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Essay / Discussion of the knowledge of heat in Galileo's "The Assayer"
In The Assayer, Galileo begins his argument by stating that Mr. Sarsi is not right in his thinking, modern philosophy must follow the beliefs of another philosopher or ''someone else's reasoning'' (Galileo,59). He believes that the acquisition of mathematical knowledge is necessary to understand philosophy. Galileo then explained his position on the movement and cause of heat. He begins by pointing out the common mistake people make in their knowledge of heat. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay People think that heat is a “real accident or quality,” but that’s not the case. He declared that bodily substance is necessary: the object is delimited, has a form, is linked to other bodies, occupies time and space, is at rest or in motion, touches or does not touch a other body. Primary qualities are different from the secondary properties of our senses. Primary qualities exist independently of the presence of living beings, however, the existence of living beings is fundamental to the survival of secondary properties because secondary properties only exist in bodies. He gave tickling as an example, “this affection belongs entirely to us, and not a bit belongs to the hand” (Galileo, 60-61). Tickling is not a quality inherited from the hand that does it, because a piece of paper or a feather can cause the sensation caused by the hand. Galileo believed that our senses “have no greater existence,” he went on to explain how the senses relate to the elements. Touch is a movement and when a body comes into contact with a person, then it produces a sensation called touch. Meaning is more material than the others and is born from the solidity of matter, which is linked to the Earth. Some bodies continually dissolve into particles of litter, some fall into feathers, while others disperse. The water base particles evaporate, causing a taste on the tongue. Fire-related particles produce an odor when heated in the air and reach the nose. Vibrations in the air create sounds. External bodies use size, shape, number, and movement to exhibit the secondary properties of humans, and without them they would not exist. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Galileo He didn't clarify the relationship between vision and light because it's complicated and he doesn't have enough understanding to explain what he knows it would take a long time, so he did not enter the vision. Galileo then returns to his argument that heat is the cause of motion. He claimed that heat is created by tiny corpuscles having a particular shape and moving at a certain speed, they enter our body and pass through us. Affection is warmth. Penetration can be pleasant or unpleasant depending on “the number and speed of the particles which sting and penetrate” (Galileo,63). It is suitable “if it is beneficial to our insensible vital functions”, more unpleasant when it causes too much “a separation and dissolution of our substance”. Galileo said that when fire enters the direction, then our body feels a sensation of heat. If there were no “animate and sentient” people to contact heat, it would not exist. When two objects rub together, the friction generates movement, which allows a particle to break free and cause a fire...