28–30 Sept 2023
Rome
Europe/Rome timezone

Role and meaning of the 'methodos' in the foundation of Copernican Heliocentrism

28 Sept 2023, 11:45
30m
Istituto Polacco di Roma, Palazzo Blumensthil (Rome)

Istituto Polacco di Roma, Palazzo Blumensthil

Rome

Via Vittoria Colonna, 1 00193 Roma

Speaker

Anna De Pace (Università di Milano)

Description

This paper dwells on the methodos that Copernicus presents in the Dedication to Paul III as the demonstrative path leading man to comprehend the true foundations of the universe, the Earth’s motions. These not only accurately account for celestial phenomena without departing from the first principle of the uniformity of circular motions, but reveal the divine creator’s imprint on the revolutions of the machina mundi. A description of the various phases in which Copernicus articulates his argument in Book I suggests that the procedures leading to successive outcomes, and which have struck scholars as unusual, form a consistent whole when viewed in light of Plato’s hypothetical method. Described in the Phaedo and Republic, this method had already captured Giorgio Valla’s attention as a useful way of attaining the “perfect” astronomy.

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