Part IV. REVIVAL OF PHILOSOPHY

Chap. II. Realistic tendency. Gassendi

(2) Pierre Gassendi, born in 1522 at Champtercier, in Provence, is the founder of the modern atomic theory. The doctrines of Epicurus and Lucretius were revived by this Frenchman, interspersed with a little Christianity to suit the taste of the time and his profession of a Catholic priest. What hindered the progress of the material theories of antiquity was the want of strict scientific observation and experiment. Ingenious and acute as the observations of these ancient writers were, they remained in the region of hypothesis, because they were not founded on exact scientific research.

By the application of the mathematical method of Descartes Gassendi gave a new impetus to the doctrine of Epicurus. Under the transforming influence of Baconian empiricism he believed that Atomism was to become the mould in which all correct ideas of the natural world were to be cast and shaped. Descartes’ idea of a material substance is united by Gassendi with Bacon’s «simple forms.»

Atoms are the primal constituents, the dominant entities of the world. They are the original seeds of all things. They have indeed been created and set in motion by God, but from them, by generation and destruction, everything has been formed and still continues to be. All growth and decay are but the results of the combination and separation of atoms. A feature of Gassendi’s theory is his connection of the atom’s weight with its motion. He regards space and time as distinct from matter, «neither substance nor accident.» When all things are ended, space will extend unbrokenly into infinity. Time was before all creation and will outlast all change. While going back to the ancients, Gassendi was master of the science of his day and incorporated the results of the most recent research in his works. He has anticipated many of the ideas of modern science. It is interesting to observe that, like Newton, he explained the fall of bodies by the earth’s attraction. His principal works are: De Vita Epicuri, written in 1649, and the Syntagma Philosophiae Epicuriae, which contains a complete exposition of the system of Epicurus. The best account of his position in philosophy may be obtained from Lange’s Geschichte des Materialismus, a work of great value to the student of philosophy. The significance of Gassendi lies in the fact that, along with Bacon and Descartes, he revolted against the predominant Scholastic philosophy, and was among the first to employ the methods of Baconian empiricism in his attempt to formulate a systematic view of the world. He may be regarded as a link in the chain connecting Bacon with Hobbes and also with Descartes.