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Article ID: CBB848009397

By Analogy to the Element of the Stars: The Divine in Jean Fernel's and William Harvey's Theories of Generation (2019)

Wang, Xiaona (Author)

Intellectual History Review
Volume: 29
Issue: 3
Pages: 371-387

DOI: 10.1080/17496977.2019.1640998

URI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17496977.2019.1640998

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Naturalism (philosophy) Occult sciences Natural philosophy Science and religion Biogenesis; origin of life; spontaneous generation 17th century 16th century Aristotle Harvey, William Fernel, Jean François

In trying to develop their respective theories of generation, Jean Fernel and William Harvey both drew repeatedly on Aristotle's suggestion that something “analogous to the element of the stars” was involved. The analogy with the stars suggested something celestial or divine, and both thinkers subscribed to the dominant assumption that God is the primary cause of generation, but, as natural philosophers, they were expected to develop theories based on secondary causes. Fernel simply defined “divine” as “hidden” or “occult”, and developed a sophisticated occult explanation of how generation takes place. Harvey, by contrast, rejected occult explanations, and, although offering tentative alternatives, ultimately failed to discover any convincing naturalistic account. It is the contention of this paper that Harvey resorted, therefore, to the direct intervention of God in the process of generation.

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