THE MAN AND THE SCIENCE THE CIVIL WAR

The Renaissance (XIV-XV centuries) is characterized by: -T-The rebirth of classical (Greek and Latin) literature -A-An anthropocentric vision in opposition with a theocentric vision: the man is at the centre of interests - A new conception of the science considered as a sperimental and mathematic knowledge that researches the domination of nature in advantage for the men

(Canterbury London 1593) In his short turbolent life he worked as a secret agent for the Queen and after as an actor and a poet. His life was out of the patterns: he was repeatedly accused of atheism and immorality and he died in unclear circumstances (he was stubbed in the eye in a tavern).

He wrote mostly tragedies: - Tamburlaine (1587) - The Jew of Malta (1589) - Doctor Faustus (1592) But also a historical play: - Edward II (1593) The characters of his plays were restless and adventurous, some with a thirst for power and glory, some with an excessive love of gold, all ruled by self- distructive passions.

it shows the fight over man’s soul by the forces of goodness and the forces of evil. Faustus, the protagonist, is typically modern for his aspiration to infinite knowledge and a total control over nature. His most famous play is Doctor Faustus:

DOCTOR FAUSTUS He is a great scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for absolute knowledge and power. This lasts for twenty-four years, during which he is allowed to perform the impossible and to get everything he wants. At the end of his contract and of his life Faustus ends up eaten by remorse and despair, and falls down into Hell with the damned.

(London ) from particular facts formed general truths). Personal experience, sense experience, was more important in the establishing of truth than traditionally accepted ideas. Like the new science, phylosophy rejected the old deductive method too (proceeding from general ideas to particular facts), in favour of the inductive method (which

His great works are: -The Advancement of Learning (1605) -Novum Organum (1620) that was written in latin to be understood by philosophers and scientists all over Europe.

Bacon is the best example of the combination of a scientist and a philosopher in the same person. He is the founder of the inductive method of research and of modern science. Knowledge can be acquired by experience and experiment.

(Westport Londra 1679) The rational outlook was at the centre of his phylosophy. He was a decided materialist, in fact one of his often quoted statements is: “The universal is corporeal; all that is real is material, and what is not material is not real.”

Hobbes’ great work, Leviathan (1651), takes its title from the biblical sea-monster which symbolizes the huge and all-powerful organism of a strong government that alone can control man’s naturally violent nature.

¤ The soul and its operations had all material causes and man’s sentiments were due to external factors (MATERIALISM) ¤ Cynical view of human nature and society ¤ The state of nature only meant war and destruction ¤ The society was run by two overwhelming motivations: -fear of death, other people, social habits -desire for power ¤ He thinks that ‘man is a wolf to man’.

Puritanism was a religion inspired by the calvinism of the Dutch, it was a reform movement within the church of England. This movement emerged in the 16th century. Puritans modelled their reforms on calvinist tradition and on the Bible, which they considered the only authority in matters of faith, and they maintained that salvation came only through God’s grace. When the Civil War broke out, the Puritans sided with Parliament against the Monarchy.

PREDESTINATION=According to this doctrine, all men were born sinners and therefore bound to damnation. Only God’s grace could save man, requiring of him not individual good acts, but a holy life of hard work and discipline. In fact Puritans considered material success a sign of God’s grace, and as consequence of their beliefs, they began to declare war on sin, regarding any form of amusement as wicked or simply a waste of time. This is linked to the theory of predestination that provided a framework for life.

Open war broke out in 1642: the royalists supported the crown and the Anglican church; the parliamentarists stood for supremacy of parliament and for a puritan reformation of the Church of England. ( )

Victory went to the side whose army was better organized and which could also rely on a excellent commander: Oliver Cromwell. Defeated in battle, Charles I was tried for treason by a Puritan jury and beheaded in 1649.

Cromwell’s commonwealth ( ) From 1649 to 1658 England was a parliamentary republic, called the Commonwealth, under the rule of the House of Commons. After 1653, even that one- house parliament was dissolved and the country was under Cromwell’s direct rule. Officially he was given the title of Lord Protector.

Cromwell’s victorious military campaigns against Scotland, Ireland and naval campaign against Holland pleased the nation, but the same could not be said of certain restrictions on everyday life he introduced. In particular, the closing of the theatres in 1642, for their supposed immorality, was resented by people that clearly enjoyed and were proud of their great drama.

(London ) John Milton lived during the Commonwealth. He was born of a well-to-do protestant family. In 1632 took his Master of Arts degree. During the Civil War he became activelly involved in the puritan cause. In 1649 he was appointed Latin Secretary of Cromwell’s Council of state. Milton’s activity in those years was frenetic, and his prose output is astonishing.

Some of Milton’s writings had a direct relation to his own life: The Doctrin and Discipline of Divorce (1643) Areopagitica (1644) Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio (1649) Only after the Commonwealth Milton could finally write the great epic poem he had always had in mind: Paradise Lost (1667).

This Power Point Presentation is the joint work of Giulia Gatta and Riccardo Zanetti, two students in class 4BS Liceo Scientifico at Istituto “Giovanni Falcone” (Asola, MN), school year , under the supervision of their English teacher, Mrs Giancarla Somenzi, and History teacher, Mrs Emanuela Scaglioni. © All rights reserved – Use without written permission is allowed for didactic purposes only and under the condition that users refer to our website including the following URL to help readers find the specific page for more information: