Animism in Early Modern Astronomy: Johannes Kepler's Vitalistic View of the Heavens

本项目将研究生机论（生命力）原理在开普勒天文学中的作用。虽然天体物理学常被认为是光中机械世界观的先驱，但在他的《新天文学》（1609）中提出的天体物理学只提供了他的天文原因系统的有限观点。相比之下，开普勒对1604年超新星的研究《论新星》（1606）将彗星和“新星”的起源比作动物体内发生的周期性衰变和更新过程的产物。开普勒将解剖学知识应用于天体的空灵体，这表明他对天体物理学有了更广泛的理解，从而更好地理解了整个宇宙的动态过程。在《新天文学》的大部分内容已经完成之后，《论新星》是开普勒关于行星力的开创性概念的对应物，而不是“不那么现代”的资格认证。这个项目将为开普勒的两个文本之间的关系提供新的线索，阐明他在天文学中的代理思想与其他感兴趣的领域，特别是占星术和音乐之间不可分割的联系。通过将开普勒的思想与他同时代的知识分子的思想进行比较，该项目还将加深和多样化我们对早期现代物理学的理解，更普遍地，挑战我们在数学、医学和自然哲学领域弥合能性和原因观念之间的差距。潜在的更广泛的影响这项研究的结果最终将导致两个主要产品：(1)在开普勒的职业生涯中对他的生命论观点的专著研究；(2)开普勒的《论新星》的第一个英文翻译，包括介绍和注释。在这些努力中，PI将致力于打破活力论和机械论原则的现代二分法，并在早期现代科学的背景下恢复它们密切而复杂的联系。这将在很大程度上建立在对17世纪解剖学和医学的最新研究的基础上，并吸引人们注意它们与开普勒天文学和其他“不那么现代”的兴趣领域的相关性。虽然这项专著研究将吸引各种各样的历史学家和科学哲学家，但开普勒的《论新星》的翻译将吸引更广泛的学者、学生和科学爱好者。

IntroductionThis project will examine the role of vitalistic (life-force) principles in Kepler's astronomy. Though often considered an early forerunner of the mechanical world view in light the celestial physics presented in his New Astronomy (1609), which offers only a limited view of his system of astronomical causes. By contrast, his study of the supernova of 1604, On the New Star (1606), Kepler compares the origins of comets and 'new stars' to the products of a cyclical process of decay and renewal occurring in the body of an animal. Kepler's application of anatomical knowledge to the ethereal body of the heavens suggests a broader understanding of his celestial physics, one that makes better sense of the dynamic course of the cosmos as a whole. Begun after the bulk of the New Astronomy was already complete, On the New Star was a counterpart, rather than a 'less modern' qualification, of Kepler's pioneering conception of planetary forces.Intellectual MeritThis project will shed new light on the relation of Kepler's two texts, elucidating the inseparable links between his ideas of agency in astronomy and other areas of interest, especially astrology and music. By comparing Kepler's ideas with those of his intellectual contemporaries, this project will also deepen and diversify our understanding of early modern physics more generally, challenging us to bridge gaps between ideas of agency and cause in the fields of mathematics, medicine, and natural philosophy.Potential Broader ImpactsThe results of this research will ultimately lead to two primary products: (1) a monograph study of Kepler's vitalistic views over the course of his career, and (2) the first-ever English translation, with an introduction and notes, of Kepler's On the New Star. In each of these efforts, the PI will work towards breaking down the modern dichotomy of vitalistic and mechanistic principles and restoring their close and complex links in the context of early modern science. This will be done in large part by building on the recent studies of seventeenth-century anatomy and medicine and drawing attention to their relevance for Kepler's astronomy and other 'less modern' areas of interest. While the monograph study will appeal to a wide variety of historians and philosophers of science, the translation of Kepler's On the New Star will attract an even wider audience of scholars, students, and scientific enthusiasts more generally.