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Early Modern Medicine and Natural Philosophy pp 255–269Cite as

Mysteries of Living Corpuscles: Atomism and the Origin of Life in Sennert, Gassendi and Kircher

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Part of the book series: History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences ((HPTL,volume 14))

Abstract

This paper aims to spotlight some important, but neglected, aspects of early modern interactions between matter theories and the life sciences. It will trace the ways in which atomistic or corpuscular modes of reasoning were adopted to explain the origin of life. To that end this paper will examine three seventeenth-century natural philosophers: Daniel Sennert (1572–1637), Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) and Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680). Through the analysis of their discussions on the minute constitutive parts of living beings (plants, animals and human beings) as living corpuscles, it will inquire into the exchange of ideas among those who advocated “non-mechanist” or “vitalistic” types of corpuscular philosophy (Here I am using the term “vitalistic” broadly construed as the currents that emphasized the role of the life principle or vital principle). This paper’s ultimate goal is to shed light on the role of bio-medical ideas in seventeenth-century natural philosophy.

I would like to thank Peter Distelzweig, Benjamin Goldberg, Evan Ragland and James Lennox for the organization of the Pittsburgh conference and the preparation of its consequent volume.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On the history of atomism, see among others Lasswitz 1890/1926; Hooykaas 1983[orig. 1933]; van Melsen 1952; Emerton 1984; Clericuzio 2000; Lüthy et al. 2001.

  2. 2.

    See especially Newman 2006, 85–153; Michael 1997, 2001; Stolberg 2003; Blank 2010a, 167–205. This section is partially based on Hirai 2011, 151–172. For Sennert’s influence on Leibniz, see Arthur 2006.

  3. 3.

    I have used the text of Sennert 1650, 132–242.

  4. 4.

    Sennert 1650, 5.2, 214–215.

  5. 5.

    Sennert 1650, 5.2, 216. “Verum praeter hos duos modos datur adhuc tertius, et potest adhuc alio modo anima esse in materia aliqua, ita ut neque eam informet, et vivificet, neque etiam operationes viventis illius proprias edat. Ita in aqua et terra semina plantarum et animalium, et in iis anima inesse possunt, ut tamen neque aquam, neque terram informent et vivificent.”

  6. 6.

    Aristotle 1984, 3.11, 762a18–21. On Aristotle’s notion of pneuma, see Solmsen 1957, 119–123; Freudenthal 1995.

  7. 7.

    Sennert 1650, 5.2, 216. For Sennert this is the real meaning of Aristotle’s words. For other interpretations in the Renaissance, see Hirai 2005, 143, 147; Hirai 2011, 42, 95, 112, 124, 148.

  8. 8.

    I have adopted the term “chymistry” to avoid any arbitrary distinction between chemistry and alchemy which did not exist in Sennert’s time. See Newman and Principe 1998.

  9. 9.

    Sennert 1650, 5.2, 216.

  10. 10.

    On Gassendi’s idea, see Sect. 11.3 below.

  11. 11.

    On Liceti, see Ongaro 2005; Marangio 1973; Blank 2010b; Hirai 2011, 123–150. I have used the following edition: Liceti 1618.

  12. 12.

    Liceti 1618, 3.10, 203. Liceti’s main argument (1618, 3.13, 206–207) is reproduced in Hirai 2011, Appendix 4, 191–193.

  13. 13.

    Sennert 1650, 5.7, 226. “Non enim externa figura et certo modo facta formatio, semen constituit primario, sed anima in eo latens, cum spiritu illo insito, qui elemento stellarum respondere dicitur, et foecunda facit semina: quae quia cum illo suo subiecto in minimis etiam corpusculis esse possunt, nulla causa est, cur non et illa semina suo modo, aut seminale principium dici possint. Et licet anima, quae in talibus corpusculis latet, terram vel aquam, in qua continetur, non informet, sed in iis ut in vase lateat: tamen corpuscula illa, in quibus ut proprio subiecto est, informat, et in iis actu primo est, ad actum vero secundum accedit idoneum locum nacta.” Cf. Michael 1997, 351; Stolberg 2003, 181.

  14. 14.

    Aristotle 1984, 2.3, 736b33–737a7. On its Renaissance interpretations, see Hirai 2011, 25–30, 69–72, 92–94, 111–112; Hirai 2012, 2014.

  15. 15.

    See Clericuzio 1990, 583–587; Anstey 2002, 597–630; Hirai and Yoshimoto 2005. For Sennert’s notion, see also Clericuzio 2000, 24–25.

  16. 16.

    On Severinus , see Shackelford 2004; Hirai 2005, 217–265 (and 401–403 on Sennert’s debt to Severinus).

  17. 17.

    I have used the following edition: Sennert 1633, here 1.9, 88.

  18. 18.

    On Gassendi, see among others Bloch 1971; Osler 1994; Murr 1997; Fisher 2005; LoLordo 2006; Taussig 2009. The present section is based on Hirai 2003 and 2005, 463–491. I have used the text of Gassendi 1658. His Syntagma philosophicum is found in its first and second volumes (hereafter SP I and SP II, followed by the page number with column a or b).

  19. 19.

    Gassendi 1658, SP II, 172b. “Ne putes certe tritici granum, cum asservatur in horreo esse orbatum tali substantia, sive anima, atque vita (vim seminalem potius vocant, sed perinde est) ea quippe duntaxat consopita manet, donec deest, humor, calorque exterior […].”

  20. 20.

    See Rosenfield 1941, 111–120; Canguilhem 1955, 79–88; Spink 1960, 85–102; Roger 1963, 135–140; Bloch 1971, 229–230, 268, 364–366; Murr 1991; Osler 1994, 64–67.

  21. 21.

    Gassendi 1658, SP II, 267a. “[…] fatendumque est nihil esse actum, quod germanam notitiam creet internae illius, occultaeque œconomiae, quod obiiciat mentis obtutui artificem illum, sive quasi fabrum scite organulis adeo exquisitis utentem ad elaborandum materiam in opificium adeo concinnum […]. Quare superest, ut mirati opera inimitabilia, captumque omnem superantia hymnum canamus divino illi, ac incomparabili Architecto, qui intra rerum semina creavit, constituitque hosce quasi fabros tanta providentia, industria, atque facultate instructos.”

  22. 22.

    On French Paracelsian Joseph Du Chesne (1546–1609), alias Quercetanus, see Hirai 2010.

  23. 23.

    Gassendi 1658, SP II, 558b–559a. “Unus praeclare rem agnovit memoratus iam Severinus , et qui illum sunt, ut Quercetanus, aliique sequuti, cum praeter quatuor elementa, et tria principia, innumera posuit invisibilia semina, quae dici etiam principia, elementaque valeant, quorumque haec crassiora sint solum quasi vestimenta, matrices receptacula; idque ut ipsis omnem non modo vigorem, actionemque acceptam ferat, sed etiam artem, et scientiam, qua contenti in ipsis mechanici spiritus polleant ad efformandum, ut mineralium, sic vegetabilium, animaliumque corpora, ipsorumque parteis, ut puta elaboratores isti […]. Et dicat Severinus, ut volet, esse haec principia mechanicos spiritus scientia, et vigore agendi pollenteis; cum id dixerit, semel dixerit quicquid dicturus unquam est. Neque enim unquam praeterea universe manifestabit, quemadmodum cuiquam spiritui, rei tam tenui, rei tam inuisae, tamque intactili insidere possit idea, ac scientia elaborandi operis; consideratio finis, ad quem comparare illud debeat; perspectio materiae, conditionumque necessariarum, ob quas idonea efficitur; dignotio rationis, seu modi, quo eam subigere, versare, reversare, concernere, deligere, fingere, perficere, oporteat: quomodo item possit insidere vigor, ac energia tum usurpandi instrumenta congrua, tum exsequendi omnia, quae talis scientia praescripserit.”

  24. 24.

    On Redi, see especially Findlen 1993; Bernardi and Guerrini 1999; Hirai 2003, 220–221; Duris 2010, 1–25. I have used the text of Redi 1996.

  25. 25.

    Redi 1996, 78. “Egli c’è ancora un’altra maniera di savie genti, le quali tennero e tengono per vero che tal generazione derivi da certi minimi gruppetti ed aggregamenti di atomi, i quali aggregamenti sieno i semi di tutte quante le cose, e di essi semi le cose tutte sien piene. E che ne sieno piene lo confessano ancora molti altri dicendo che sì fatte semenze nel principio del mondo furono create da Dio, e da lui per tutto disseminate e sparse, per render gli elementi fecondi, non già d’una fecondità momentanea e mancante, ma bensì durevole al pari degli elementi stessi; ed in questa maniera dicono potersi intendere quello che ne’ Sacri Libri si legge, avere Iddio create tutte le cose insieme.” Cf. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), 18.1.

  26. 26.

    Redi 1996, 78–79. Cf. Harvey 1650, exercitatio 57. On Harvey, see Roger 1963, 112–121; Pagel 1967; Foote 1969; Duchesneau 1997, 29–42.

  27. 27.

    Redi 1996, 138.

  28. 28.

    On the preexistence of germs, see Roger 1963, 325–384; Bowler 1971, 221–244; Duchesneau 1997, 229–237. On the influence of Gassendi’s biology, where the concept of seeds as “living atoms” or “living molecules” played an important role, see Rey 1997.

  29. 29.

    On Kircher, see among others Kangro 1973; Leinkauf 1993; Findlen 2004; Fletcher 2012.

  30. 30.

    See Hunter and Davis 1999–2000 13, 273–288. For Redi, see Redi 1996, passim.

  31. 31.

    See Singer 1913, 9–11; Belloni 1985; Wilson 1995, 155–159.

  32. 32.

    I have used the text of Kircher 1664–1665. See also Strasser 1996; Hirai 2007a.

  33. 33.

    Kircher 1664–1665, 12.1.6, 336–337.

  34. 34.

    On the quest for a material spirit of life in chymical philosophy, see Debus 1984; Clericuzio 1994. On Kircher and chymical philosophy, see Baldwin 1990 and Baldwin 1993.

  35. 35.

    Kircher 1664–1665, 12.1.6, 337.

  36. 36.

    Kircher 1664–1665, 12.1.6, 337. “Quare materia proxima sponte nascentium generationis est semen illud nostrum, in quo spiritus latet, veluti anima quaedam a vivente decisa (uti Fortunius Licetus scite docet) et in cadavere remanens, non ut forma, sed veluti corpuscula spirituosa istius uiuentis, in quibus anima consistit, veluti in vase post mortem viventis relicta.”

  37. 37.

    On the doctrine of the seminal reason -principle in the Renaissance, see Hirai 2002; Hirai 2005, passim.

  38. 38.

    On spontaneous generation , see among others von Lippmann 1933; Mendelsohn 1976, 37–65; Farley 1974; Van Der Lugt 2004.

  39. 39.

    See Hirai 2007b.

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  1. Center for the History of Philosophy and Science, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands

    Hiro Hirai

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  1. Department of Philosophy, University of St. Thomas Department of Philosophy, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

    Peter Distelzweig

  2. Department of Humanities and Cultural, University of South Florida Department of Humanities and Cultural, Tampa, Florida, USA

    Benjamin Goldberg

  3. Department of History, University of Notre Dame Department of History, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

    Evan R. Ragland

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Hirai, H. (2016). Mysteries of Living Corpuscles: Atomism and the Origin of Life in Sennert, Gassendi and Kircher. In: Distelzweig, P., Goldberg, B., Ragland, E. (eds) Early Modern Medicine and Natural Philosophy. History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7353-9_11

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