Marc's+3rd+Week+Assignment+(1)

__Giordano Bruno: The Forgotten Philosopher__ by John Kessler

Just as Halwes and Fowler have emphasized in their articles that science builds on top of older theories, so too does this idea surface in Kessler's account of Bruno's life. While I have never heard of Bruno before, it is clear he was a new age thinker. With the Dark / Middle Ages ending just several decades before Bruno's birth, he was a true Renaissance thinker. While most other people fawned over every teaching of Aristotle that was preserved throughout the Dark Ages, Bruno contested many of these ideas. Unfortunately, it was this very fact that impeded him on his path of learning (for Kessler admits that even prestigious universities like Oxford still clung to the teachings of Aristotle and thus barred Bruno from enrolling) and teachings others.

It is interesting for Kessler to note that "Bruno had no secure place in either Protestant or Roman Catholic religious communities." While in the later Enlightenment years of the 17- and 1800s many scientists were at odds with the Church communities, philosophers and physicists such as Bruno during the Renaissance were mostly disregarded if they lacked Church support. Kessler notes that Bruno continued to "[carry] out his fight against terrible odds." With or without Church support he continued teachings that he believed to be true through lectures and books.

Without Church support, it is no surprise that Bruno was condemned to death under the Inquisition. While some thinkers would have sided with the Church and Aristotle's teachings, others may have toed the line. Bruno, however, stepped over this line and seemed to be well aware of it. Still, given multiple chances to recant, he refused and was burned at the stake. He was right in saying "Perhaps you, my judges, pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it." While the Inquisitors silenced him physically, his works and ideas still lived on in the literary realm, and that was all it took for him to be recognized as a pioneer in Renaissance thinking and understanding. While it is certainly unfair that he was not able to "dodge the lightning," the wrath of the Church, Bruno's ideas lived on and are now recognized today, although he may not be as commonly known (at least not in my case).

While he may not say it explicitly, two important lessons which may be extracted from Kessler's article are: 1) You can kill the thinker but not the idea and 2) Great amounts of progress come at sometimes great cost.