Title
The Natural Philosopher and the Virtues
Date of this Version
January 2006
Document Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
Natural philosophers, engaged as they were in a branch of philosophy, were expected to conform to the traditional models of the philosophical persona, in which the moral characteristics of the individual were the pledge of the truth of what they knew. That said, the beginnings of a shift of focus from persons to methods was already in train in the seventeenth century. In this chapter I shall suggest that this development owed much to Renaissance and Reformation criticisms of the traditional ideal of the contemplative life and the Aristotelian notions of virtue.
This document has been peer reviewed.
Publication Details
Harrison, Peter (2006) The Natural Philosopher and the Virtues is a chapter in The Philosopher in Early Modern Europe: The Nature of a Contested Identity, Condren, Conal, Gaukroger, Stephen and Hunter, Ian (eds), Cambridge University Press, New York, 2006, Chapter 9, pp. 202-229.
To obtain a copy of this publication contact Cambridge University Press
2006 HERDC submission