'Distinctions of Reason and Reasonable Distinctions' is an intellectual biography of John Wallis (1616-1703), professor of mathematics at Oxford for over half a century. His career spans the political tumult of the English Civil Wars, the religious upheaval of the Church of England, and the fascinating developments in mathematics and natural philosophy. His ability to navigate this terrain and advance human learning in the academic world was facilitated by his use of the Jesuit Francisco Suarez’s theory of distinctions. This Roman Catholic’s philosophy in the hands of a Protestant divine fostered an instrumentalism necessary to bridge the old and new. With this tool, Wallis brought modern science into the university and helped form the Royal Society.
Author(s): Jason M. Rampelt
Series: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 306
Publisher: Brill
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 330
City: Leiden
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Illustrations
Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Introduction
1 John Wallis’s “Mottled Soul”: The Interpretative Challenge
2 The Salve of the “Town Doctor”: the Interpretive Approach
Part 1. John Wallis’s Academic Formation
Introduction to Part 1
Chapter 2. John Wallis’s Autobiography: Text and Context
1 John Wallis and Thomas Smith
2 John Wallis’s Manuscript Copies of His Autobiography
3 John Wallis, Anthony Wood, and the Memory of the Town Doctor
Chapter 3. Early Life and Education
1 At Home and at School, 1616–32
2 Cambridge University, 1632–40
2.1 Wallis’s Tutors at Cambridge
2.2 Philosophical Studies
2.2.1 Scholastic Philosophy and the conceptus inadaequati
2.2.2 Natural Philosophy and Mathematics
2.3 Theological Studies
Chapter 4. The Foundation of a Career
1 Ecclesiastical Service, 1640–49
1.1 Chaplaincies
1.1.1 Henry Darley, 1640–41
1.1.2 Lady Mary Vere, 1641–43
1.2 The Westminster Assembly, 1643–49
2 Natural Philosophy in London, 1645–49
2.1 Natural Philosophers, Philosophies, and Their Instruments of Learning
2.2 Francis Glisson and Philosophical Anatomy
Conclusion
Conclusion to Part 1
Part 2. John Wallis’s Academic Career
Introduction to Part 2
Chapter 5. Mathematical Lecturer
1 The Savilian Statutes
2 Lectures on Arithmetic and Algebra
3 Lectures on Geometry
4 Conclusion
Chapter 6. Doctor of Divinity
1 Dogmatics and the Distinctions of Reason
1.1 The Decrees of God
1.2 The Trinity
1.3 Ecclesiology: the Metaphysics of Presbyterianism
2 Reason and Revelation
3 Conclusion: the Hermeneutic of Suspension
Chapter 7. Pedagogue, Pastor, and Protector
1 Geometry as Solidior Philosophia
2 The Care of Scholars
2.1 Academic Traditions and the Current State of Affairs
2.2 Academic Life and the Current Affairs of State
3 A University in Its Own Right
3.1 A University Counter-Reformation
3.2 A Learned Press
4 Conclusion
Conclusion to Part 2
Part 3. John Wallis’s Philosophical Method
Introduction to Part 3
Chapter 8. Mathematical Method
1 Geometry, Algebra, and Arithmetic
2 Arithmetica Infinitorum, 1656
2.1 The Genesis of the Text
2.2 The Method of Induction
3 Hobbes and Wallis
3.1 The Nature of Mathematical Demonstration
3.1.1 Modes of Argument: John Wallis
3.1.2 Modes of Argument: Thomas Hobbes
3.1.3 The Argument between Hobbes and Wallis
3.2 The Rhetoric of Demonstration
4 Imaginary Numbers
5 The Angle of Contact
6 Conclusion
Chapter 9. The Languages of Philosophy
1 Logic
1.1 Wallis’s Tradition of Logic
1.2 The Nature and Definition of Logic
1.3 Terms and Definitions
1.4 Arguments
1.4.1 Syllogism
1.4.2 Demonstration
1.4.3 Induction
1.5 Method
2 Language
2.1 English Grammar
2.2 Universal Grammar
3 Conclusion
Conclusion to Part 3
Chapter 10 Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
