On the Renewal of Philosophy through the Restoration of the Senses

A Commentary on Robert Hooke’s Micrographia

Abstract

The article offers a commentary on the translation of a fragment of Micrographia by Robert Hooke and seeks to elucidate the significance of this work within the context of seventeenth-century experimental philosophy. The point of departure is the observation that, despite his crucial role in the scientific culture of the period, Hooke remains comparatively underrepresented in philosophical historiography when set against other representatives of seventeenth-century British thought. The article reconstructs the institutional and intellectual background of the Micrographia, with particular attention to Hooke’s activity within the Royal Society and his role as curator of experiments and organizer of public scientific demonstrations. It then discusses the principal assumptions of Hooke’s experimental philosophy of nature, together with the mechanistic and materialist premises underlying his conception. The constructive dimension of Hooke’s activity is examined in light of his own programme of reforming philosophy through the improvement of the human senses. The article also highlights the connections between Hooke’s technologically assisted epistemology and the empiricism of Francis Bacon, particularly the Baconian idea of the “Great Instauration.” In its final part, the study addresses the genesis and structure of the Micrographia and situates the work within the programme of experimental philosophy cultivated in the milieu of the Royal Society. It further analyses how microscopic observations and the accompanying engravings contributed to shaping an early modern image of nature, while simultaneously transforming the ways in which the structure of the natural world was conceived.