Hemispheres 2019

Practically, this new transition regarding knowledge gave forth a whole new fervor for
science and discovery. Religion was still the center of society, but new examinations were
given to things previously held simply as divine mysteries. A society once defined by
unquestioned authority of Scripture and visions now found itself examining everything for
deeper understanding. Practices such as the Eucharist were reexamined, with hopes of
properly and scientifically explaining what was occurring (Cahill 220). Alchemy rose to new
heights, as men tried to scientifically change various substances into gold based upon
Aristotelian science (Cahill 225). Bacon himself made extraordinary leaps in the realm of
science, developing eyeglasses, accurately arguing for a finite speed of light, and helping to
reform the erroneous Julian calendar (Cahill 224). And laymen too found new ways of
examining their religion. Artwork became a new mode of storytelling for the common man.
Paintings were abundant, full of vivid imagery and profound artistic style, often times
religious, and all culminating in a new style for a new age (Cahill 218). So all of society, not
just the small class of educated philosophers, was brought up in this great cultural shift
rooted in a newfound appreciation for personal experience. It must be emphasized that all
these new investigations, both in art and science, whether accurate or not, stemmed from the
transition from rationalist Plato to empiricist Aristotle, and from divine revelation to
discovered examination.
These are the things which defined the shift from revealed truth to discovered truth.
Prior to this transition, the Middle Ages were defined by their Christian roots based in both
an acceptance of Scripture and visions as divine authority and in a Platonic thought which
held a comparatively negative view of the world. The product of this transition was a culture
of Aristotelian thought, an empiricism which valued this world and looked for knowledge
through sensory perception and experience. The transition itself was marked by the
emergence of universities in the 12th and 13th centuries, the translation of Aristotle for the
West, and the synthesis of Aristotle by men such as Abelard and Aquinas. Bacon and others
built on this reasoning to examine other parts of life and to establish a real scientific method
of inquiry. And the common man found in artwork a new outlet for deeper examination. All
of these together helped to bring about the transition from revealed to discovered knowledge.
-Ben Brake