Abstract
Published in 1652 as the first part of a larger work whose subsequent volumes were never to see the light, M. Schoock’s De scepticismo is part of the furious polemic prompted by the first attempts to spread Descartes’ philosophy in Dutch universities. This was not Schoock’s only sally: as is known, he is also the author of Admiranda methodus, the first large-scale attack on the French philosopher, which triggered what has become known as the ‘Utrecht controversy’. Descartes’ reaction was violent and brought about two trials, one in Utrecht and the other in Groningen;1 Schoock’s testimony concerning his role in the affair is to some extent divergent, but it does agree on one fundamental fact: Admiranda methodus was inspired by Gijsbert Voetius, whose students adapted it during its publication, Schoock not following the process directly as he was professor at Groningen. It is therefore relevant to examine Voetius’ position with regard to scepticism in general and to Cartesian scepticism in particular, in order to better understand its affinities and differences with Schoock’s opinions.
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References
Cf. Descartes, René, Schoock, Marten, La querelle d’Utrecht, ed. by T. Verbeek. Paris: Les impressions nouvelles, 1988; Verbeek, Theo, Descartes and the Dutch. Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637–50. Carbondale-Edwardsville: Southern Illinois Press, 1992.
Voetius, Gijsbert, Selectarum disputationum pars prima. Ultrajecti: apud Johannem a Waesberge, 1648, 125–27; but see also 131, 177–78. On these themes see Verbeek, Theo, “From learned ignorance’ to scepticism. Descartes and Calvinist Orthodoxy”, in Popkin, R.H. and Vanderjagt, A., eds., Scepticism and Irreligion in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. New York, Köln, Leiden: Brill. 1993. 31–45 (31–34).
Voetius, Selectarum disputationum pars prima, cit.; in the third volume Voetius was to stigmatize Bellarmino’s affirmation whereby faith is closer to ignorance than to knowledge as ‘vox sane bovis, non hominis’. See also Voetius, G., Selectarum disputationum pars tertia. Ultrajecti: apud Johannem a Waesber2e. 1659. 642.
Voetius, Selectarum disputationum pars tertia… cit., 637, 644, 669, 672, 681–90.
Ibid., 740, 746, 830 e 834–69 (the appendix is on pp. 847–69).
Ibid., 836, 845–46, 851–52, 867.
Ibid., 839–41, 844.
Ibid., 853–57, 860, 864, 868.
Ibid., 859, 864–65, 867. 869.
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Ibid., 82–84, 132–44, 162–69.
Ibid., 126–31, 152–58.
Ibid., 136–51 e 276–283.
Ibid., 107–12.
Ibid., 187–245.
Ibid., 119 and 259–260.
Ibid., 425, and Schoock, M., Phvsica generalis. Groningae: Typis Johannis Colleni, 1660, 18.
Schoock, Physica gcneralis, cit., 144.
Ibid., 13, where, among others. Danaeus and Comenius are criticized
Schoock, De sceppticiSmmmo, Cit., 399 and Id Physica cit., 16–18
Schoock, De scepticismo, cit., 427–430.
Ibid, 433–39.
Ibid., 71, 120, 430–31. See also Id., Phvszca generalis, cit., 3 and 5.
Schoock, De scepticismo, cit., 385–87.
Ibid, 382–85.
Ibid., 387–90.
Ibid., 388–89, 391 and 397–98.
Ibid., 363–68, 390–98.
Ibid., 391, 394; but see also Id., Physica caelestis. Amstelodami: apud Petrum van den Berge, 1663, 107–08 and 119–20, in which Schoock bases himself on the preface by Osiander to De revolutionibus (which however he attributes to Rheticus) and on some cautious affirmations by Galilei to show that even the fathers of the new astronomy do not dogmatically affirm the truth of their hypotheses: the reader must conclude that only some fanatics, like Kepler, Descartes and their followers insist on helie.,ing
For an overview of the strategies adopted by the Company of Jesus wigth regard to scientific results that were difficult to integrate into an Aristotelian framework see Baldini, Ugo, ‘Legem impone subactis’. Studi su filosofiaa e scienza dei Gesuiti in Italia, 1540–1632. Roma: Bulzoni, 1992, 19–73.
A detailed analysis of the Italian discussion on the subject is provided by Anna De Pace, Le matematiche e il mondo. Ricerche su un dibattito in Italia nella seconda metà del Cinquecento. Milano: Franco Angeli, 1993, to which I refer readers for further bibliographical references.
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del Prete, A. (2003). Against Descartes: Marten Schoock’s de Scepticismo . In: Paganini, G. (eds) The Return of Scepticism. Archives Internationales D’Histoire des Idées / International Archives of the History of Ideas, vol 184. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0131-0_6
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