Title:	Walter Charleton’s Theory of Matter: How Politics and Scientific Societies Influenced his Works
Authors:	Papanikolaou, Elli
Citation:	PAPANIKOLAOU, E. Walter Charleton’s Theory of Matter: How Politics and Scientific Societies Influenced his Works. Athens Journal of History, 2020, roč. 6, č. 3, s. 287-297. ISSN 2407-9677.
Issue Date:	2020
Publisher:	Athens Institute for Education and Research
Document type:	článek article
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/11025/39799
ISSN:	2407-9677
Keywords in different language:	Charleton Walter, Theory of Matter
Abstract in different language:	This paper investigates how the politics and the scientific societies influenced Walter Charleton’s matter theory. Initially, the study refers to two different historical theories of analysis of Charleton’s theory of matter, explaining, through the analysis of his most well-known works, why these historical perspectives are both correct. Next, the study undertakes a close reading of Charleton’s life, with the aim of explaining why he divorced himself from the alchemical doctrines in public, while he continued to use the alchemical terms. Investigating his life, the study shows how he was influenced by the politics, religion and scientific communities of his era. As Charleton, a Royalist, lived in the period of the Interregnum and Restoration and his major goals were to acquire a position and funds from the College of Physicians and Royal Society. Finally, the study provides a different historical view about Charleton’s eclecticism, which is used to his theory, in order to be part of the “elite” of scholars in England. This study concludes that Charleton’s matter theory can be considered hybrid of vitalistic and mechanistic philosophy and is an example of how the scientific theories, in the late seventeenthcentury, began to differentiate from the old ones.
Rights:	© Athens Institute for Education and Research
Appears in Collections:	Články / Articles (KFI) OBD

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