study because we can't "see" it or it does not occur all the time. Many studies nowadays deal with rarities not unlike what would be subject to preternatural inquiry. Scientific objects ranging from tsunamis and earthquakes to rare beats such as snow leopards. If the trend of studying only what is regular was not broken, science as we know it would be very different.
Modern science represents the development of technology and science which, beginning in the late 1800’s, revolutionized the World and our perspective of it, as well. While scientists today have studied many of the animals on this planet, down to a genetic level, they estimate that we only truly know one-tenth of the species. We have much to learn. On October 7th, The Huffington Post released an article titled “New Species Discovered: Conservation International Researchers Find Hundreds of Undocumented Creatures In Papa New Guinea” stating that the scientists found over two hundred new species in that area alone. In the eyes of many, preternatural and supernatural creatures still exist.
Nevertheless, supernaturalism has never truly died. Ghost stories dominate our “scientific” television programming (Discovery Channel, History Channel) and inspire people to travel the World in search of haunted locations. The vampire, werewolf pre-teen adventure Twilight dominates the box office, the most recent film (Eclipse) earning over $300,000,000. There are many who still believe in mystical creatures as well.
For example, there are many who believe in the Lake Champlain sea monster, “Champ”. There are also many who are wary of his existence, for good reason and proof. Champ’s first alleged sighting dates back to the year of 1609 by Samuel de Champlain, who also discovered Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain was formed by receding glaciers into a fresh-water 150 mile long lake in the pre-historic period when dinosaurs existed. Many think Champ survived the extinction of pre-historic creatures and spawned. There are over 300 reported sightings of the monster, with several images and one video. There were many legends from the Iroquois and the Abenaki tribes who called the creature “Tatoskok”. Sheriff Nathan Mooney had the first recorded sighting in 1883. Champ is said to be a cryptid looking like a pleisiosaur similar to a fish or an eel. The critics say Champ cannot possibly exist because there would need to be multiple of the creature to reproduce and a steady large food supply for the herd. Cryptozoologists argue against that saying there is a colony inhabiting the lake but are near extinction because of the food supply. Modern scientists have never found any specimen of such creature, and until then Champ remains a mystery and is considered non-existent by them.
As long as their remains an air of mystery to our World, all four philosophies will continue to have a place in our minds. Nevertheless, technology is improving exponentially—concepts which seemed mysterious just decades ago can now be explained through science and logic. The World is frighteningly meticulous, it’s measurements specified down to the last millimeter. Everything on this planet is exact—it’s flora, it’s fauna, even the unexplainable. Only our imaginations are left to keep these mystical creatures alive.
Before and during the 16th century, there wasn’t a genuine scientific study of creatures. Aristotelian philosophy states that only normally occurring things are worth being studied and further explored, and any anomalies should be ignored and are considered to be nothing more than freak occurrences. While there were supposed sightings, they were ignored for the most part, and the scientists that chose to pursue these findings were generally seen as crazy. While Aristotle’s writings combined the ideas of morality aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics, they were flawed because they didn’t take into consideration anything supernatural. Because the foundation of Aristotle’s ideas were formed around reason, it allowed him to explore the role of senses, the role of abstraction, the laws of logic, and the laws of reasoning, all in a very objective way. In his studies with metaphysics he stressed what was real, in nature, in law, and how only one reality exists, because that is all that graspable by man. In his book, Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume, Leonard Peikoff claims that Aristotle made many errors, and that people weren’t able to branch out to more extensive philosophies until his errors were corrected. “…An inadequate explanation of sense perception and the nature of the mind.”
Supernaturalism is the logical counterpoint to Aristotle’s ideas. The supernatural is anything above or beyond what holds to be natural and exist outside of the observable universe. Science limits its explorations and explanations for phenomena to natural explanations and cannot consider supernatural explanations, as they cannot be investigated empirically. The supernatural concept is generally identified with religion or spirituality though there is debate as to whether a supernatural is necessary for religion, and the other way around. There are also those skeptical of the supernatural philosophy and deny the plausibility of it, typically claiming the events which cannot be studied and verified scientifically are unable to be perceived by any means.
Many supporters of supernatural explanations believe that the past, present and future complexities and mysteries of the universe cannot be explained solely by naturalistic means and argue that it is reasonable to assume that a non-natural entity can resolve the unexplained. This the supernatural as a higher power and scientists and non-believers state that human beings appoint supernatural attributes to purely natural events in an attempt to cope with their own fear, ignorance and the accordance to natural laws in which they do not yet fully understand. So as the predecessor to the supernatural philosophy, the Aristotelian philosophy, had scientists prodding and pushing the scientific knowledge of their time and gathering new information and making new discoveries, the uneducated people of the later years were placing spiritual theories to unexplainable events, creating supernatural stories and creatures such as Demons, ghosts, Bigfoot and even Champ to this day. This goes to show that the belief in magic, the supernatural entities originally stem from ones origins and surrounding daily practices. Acceptance of ghosts and similar impressions during the medieval times were simply the effect of humans following suit of their society’s structures and ways of functioning at a given point in time. Our beliefs and the imaginary are all extremely relevant to our cultures way of thinking; if you were somehow mistaken to believe you are not a conformist, think again.
As we all are well aware of, humans are known to be a bit lazy (well, really just Americans..) but don’t be worried, this isn’t a new discovery. In fact, this dates back to when the idea of magic and supernatural explanations became prominent in society. Both science and magic stem from the human imagination, observation and contemplation; but whereas science requires time and effort, magic simply provides an immediate solution to the unexplainable while being more appealing to the unscientific and perhaps uneducated mind. In this era, people may have been too adamant about finding easy answers, as not much was known to them if they were not privileged enough to receive an education. God was another outlet for those who yearned for answers, the unexplainable was simply met with the retort that God had wanted it so and no further investigation was necessary. Eventually the people began to find actual answers and data to confirm it, and this began the preternatural philosophy where the unexplainable was to finally be explained.
Preternatural Philosophy explained rarities and anomalies in nature. It became a somewhat scientific study in the sixteenth century and eventually dissolved into other forms of thought in the eighteenth century. As we know the naturalist philosophers at the time, following Aristotle's beliefs, only dealt with regularly occurring events in nature. Supernaturalists, dealt with these natural anomalies yet justified them as divine or godlike intervention. For the first time, Preternatural philosophers were using what they knew about nature to try and explain these anomalies.
Pretty much anything that was not naturally explained was subject to preternatural study: earthquakes, the reasoning behind why sheep and wolf were eternal enemies, rains of blood, two headed cats, etc. Monstrous beasts were certainly a hot topic in Preternatural Philosophy. Aristoteleans at the time, although they did not deny these phenomena occurred, did not deem them worthy of study of a philosophy since they were not regularly occurring and ‘demonstrable’.
A problem that developed in the preternatural was that a phenomenon's rarity can more often than not be subject to the type of observation. “What astonished the homebound lay reader might elicit only a yawn from a seasoned traveler or naturalist,” (Daston 44). Basically a rarity for some is not a rarity for all. In England, during the 1600s, a sketch of a giraffe or elephant would be subject to preternatural inquiry whereas to an African or Indian these are common animals, and would not be a rarity at all.
Although Preternatural philosophy did eventually diffuse itself in the eighteenth century, its ideas lived on. We no longer exclude something from scientific study because we can't "see" it or it does not occur all the time. Many studies nowadays deal with rarities not unlike what would be subject to preternatural inquiry. Scientific objects ranging from tsunamis and earthquakes to rare beats such as snow leopards. If the trend of studying only what is regular was not broken, science as we know it would be very different.
Modern science represents the development of technology and science which, beginning in the late 1800’s, revolutionized the World and our perspective of it, as well. While scientists today have studied many of the animals on this planet, down to a genetic level, they estimate that we only truly know one-tenth of the species. We have much to learn. On October 7th, The Huffington Post released an article titled “New Species Discovered: Conservation International Researchers Find Hundreds of Undocumented Creatures In Papa New Guinea” stating that the scientists found over two hundred new species in that area alone. In the eyes of many, preternatural and supernatural creatures still exist.
Nevertheless, supernaturalism has never truly died. Ghost stories dominate our “scientific” television programming (Discovery Channel, History Channel) and inspire people to travel the World in search of haunted locations. The vampire, werewolf pre-teen adventure Twilight dominates the box office, the most recent film (Eclipse) earning over $300,000,000. There are many who still believe in mystical creatures as well.
For example, there are many who believe in the Lake Champlain sea monster, “Champ”. There are also many who are wary of his existence, for good reason and proof. Champ’s first alleged sighting dates back to the year of 1609 by Samuel de Champlain, who also discovered Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain was formed by receding glaciers into a fresh-water 150 mile long lake in the pre-historic period when dinosaurs existed. Many think Champ survived the extinction of pre-historic creatures and spawned. There are over 300 reported sightings of the monster, with several images and one video. There were many legends from the Iroquois and the Abenaki tribes who called the creature “Tatoskok”. Sheriff Nathan Mooney had the first recorded sighting in 1883. Champ is said to be a cryptid looking like a pleisiosaur similar to a fish or an eel. The critics say Champ cannot possibly exist because there would need to be multiple of the creature to reproduce and a steady large food supply for the herd. Cryptozoologists argue against that saying there is a colony inhabiting the lake but are near extinction because of the food supply. Modern scientists have never found any specimen of such creature, and until then Champ remains a mystery and is considered non-existent by them.
As long as their remains an air of mystery to our World, all four philosophies will continue to have a place in our minds. Nevertheless, technology is improving exponentially—concepts which seemed mysterious just decades ago can now be explained through science and logic. The World is frighteningly meticulous, it’s measurements specified down to the last millimeter. Everything on this planet is exact—it’s flora, it’s fauna, even the unexplainable. Only our imaginations are left to keep these mystical creatures alive.
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