The sixteenth-century physician and philosopher Julius Caesar Scaliger suggests that in particular cases plants can come into being that belong to a plant species that did not exist before. At the same time, he holds that God could not have created a more perfect world. However, does the occurrence of new species not imply that the world was not the best possible world from the beginning? In this article, I explore a set of metaphysical ideas that could provide Scaliger with the means of solving this problem: (1) His version of the notion of a plurality of substantial forms in every living being, and (2) his version of the notion of the ordained divine power. As it turns out, Scaliger analyzes the generation of new species in terms of a development of subordinate substantial forms into dominant substantial forms. Thereby, previously existing essences of plant parts become essences of plants. These plants, thus, possess essences that no previously existing plant possessed and, in this sense, belong to a new species. In this way, Scaliger avoids positing the occurrence of new essences, thus saving the best possible world thesis. Moreover, he believes that all substantial forms stand in a relationship of mutual existential dependence by means of which God safeguards the persistence and unity of the world. This is why the agency of subordinate forms turned dominant can be understood as an expression of the ordained power of God.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Zorzi, Francesco;
Campanini, Saverio;
(2010)
L'armonia del mondo
(/isis/citation/CBB001210711/)
Chapter
Crowther, Kathleen M.;
(2008)
Sacred Philosophy, Secular Theology: The Mosaic Physics of Levinus Lemnius (1505--1568) and Francisco Valles (1524--1592)
(/isis/citation/CBB001031830/)
Chapter
Moritz, Anja;
(2007)
Die Aristotelesrezeption der protestantischen Geistlichen zwischen theologischer und praktischer Ethik
(/isis/citation/CBB001020249/)
Article
Reed Winegar;
(2015)
Kant's Criticisms of Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
(/isis/citation/CBB192170146/)
Book
Emanuele Gambetta;
(2023)
Il Teorema di Dio
(/isis/citation/CBB058518438/)
Article
Fraenkel, Carlos;
(2009)
Ḥasdai Crescas on God as the Place of the World and Spinoza's Notion of God as Res Extensa
(/isis/citation/CBB000930649/)
Article
Blank, Andreas;
(2010)
Julius Caesar Scaliger on Plant Generation and the Question of Species Constancy
(/isis/citation/CBB000933704/)
Thesis
Moritz, Joshua M.;
(2011)
Chosen from among the Animals: The End of Human Uniqueness and the Election of the Image of God
(/isis/citation/CBB001567299/)
Article
Solís, Carlos;
(2007)
Descartes, el atomista veleidoso, o los indivisibles siempre llaman dos veces
(/isis/citation/CBB001024112/)
Article
Jacomien Prins;
(2017)
Girolamo Cardano and Julius Caesar Scaliger in Debate about Nature’s Musical Secrets
(/isis/citation/CBB115077622/)
Book
Alexandrescu, Vlad;
Theis, Robert;
(2010)
Nature et surnaturel: Philosophies de la nature et métaphysique aux XVIe--XVIIIe siècles
(/isis/citation/CBB001023213/)
Article
Blank, Andreas;
(2008)
Julius Caesar Scaliger on Corpuscles and the Vacuum
(/isis/citation/CBB000831777/)
Chapter
Jorink, Eric;
(2011)
Noah's Ark Restored (and Wrecked): Dutch Collectors, Natural History and the Problem of Biblical Exegesis
(/isis/citation/CBB001221245/)
Book
Saverio Ricci;
(2018)
Campanella. Apocalisse e governo universale
(/isis/citation/CBB821635845/)
Article
Emanuela Scribano;
(2021)
I sociniani, Leibniz e Gassendi. Concorso divino e materia eterna
(/isis/citation/CBB624163581/)
Book
Clucas, Stephen;
Forshaw, Peter J.;
Rees, Valery;
(2011)
Laus Platonici Philosophi: Marsilio Ficino and His Influence
(/isis/citation/CBB001210712/)
Article
Guido Giglioni;
(2022)
Saecula saeculorum: durata eterna e metafisica apocalittica in Tommaso Campanella
(/isis/citation/CBB500008488/)
Article
Miguel Vatter;
(2019)
Of Asses and Nymphs: Machiavelli, Platonic Theology and Epicureanism in Florence
(/isis/citation/CBB860387510/)
Chapter
Allen, Michael J. B.;
(2008)
At Variance: Marsilio Ficino, Platonism and Heresy
(/isis/citation/CBB000760508/)
Chapter
Rudolph, Enno;
(2005)
Die Seele innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Natur
(/isis/citation/CBB001020253/)
Be the first to comment!