Re-understanding Giordano Bruno

I. Resume

Giordano bruno was a famous natural philosopher in the Renaissance. He was born in Nora, a small town near Naples, Italy. 1548. The beautiful scenery in this area left an unforgettable impression on Bruno when he was a child. As an adult, he lived in a foreign land for a long time and called himself Nora. His philosophy is called Nora's philosophy.

/kloc-at the age of 0/8, Bruno entered the monastery of St. Dominic, and his education during this period laid the foundation of his scholasticism. He admitted that he had maintained a lifelong respect for Thomas Aquinas. Bruno has amazing memory ability and has a strong interest in mnemonics. He was introduced to the Pope. He teaches at 1572. Because Bruno read heresy books and talked about heresy, the local church wanted to judge him. /kloc-fled to Rome in 0/576, and/kloc-left Italy in 0/578 to start a long-term wandering and exploring career. From about 1579 to 158 1 year, Bruno worked as a philosophy teacher in a university in Toulouse, France. He refused to bring doubts and thoughts into the classroom according to the regulations of the school, which caused great indignation among his colleagues, and even "was hated, abused and insulted everywhere, and even worried about his life." [1]1In the summer of 958, Bruno came to Paris, and King Henry III became interested in the mnemonic method of his public speech and appointed him as a royal theological teacher. 1583 Bruno left France for England due to political changes, and King Henry wrote a letter of introduction to the French ambassador in London, by which Bruno was granted asylum by the ambassador. The London period was the peak of Bruno's creation. In more than two years, he published six books, expressing his thoughts on the universe, God and society at that time. His book aroused public anger, so that he thought that almost all people would attack him, threaten him, arrest him and destroy him. /kloc-In the autumn of 0/585, Bruno returned to France. 1586, he fled to Germany to concentrate on writing and studying Ruhr art and witchcraft (English magic, including witchcraft, magic, alchemy, astrology and many other mysterious and unexplained things). 159 1 returned to Italy and was arrested the following year. After eight years of imprisonment and trial, the Inquisition accused him of eight heretical crimes and handed him over to the secular army. 1600 On February 8th, Bruno was burned alive in Rome's Flower Square.

Second, the ideological background

The Encyclopedia Britannica commented on Bruno's influence: "As a philosopher, Bruno's theory influenced the scientific and philosophical thoughts of17th century. Since18th century, many modern philosophers have absorbed his theory. As a symbol of freedom of thought, he encouraged the free movement in Europe in the19th century and became one of the important figures in the history of western thought and a pioneer of modern culture. " [2] Bruno is widely known as a hero who defends the truth in our country. He is regarded as a "materialist philosopher and an outstanding natural scientist". [3] He made indelible achievements in developing materialism, opposing scholasticism and feudal theological worldview, and publicizing and displaying the achievements of natural science at that time. [4] He was skeptical about all the traditions of Christianity in the Middle Ages and strongly advocated freedom of thought and atheism. [5] People all admire his spirit of sacrifice for truth and science. It was he who bravely defended and developed Copernicus' theory of the sun center and spread it all over Europe. [4]

What truth is Bruno defending? Why did he promote Copernicus' Heliocentrism? What is the ideological basis of his proposition that the universe is infinite? Can he surpass the times and have modern scientific consciousness? On the contrary, his thoughts were formed under the historical background of the Renaissance. He criticized scholasticism and attacked the church, but what he tried to revive was the hermeneutics of ancient Egypt. Yates, a famous scholar who studied Bruno, said: "Bruno was mixed with philosophical thinking of religious mission and was deeply immersed in the source of witchcraft and Hermes in the Renaissance." [5]

Hermes Tremegistus was the god of wisdom in ancient Egypt. According to legend, he wrote books about witchcraft, religion, astrology and alchemy. Hermes religion believes that the world is alive and full of vitality. Through the understanding of a transcendental god, world and people, people are deified and reborn. Mages are the general name of this kind of wizards, who can master how to detect the secrets of nature and control and use them. Hermes and alchemy are the same word in English.

Hermes' works may have been written under the disguise of later generations. The religious background is Egypt, but the philosophy is ancient Greece, which combines the elements of eastern religion with Plato, Stoicism and Neo-Pythagoras philosophy. Ficino (1433 ~ 1499) was a person who contributed to the neo-Platonism in Florence during the Renaissance. He not only translated a lot of Plato's works, but also translated the complete works of Hermes. He believed that Plato and Neo-Platonism absorbed nutrients from Hermes' teaching. Influenced by Hermes, Ficino distinguished natural witchcraft from devil witchcraft and studied astrology carefully.

In the poem "On Unmeasurable and Countless", Bruno wrote: "Egyptians used to have all kinds of fables to make people's minds better understand some mysteries of nature, so that people can better understand those things that cannot be understood by direct feeling with the help of symbols or images. However ... the absurd myth was invented for the people, and there was a barbaric period and a sinful century. " Bruno believes that ancient Egyptian religion was suppressed by inferior Christianity, and Christianity stole the cross from ancient Egyptian religion. He predicted that the turning point was coming, and the witchcraft religion in ancient Egypt would be revived, and Heliocentrism of Copernicus was the harbinger of this revival.

Third, Heliocentrism of Copernicus.

In the history of science, Alistair of ancient Greece first put forward Heliocentrism, but the religion and witchcraft that worship the sun as a god have always been excluded from the history of science. Yates' research on Bruno shows that the worship of the sun by Hermes religion and the astrology of the sun by Ficino have deeply influenced Bruno's attitude towards the Copernican system.

In Hermes' works, the sun is the second god. "The sun illuminates all the stars, not only because of its brilliance, but also because of its sacredness and loftiness. She is the second God, who controls everything and shines on every existence in the world ... "[6] Ficino wrote in the Sun Narrative Poems, imitating the early Hermes style:" Nothing can reveal the nature of God more fully than the sun. First, the most obvious light is clearly visible. Secondly, nothing can extend as briskly, quickly and widely as light. Third, it oozes everything gently and unconsciously like caressing. Fourth, heat is accompanied by light and nourishes everything, so it is the creator and promoter of the universe ... Similarly, God himself is everywhere, and it nourishes everything. It does not rely on strength to create and push everything, but on the love that accompanies it (just like heat). This love for all things makes all things sincerely convert to God ... Perhaps light itself is the sight of the gods of the kingdom of heaven, or their visible behavior from a distance, linking all things with the kingdom of heaven ... "[7] Ficino went on to argue that the sun was the first to be created, so she was placed in the center of the kingdom of heaven.

If the above quotation is only a relic of ancient sun worship, then in the theory of celestial bodies, when talking about the order of planets, Copernicus said: "The center of all this is the sun. Indeed, in this most sacred temple, it can shine on everything in the universe at the same time. Who can put it in another better place? [Egyptian] Hermes called it a visible god, and Gilek Terra of Sophie Chris was an omniscient god. Therefore, it is certain that the sun is on the throne and rules the star family around it. " [7, P 1 10], Copernicus established the Heliocentrism system with mathematics and Pythagorean spirit, and his heart was full of warm feelings for the sun.

Bruno admitted in his book On Unmeasurable and Uncomputable that Copernicus's Theory on the Operation of Celestial Bodies was an "immortal work" and "shocked the hearts of our youth". [1, P33], Bruno enthusiastically eulogized Copernicus. "You are brilliant, brilliant, and you deserve honor and praise." He resolutely publicized and defended Heliocentrism through articles and public debates, and fought tenaciously with theologians and Aristotelian schools at that time. However, as Bruno himself said: "Everything involving structure and definition is seen with his own eyes, not with Copernicus' eyes or Ptolemy's eyes. "[ 1，P68]

What did Bruno see with his own eyes In the book "Dinner on Ash Wednesday", Bruno wrote: "We should thank Copernicus for liberating us from some universally accepted mistakes and prejudices ... although he did not surpass them. Copernicus was not so much a natural student as a student of mathematics. It is impossible for him to go deep into the principle of eliminating the root causes of mistakes and going astray by distinguishing all the difficulties of this method, so that he and others can get rid of empty problems and turn their attention to the eternity and certainty of things. " [6, P236] Bruno was confident that he had an insight into Copernicus's contribution and limitations.

Bruno thought that Copernicus was just a mathematician, and Copernicus did not understand the far-reaching significance of Heliocentrism. In another book, Bruno regards Copernicus' theory as an ancient truth and a true philosophy, which has been buried for a long time in a dark cave of blindness, shameless, jealousy and ignorance and will soon be resurrected. [6, P236] Heliocentrism was put forward in ancient times, and Copernicus also mentioned the ancient predecessors in his works. But the revival of ancient truth predicted by Bruno is neither astronomical nor mathematical, but the truth of witchcraft, Egyptian truth and the truth that the sun in hershey is a visible god. Copernicus, as a pioneer in reviving ancient truth, Bruno thanked him for his preparation. [6, pages 237-238]

The document first published in 1960 is a letter from an audience who heard Bruno's speech that year. According to the letter, Bruno quoted a lot of Ficcino's remarks about solar astrology in his speech at Oxford University in order to publicize and defend the Copernican system. Bruno supported Copernicus from the standpoint of Hermes religion and astrology. Yates believes that Bruno's understanding of Copernicus system surprisingly shows the fuzziness and uncertainty of the boundary between real science and hermeneutics in the Renaissance. Although Copernicus's mathematics was completely unaffected by hermeneutics, Bruno pushed Copernicus's scientific work back to the pre-scientific stage and hermeneutics. He interpreted Copernicus's Heliocentrism system diagram as a mysterious hieroglyphic symbol. [6, P 155] Bruno witnessed the religious and witchcraft significance of Heliocentrism.

Another part inseparable from the heliocentric system is that the earth is not static, it moves around the sun. Bruno believes that Copernicus derived the theory of earth motion from mathematics rather than natural reasoning, and the earth motion has always been despised and ridiculed by people. Bruno supported the theory of earth movement, not for low-level mathematical reasons, but: "The earth movement can be constantly updated and regenerated, because it can't stand being in the same form forever. What cannot be eternal as an individual can be eternal as a species. Matter cannot remain unchanged for a long time ... Matter is not corrupt, and all its parts will pass through all forms. So death and decay are not suitable for this huge sphere, and the complete destruction of this star is impossible for the whole nature. The earth constantly changes all its parts to renew itself. " [6, P242] Bruno is convinced that the universe is unified and the earth is also a substance. Matter will not disappear, but it will change shape. The movement of the earth means that matter is changing its form, so that the earth is constantly renewing and regenerating.

In the complete works of Hermes, there is a conversation between a son and his father: "Father, won't creatures die?" Father said, "... creatures don't die, their bodies rot." This decomposition is not death, but the decomposition of the mixture. After decomposition, they are not destroyed but updated. What is the energy of life in fact? Isn't it sports? Or is there anything fixed in this world? No, my child. ""But the earth is moving? Father! " "... isn't it ridiculous to assume that the earth that raises everything is static? This is what gives life to all things. Without exercise, it is impossible to give life. If a quarter of the world is inanimate, it must be inanimate to the whole world. Everything in this world is moving without exception. [6, P242-243] In the ancient Egyptian world, everything was alive and moving, including the earth. When Bruno argued with Aristotle School of Oxford University, he quoted Hermes' view that the earth moves because it is alive. [5，P540]

Bruno discovered the truth of ancient Egypt from the earthquake theory, in other words, the movement of the earth confirmed the hermeneutics of animism. For Bruno, his understanding of Heliocentrism is based on Hermes' view of nature, which is completely different from Galileo's reasons for supporting Heliocentrism.

Scholastic philosophers believe that if the earth is spinning, clouds should move in the opposite direction. Bruno retorted, "The atmosphere where clouds and wind flow is a part of the earth ..." [1,P75] Clouds are a part of the earth, and when the earth rotates, they should be driven to move together. Another argument in favor of the static earth is that if the earth moves, stones thrown vertically will not fall back vertically. Bruno, for example, said that on a sailing boat, a stone falling from the mast must have fallen to the bottom of the mast along a straight line, because this stone shared the movement of the ship, thus retaining the role of "mvoing virtue" passed to it by the ship. A. Koyre, a famous historian of science, said when analyzing Bruno's example: "Bruno replaced Aristotle's dynamics with the momentum dynamics of Paris nominalists. He seems to think that this kind of dynamics provides a sufficient basis for his theory. History has proved that this belief is wrong. " [8] But Bruno's argument is still reasonable today. Unfortunately, as Ke Lei Hu said, "It didn't have any influence in his time; Tycho and Blah have no influence, even Kepler has no influence. [8，P 154].

Fourth, the infinite universe and countless worlds.

If Bruno only publicized and defended Heliocentrism of Copernicus, he didn't contribute to the development of scientific theory. What people later praised was that Bruno abandoned a closed and limited world and proposed that there were countless worlds in the infinite universe.

The concept of infinite universe has a long history, such as Lucretius in ancient Rome before BC, J. Eckhart, a representative figure of German mysticism in13rd century, Nicola, a theologian in Coussa in15th century, and Patrizi, an Italian natural philosopher in16th century. Eckhart once emphasized from the perspective of pantheism: "God is everything. God is not in any special place, but in any place. He said: "God is a circle, its center is everywhere, and its circumference is everywhere." [9] Nicholas further developed pantheism, thinking that God is infinite, and God's infinity can be expressed through infinite things, so the universe must be infinite. He also theoretically denied that any planet, including the earth, could not be the center of the universe.

Bruno was deeply influenced by Nicholas. He firmly believes that God's creativity is infinite, and only an infinite universe without a center can praise God's Excellence and the greatness of his kingdom. God's glory lies not only in one, but in countless suns; Not just on one earth, but on thousands of earths, I would say, in an infinite world. "[7, P 1 16] The infinite universe can reflect God's infinite creativity. Bruno wrote in "On Infinity, Universe and World": "Countless individual things can better embody infinite perfection than countable limited things. The face of the unknowable God must indeed have an infinite image. In this image, there should be an infinite world, … or such a huge creature, and our earth is one of them. … In order to accommodate these countless things, there must be an infinite space. " [2, P85] Bruno's universe is also an infinite celestial sphere, with its center everywhere and its surroundings everywhere.

Bruno did not put forward the infinite universe and countless worlds from a scientific point of view. Although his infinite universe thought has no sufficient scientific basis, it is a powerful impact and challenge to the natural view of scholasticism, and has played an indelible historical role in breaking through the imprisonment of the medieval church and promoting people's ideological liberation and bold innovation at that time. If confined to the history of science, Quayle thinks that Bruno's worldview is animism and witchcraft. His planet is full of life, just like a huge animal. Because of the sanctity of life, it can move freely in space. Bruno is by no means a man with modern scientific consciousness [6, P244].

Kovali's research also shows that Bruno was the first person to take Lucretius's cosmology seriously. In Bruno's exposition of the infinite universe, he frequently quoted Lucretius's poems about the infinite universe and countless worlds. The difference is that Bruno's world is full of vitality and Lucretius's world is cold. Although Hermes religion does not have the concept of infinite universe, Yates' thought of demonstrating vitality is still influenced by hermeneutics. [6, page 245, page 247. For example, there is a passage in Hermes' works: "If there is space outside the world (although I don't believe it), in my opinion, it must be full of spiritual existence, and this existence is just like the sacredness of space."

Bruno's view of nature is full of pantheism, and he extends the infinity of the world with the infinity of God. He believes that "everything itself has a soul and life." [10] "The world and its limbs are full of life." "The biological bodies in the universe are unified", [1, P88] "Life" or "soul" exists not only in the whole, but also in some parts. Some things are not alive according to perception, but they are still alive according to primitive and some primitive functions. Bruno takes polished gems as an example, which can make people spiritually noble and arouse new sentiments and enthusiasm in body and soul. Bruno also believes in the magical effects of witchcraft performed by those who summon souls to hang the bones of the dead. He said, "This effect does not come from the characteristics of pure matter, but must be related to the symbolic origin of life and soul." [10, P53], "soul", "life" and "spirit" not only permeate matter, but also are the reasons for the movement of matter, and they are beyond matter. "Because spiritual entities cannot be defeated by physical entities, the former sets boundaries for the latter." [10, P53] The soul of the world "fills all things, illuminates the universe, and guides nature to produce all things, according to their types." "Just as our reason can produce all kinds of ideas." [ 10，P44]

Bruno's pantheism was influenced by Hermes, who said, "Don't say that God is invisible … you can see everything he has created through being. This is God's magical power to show himself through all existence. " [6,32] "Look at the levels of the seven celestial bodies and their order, see that everything is full of light, and look at the earth at the center of the whole, which has nurtured all living things on the earth. The whole is full of soul, and all beings are moving. Who created all this? God. " [6, P3 1] Bruno also said: "God pushes everything, and it gives everything that is moving movement." [1, P97], "Let's look for God in the majestic kingdom of omnipotence, in the infinite etheric space, and in the double infinite ability of nature that can create everything and become everything."

Verb (abbreviation of verb) test

Yates believes that Bruno is an interpretive scholar with strong religious consciousness and a believer in Egyptian witchcraft religion [6, P 155]. Bruno's extensive research on natural witchcraft is beyond the scope of this paper, but his strong interest in natural witchcraft comes from the influence of Hermes mysticism and Ficino. He wants to discover the secrets of nature through witchcraft and become a mage to control and use nature.

Bruno claimed that he could be the prophet and leader of the new movement, and the decay and darkness of the church could not continue. The apostles converted pagans to Christianity through preaching and exemplary moral life, but now they have replaced love with violence. He is eager for reform. When the world is at its most corrupt, it means changing into a better "Egypt" country. [6, P340] The victory of King Henry IV of France inspired Bruno, who, like many contemporaries, hoped to bring more freedom in religion. Italian (natural philosopher) Francisco Patrizi believed in Copernicus's theory and preached the infinity of the universe. 159 1 published his new philosophical works and new versions of Hermes' works. As a result, the next year he was invited by the new Pope to teach at a university in Rome. Signs like this may be the reason why Bruno accepted the invitation of Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mochinico. Giovanni Mochinico asked Bruno to be a tutor and taught him mnemonics and witchcraft, but later he reported Bruno to the Inquisition. In the complaint filed by Mochiniko, Bruno once said that he also wanted to be liked by the Pope like Patrizi. [6，P340]

As a result of the Venice trial, Bruno completely gave up the heresy charges against him. According to the law, he was sent to the Roman Inquisition for further trial, but Bruno insisted that he had never written or said any heretical views, and the Inquisition misinterpreted his views. [6, P347], was finally convicted as a heretic, without any regrets, and sent to the secular army for punishment.

Some scholars have pointed out that Bruno prepared for action in the last few years of freedom. Around 1590, Bruno told Giotto, a bookseller, that he had always insisted on writing, dreaming and astrology. He knows new things better than the apostles. If he wants to do this, he will realize that there is only one religion in the world. [6, P340] In Bruno's trial materials, including infinite universe, earth movement, countless worlds, pantheism and other philosophical views. Yates quoted the research of historian A. Mercati, pointing out that the main concern of interrogation is theological issues, such as opposing the Pope, monks, idolatry, his contact with pagans, the heretical countries he has been to, and so on. The eight heresy charges in the final judgment will never be found. Gaspar hops, who witnessed Bruno's death, may have heard the verdict and mentioned Bruno's countless worlds in his letter. Witchcraft is a beautiful and legal thing, and the sacred spirit is the soul of the world. Yates speculated that Bruno may have been burned to death mainly as a wizard, and he may have spread the mysterious witchcraft religion to the whole of Europe. [5, P542] If there is any philosophical or cosmological point of view in the verdict, it is also inseparable from Hermes religion.

Yates said: "In the late19th century and early 20th century, Bruno was one of the most widely known people and the most talked about Renaissance philosopher. His thoughts are divorced from the historical background and described by the dominant philosophical history. " China's history of science is also deeply influenced. Bruno's commitment to scientific truth is widely known in China, but Yates' research results have not been introduced for more than 30 years. The understanding of Bruno still stays in the Whig Party's interpretation of history. By directly quoting modern science, Bruno was simply divided into natural scientists, who died for science. Historian butterfield once pointed out: "Don't let the past belong to today, but … try to look at life with the eyes of another era different from ours." Pegel, a medical historian, said: "The thoughts of his heroes should be recounted in the original background. The expression of these two sets of scientific and non-scientific ideas will not be expressed by simple juxtaposition or irrelevant expressions, but as an organic whole, in which they support each other and confirm each other. " [1 1, P38], Bruno can only be understood by putting him back in his time and ideological background. It is also the truth of Bruno and the truth of history. But this does not mean denying his influence. Bruno's heroic dedication to upholding his beliefs will remain in people's hearts forever.

Re-understanding Bruno also enables us to truly understand ourselves. As butterfield said, we are "only part of a great historical process. We are not only pioneers, but also travelers.

It is too long. Khan ing