Ames and Apáczai

the possible theoretical frameworks of eclectic philosophical thinking in 17th century Hungary

Abstract

The subject of my research is Apáczai's late summary of natural philosophy, the Philosophia naturalis, written before 1659, and its eclectic philosophical system. My hypothesis is that – instead of creating a conceptually consistent philosophical system – Apáczai was primarily driven by his desire to introduce each of the philosophical traditions that were personally important to him to his students. To do so, he needed to combine the Cartesian ’prima philosophia’ with the traditional ’philosophia naturalis’. This link was provided to him by the Technometry of William Ames, which sought to explore through the concept of ars/techné (craft) the totality of the paths leading to the ars (craft) of God, as it can be discovered in the world created by God. In this way, Apáczai moves from Descartes' concept of cogito and cognition, through Ames's concept of judgement (iudicium), to the cognition of the whole of nature, which is the object of philosophia naturalis, and at the same time the discovery of the ars (craft) of God in the world.