Juliana South

Galileo Discussion Response

Galileo’s Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina:

The letter is addressed to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany, presumably

because Galileo is trying to influence people of power to have sympathy for him and to have a
better understanding of his ideas. Galileo was also connected to Christina and the court of
Tuscany. If Galileo can influence those with power to side with him then his opponents cannot
hurt him. This is why Galileo also invokes author’s like Copernicus. Copernicus already had
respect and though his ideas were being challenged his person was not.
Galileo rhetorical strategy is to breed sympathy for himself, discredit his opponents, and
argue for his ideas. He claims that his opponents are more against him than his work and that
they are misinterpreting scripture. His argumentative style is basically to refute his detractors
and argue for their own heresy, which ties into his use of the bible because he’s framing himself
as the real religious adherent. He argues that his writings don’t depend on scripture and
therefore can’t interpret it wrong. If his physical observations are right then they must match up
with scripture because God made everything. I don’t believe Galileo is a heretic at this point
because he is framing himself as pious but also he hasn’t been declared a heretic by the church
yet, just by his opponents.
Something is proved for Galileo when it has been observed in nature. He states several
times that you must have sensory evidence of something to believe it. Is this a new type of
legitimate knowledge? Well, it is based on learning so it could line up with scientia but it is
different in asserting that since the world was made by god then natural laws can be used to
interpret the bible. Therefore it also involves natural science/philosophy but it also focuses on
the importance of experience which has been disregarded by scientia. I don’t believe it’s a new
type of legitimate knowledge because it is the same knowledge from a different perspective. It
combines several of the types of knowledge that we have already discussed.
Galileo’s Trial:

First of all, Galileo begins by affirming that he had discussed at length what ideas he was
allowed to push with a cardinal, ending in the determination that the Copernican model could be
held in supposition but not as absolute. Meaning that the model could be written about but not
proved or accepted. Galileo also uses the strategy of his own forgetfulness to defend himself. At
one point he states that in rereading his writing he had forgotten about several arguments for
the Copernican model which he did not weaken sufficiently. He condemns this but blames it on
ignorance and ego. Galileo essentially relies on arguments for his intentions being correct even
if his actions transgressed in some way.