Nature and Its Finality in the Discussion About the Vacuum from the 13th to the 17th Centuries.
Abstract
Departing from Pierre Duhem’s study, the article shows that an important number of Medieval, Renaissance and Early Modern authors have postulated the same teleological principle in supporting the deny of the existence of the vacuum. That principle holds that the particular and specific nature have to be subdued to the common and universal nature in order to conserve the good of nature. As a result, although it is observed a conceptual continuity which assumes a teleological structure, variations arise, when the attention is drawing to the context and the time.Downloads
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