Astrology and astronomy
Oxford Companion to Chaucer:
Top
Astrology and Astronomy
By his treatises on the two most important astronomical instruments of the Middle Ages, the astrolabe and the equatorium, by the example of his poetry, with its often transparent use of astronomical and astrological allegory, and by the high precision with which he introduces celestial events into many of his poems, Chaucer shows how seriously he took these twin subjects. He inherited two traditions that were vigorously continued in his day, and both owed much to Ptolemy (Ptholomee) the Alexandrian astronomer of the 2nd c. The first had at its root the synthesis of astronomy in Ptolemy's Almagest; in the second, Ptolemy's astrological work Tetrabiblos left many traces.
Although Almagest made use of earlier Greek geometrical constructions and Babylonian data, and although the parameters of the Ptolemaic theory had been revised by astronomers in the Islamic and Iberian worlds, to the writer of the Middle Ages Ptolemy was the prime source of astronomical knowledge. The clerk Nicholas in The Miller's Tale possessed an Almageste and an astrolabe. The astronomical system underlying the Equatorie of the Planetis was thoroughly Ptolemaic. It was one aimed at the calculation of planetary longitudes and latitudes, rather than at explaining planetary movement on the basis of physics: Aristotelian cosmology was regarded to a great extent as a different subject.
The Ptolemaic scheme was entirely geocentric. (Aristarchus, in the 3rd c. bc, had proposed a heliocentric system, but it was not generally adopted.) The geometrical models for planetary motion varied from planet to planet. The simplest was for the Sun, where uniform motion around a simple eccentric circle sufficed (that is, a circle whose centre was at a distance from the centre of the Earth). Essential to each of the models for the remaining planets was a deferent circle (this was also eccentric;) carrying an epicycle, which in turn carried the planet. The epicycle moved uniformly only with respect to an equant. The planet's position was found as the point where the Earth-planet line met the ecliptic. There were additional complications, especially with the models for the Moon and Mercury.
The geometrical models are considerably easier to appreciate than the derived techniques of calculation, which proceeded in many stages from the determination of mean motions to true places by the incorporation of certain so called equations. The vocabulary of the Franklin on this subject in regard to the clerk of Orleans is accurate and correctly used. It seems likely that some of Chaucer's own astronomical tables survive, bound together with the unique manuscript copy of Equatorie of thePlanetis. (.)
Astronomy was the basis of time reckoning. For periods of days and years, and the feasts of the Church, the calendar was the appropriate instrument, its structure being taught in the Quadrivium under the name of computus. Numerous astronomical instruments apart from the astrolabe were used for the recording of hours and minutes. The ‘chilyndre’ of The Shipman's Tale was a portable cylindrical sundial, and dials of many other sorts were in use, including various sorts of horary quadrant with a wider astronomical value. The mechanical clock was available by Chaucer's time: this too was a by-product of astronomy. (.)
The clerk Nicholas ‘had lerned art’, that is, had studied the arts curriculum of Trivium and Quadrivium, but had also turned to astrology. He owned an astrolabe. Had he read Chaucer's work on the instrument he would have learned much basic astrology. This was not formally a part of the Quadrivium, but was certainly studied in universities, not least as a part of medicine. As related in the General Prologue, the Doctour of Phisik (Physician) was grounded in astronomy, and could calculate ascendents for use in natural magic on his patients' behalf. Chaucer makes much use of the subject, but leaves us in some doubt as to his sources. Apart from Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos (known in the West as Quadripartitum) other important ancient sources of medieval doctrine were by such as Dorotheus, Firmicus Maternus, and Rhetorius. Chaucer mentions Alkabucius on a trivial point in A Treatise on the Astrolabe, and the ‘Haly’ mentioned in the General Prologue might have been the astrologer. Astrological doctrine reached the West with so many accretions and inconsistencies, however, that it is hard to describe it briefly and systematically. (For a further important intermediate writer .)
The chief aim of the art was prognostication on the basis of the state of the heavens at certain times. (.) The basic astronomical calculation would have been done with the help of tables, in some cases an equatorium, and very probably an astrolabe. Undoubtedly one of the chief reasons for learning astronomical techniques in the first place was to apply them astrologically. The planets were deemed to have qualities of their own but also in relation to one another and in relation to the ecliptic. Even in the absence of the planets, the signs of the Zodiac could have significant properties. Much of the mystique of the subject came from its complex rules, for which—authority apart—only impressionistic arguments could ever have been offered in justification. A case in point is the concept of atazir, used in The Man of Law's Tale.
Contrary to common belief, astrology was doctrinally safe within the orbit of the Christian Church during the Middle Ages. Although several leading clerics preached against it—most of them only after learning it at first hand themselves—it was generally thought to lead into spiritual danger only when alloyed with such arts as were related to nigromancy. It was not wholly concerned with the fortunes of the human individual: its branches considered meteorological questions, questions of the rise and fall of religions and sects, epidemics, plagues, the fortunes of nations, and matters of history generally. It was frequently used to make an ‘election’, that is, to decide (on the basis of a horoscope) whether to undertake an enterprise; and this use encompasses many of its medical uses, for instance, deciding as to suitable times for bleeding. (.)
Related Videos:
Top
Astrology and astronomy
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Astrology and astronomy
| Astrology |
 |
| Background |
|---|
| History of astrology |
| Astrology & astronomy |
| Sidereal vs. Tropical |
| Traditions |
| Babylonian · Hellenistic |
| Islamic · Western |
| Hindu · Chinese |
| More... |
| Branches |
| Natal astrology |
| Electional astrology |
| Horary astrology |
| Mundane astrology |
| More... |
| Categories |
| Astrologers |
| Organizations |
| Astrological texts |
| Astrological writers |
| Astrology Portal |
Astrology and astronomy were archaically one and the same discipline (Latin: astrologia), and were only gradually recognized as separate in Western 17th century philosophy (the "Age of Reason").
Since the 18th century they have come to be regarded as completely separate disciplines. Astronomy, the study of objects and phenomena originating beyond the Earth's atmosphere, is a science[1][2][3] and is a widely-studied academic discipline. Astrology, which uses the apparent positions of celestial objects as the basis for psychology, prediction of future events, and other esoteric knowledge, is not a science and is typically defined as a form of divination.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
|
Contents
|
Overview
In pre-modern times, most cultures have not made a clear distinction between the two disciplines, putting them both together as one. In ancient Babylonia, famed for its astrology, there were not separate roles for the astronomer as predictor of celestial phenomena, and the astrologer as their interpreter; both functions were performed by the same person. This overlap does not mean that astrology and astronomy were always regarded as one and the same. In ancient Greece, pre-Socratic thinkers such as Anaximander, Xenophanes, Anaximenes, and Heraclides speculated about the nature and substance of the stars and planets. Astronomers such as Eudoxus (contemporary with Plato) observed planetary motions and cycles, and created a geocentric cosmological model that would be accepted by Aristotle – this model generally lasted until Ptolemy, who added epicycles to explain the retrograde motion of Mars. However, around 250 BC, Aristarchus of Samos postulated a proto-heliocentric theory, which would not be reconsidered for nearly two millennia (Copernicus), as Aristotle's geocentric model was favored. The Platonic school promoted the study of astronomy as a part of philosophy because the motions of the heavens demonstrate an orderly and harmonious cosmos. In the third century BC, Babylonian astrology began to make its presence felt in Greece. Astrology was criticized by Hellenistic philosophers such as the Academic Skeptic Carneades and Middle Stoic Panaetius. However, the notions of the Great Year (when all the planets complete a full cycle and return to their relative positions) and eternal recurrence were Stoic doctrines that made divination and fatalism possible.
In the Hellenistic world, the Greek words 'astrologia' and 'astronomia' were often used interchangeably, but they were conceptually not the same. Plato taught about 'astronomia' and stipulated that planetar phenomena should be described by a geometrical model. The first solution was proposed by Eudoxus. Aristotle favored a physical approach and adopted the word 'astrologia'. Eccentrics and epicycles came to be thought of as useful fictions. For a more general public, the distinguishing principle was not evident and either word was acceptable. For the Babylonian horoscopic practice, the words specifically used were 'apotelesma' and 'katarche'.[citation needed] but otherwise it was subsumed under the aristotelian term 'astrologia'.
In his compilatory work Etymologiae, Isidore of Seville noted explicitly the difference between the terms astronomy and astrology (Etymologiae, III, xxvii) and the same distinction appeared later in the texts of Arabian writers.[11] Isidore identified the two strands entangled in the astrological discipline and called them astrologia naturalis and astrologia superstitiosa.
Astrology was widely accepted in medieval Europe as astrological texts from Hellenistic and Arabic astrologers were translated into Latin. In the late Middle Ages, its acceptance or rejection often depended on its reception in the royal courts of Europe. Not until the time of Francis Bacon was astrology rejected as a part of scholastic metaphysics rather than empirical observation. A more definitive split between astrology and astronomy in the West took place gradually in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when astrology was increasingly thought of as an occult science or superstition by the intellectual elite. Because of their lengthy shared history, it sometimes happens that the two are confused with one another even today. Many contemporary astrologers, however, do not claim that astrology is a science, but think of it as a form of divination like the I-Ching, an art, or a part of a spiritual belief structure (influenced by trends such as Neoplatonism, Neopaganism, Theosophy, and Hinduism).
Distinguishing characteristics
The primary goal of astronomy is to understand the physics of the universe. Astrologers use astronomical calculations for the positions of celestial bodies along the ecliptic and attempt to correlate celestial events (astrological aspects, sign positions) with earthly events and human affairs. Astronomers consistently use the scientific method, naturalistic presuppositions and abstract mathematical reasoning to investigate or explain phenomena in the universe. Astrologers use mystical or religious reasoning as well as traditional folklore, symbolism and superstition blended with mathematical predictions to explain phenomena in the universe. The scientific method is not consistently used by astrologers.
Astrologers practice their discipline geocentrically[12] and they consider[citation needed] the universe to be harmonious, changeless and static, while astronomers have employed the scientific method to infer that the universe is without a center and is dynamic, expanding outward.[13]
Astrologers believe that the position of the stars and planets determine an individual's personality and future. Astronomers study the actual stars and planets, but have found no evidence supporting astrological theories. Psychologists study personality, and while there are many theories of personality, no mainstream theories in that field are based on astrology.
Both astrologers and astronomers see Earth as being an integral part of the universe, that Earth and the universe are interconnected as one cosmos (not as being separate and distinct from each other). However, astrologers philosophically and mystically portray the cosmos as having a supernatural, metaphysical and divine essence that actively influences world events and the personal lives of people.[14] Astronomers, as members of the scientific community, cannot use in their scientific articles explanations that are not derived from empirically reproducible conditions, irrespective of their personal convictions. Scientific discourses must provide explanations based on known measurable laws of nature, according to which Earth is just as integral a part of the universe as are celestial objects.
Historical divergence
Astrology and astronomy were indistinguishable for a very long time – the funding from astrology supported some astronomical research, which was in turn used to make more accurate ephemerides for use in astrology. In Medieval Europe the word Astronomia was often used to encompass both disciplines as this included the study of astronomy and astrology jointly and without a real distinction; this was one of the original Seven Liberal Arts. Kings and other rulers generally employed court astrologers to aid them in the decision making in their kingdoms, thereby funding astronomical research. University medical students were taught astrology as it was generally used in medical practice.
Astronomy and astrology diverged over the course of the 17th through 19th centuries. Copernicus didn't practice astrology (nor empirical astronomy; his work was theoretical), but the most important astronomers before Isaac Newton were astrologers by profession – Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo Galilei. Newton most likely rejected astrology, however (as did his contemporary Christiaan Huygens),[15][16][17] and interest in astrology declined after his era, helped by the increasing popularity of a Cartesian, "mechanistic" cosmology in the Enlightenment.
Also relevant here was the development of better timekeeping instruments, initially for aid in navigation; improved timekeeping made it possible to make more exact astrological predictions—predictions which could be tested, and which consistently proved to be false.[18] By the end of the 18th century, astronomy was one of the major sciences of the Enlightenment model, using the recently codified scientific method, and was altogether distinct from astrology.
See also
References
- ^ "astronomy – Britannica Concise". Concise.britannica.com. http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356013/astronomy. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Ontario Science Centre: Glossary of Useful Scientific Terms". Ontariosciencecentre.ca. http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/school/clc/visits/glossary.asp. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Outer Space Glossary". Library.thinkquest.org. http://library.thinkquest.org/5014/glossary.html. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "The Skeptic Dictionary's entry on astrology". Skepdic.com. 7 February 2011. http://skepdic.com/astrolgy.html. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Activities With Astrology". Astrosociety.org. 5 December 1985. http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/act3/astrology3.html. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural". Randi.org. http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/astrology.html. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ Kruszelnicki, Karl S. (16 December 2004). "Astrology or Star Struck". Australia: ABC. http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1266452.htm. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ WordNet Search – 3.0[dead link]
- ^ "astrology – Britannica Concise". Concise.britannica.com. http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356010/astrology. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Astrology". Bad Astronomy. 2 July 2011. http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/astrology.html#summary. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ S. Pines (September 1964). "The Semantic Distinction between the Terms Astronomy and Astrology according to al-Biruni", Isis 55 (3), p. 343-349.
- ^ "Astrology Terminology Dictionary". Skyviewzone.com. http://www.skyviewzone.com/astrology/dictionary.htm. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "The Big Bang and the Expansion of the Universe". Atlasoftheuniverse.com. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/bigbang.html. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Realities in Astrology". Wisdomsgoldenrod.org. http://wisdomsgoldenrod.org/public_offerings/features/Levels%20of%20Reality%20in%20Astrology.htm. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Rebuttal of Newton's astrology interests". Skepticreport.com. http://skepticreport.com/sr/?p=427. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ (D.T. Whiteside, M.A. Hoskin & A. Prag (eds.), The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1967), vol. 1, pp. 15–19)
- ^ It is a commonly held belief among astrologers that Isaac Newton had an interest in astrology. However, Newton's writings fail to mention the subject and the handful of books in his possession that contained references to astrology were primarily concerned with other subjects such as the writings of Hermes Trismegistus (and mentioned astrology only in passing). In an interview with John Conduitt, Newton said that as a young student, he had read a book on astrology, and was "soon convinced of the vanity & emptiness of the pretended science of Judicial astrology".
- ^ "In our time: Astrology". BBC. 14 June 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20070614.shtml. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
Further reading
- Eade, J. C. (1984). The Forgotten Sky: A Guide to Astrology in English Literature.. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press.
- Losev, A.. "'Astronomy' or 'astrology': a brief history of an apparent confusion". Cornell University. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1006.5209v2. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
- North, John David (1988). Chaucer's Universe. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Oxford Companion to Chaucer
The Oxford Companion to Chaucer. © 2003
Oxford University Press.
All rights reserved.
Read more
