Pierre-Sylvain Régis’s Cartesianism is quite singular in seventeenth-century French philosophy. Though, can we speak of a form of experimental science in Régis’s work? After exploring his notions of ‘system’ and ‘hypothesis’, I will define his position in relation to Claude Perrault, Jacques Rohault, and the Royal Society. I argue, first, that the contrasts which traverse French science are not so much about the use of experiments but about whether or not observational data can be traced back to hypotheses and to a coherent system. Secondly, that we can detect a significant similarity between Boyle’s positions and the views expressed by Perrault and also by Régis. Lastly, that French science, even in its Cartesian version, is much more probabilistic than English experimental philosophy.
University of Torino, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-9771-387X
Chapter Title
System, Hypothesis, and Experiments: Pierre-Sylvain Régis
Authors
Antonella Del Prete
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0169-8.09
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Reading Descartes
Book Subtitle
Consciousness, Body, and Reasoning
Editors
Andrea Strazzoni, Marco Sgarbi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
206
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0169-8
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0168-1
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0169-8
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0170-4
Series Title
Knowledge and its Histories