The Philosophy of Science

Episode Synopsis

In lecture three, we study the scientific revolution through six figures: Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Bacon, and Newton. We challenge the narrative that science progressed by breaking from religion, showing how these thinkers were motivated by theological beliefs. We examine their discoveries—heliocentrism, laws of motion, universal gravitation—and how they transformed natural philosophy. Dr. Orr demonstrates that these revolutionary thinkers viewed their work as natural philosophy aimed at understanding God's creation, suggesting the scientific revolution was a continuous evolution within a Christian intellectual universe rather than a radical rupture from it.