The Early Modern Origins of Natural and Political Science: Machiavelli,Bacon, and Descartes

Putting these seminal thinkers into dialogue, this book explores how modern natural science was shaped by Machiavelliâs political theory. In particular, it uncovers the ways in which Bacon and Descartes assimilated Machiavelliâs political philosophy, and his rejection of ancient Greek and Christian idealism, into a new concept of nature. Developed in numerous treatises, including Baconâs Idola Mentis and Descartesâ Discourse on Method, this new concept of nature fundamentally reoriented the practice of science and brought new ways to conceive the relationship between science and civil society.

Beyond a historical survey, Quinn argues that a return to and questioning of early modern thought is crucial in light of todayâs societal crises. From the rise of totalitarianism to climate change, progress in the last century has failed on modernityâs promise to redeem the human condition. Boldly arguing against the common idea that the roots of todayâs problems lie in the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, this volume proposes instead that they lie in the origins of natural and political science as put forward by Bacon, Descartes, and at one remove, Machiavelli.