The Excellencies of Robert Boyle: The Excellency of Theology and The Excellency and Grounds of the Mechanical Hypothesis

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction Robert Boyle: A Brief Chronology A Note on the Text: Conventions, Terminology, Transcriptions The Excellency of Theology, Compared with Natural Philosophy The Publisher’s Advertisement to the Reader The Author’s Preface The Introduction The First Part: The Positive Reasons for Studying Theology The First Section: The Nobility of Theology’s Object The Second Section: Our Obligation to Study Theology The Third Section: The Advantages Accruing from a Study of Theology The Second Part: A Comparison of the Advantages of Natural Philosophy and Theology The First Section: The Delights and Drawbacks of Natural Philosophy The Second Section: The Practical Goods Resulting from Natural Philosophy and from Theology The Third Section: The Supposed Certainty and Clearness of Physics as Opposed to the Darkness and Uncertainty of Theological Matters The Fourth Section: The Natural Philosopher’s Unjustified Pride of Achievement The Fifth Section: The Value of the Fame that Scientific Attainments Bring The Conclusion About The Excellency and Grounds of the Mechanical Hypothesis The Publisher’s Advertisement Appendix A: People Mentioned in the Text Appendix B: Boyle’s “Corpuscularianism” Appendix C: Aristotle’s Arguments against the Void Appendix D: The Requisites of a Good Hypothesis Appendix E: Boyle on Fame Appendix F: Future Contingents Appendix G: Moral Demonstrations: Boyle, Smith, and “A Person of Honour” Appendix H: Jonathan Swift’s “Broomstick” and Boyle’s Occasional Reflections Appendix I: Coke, Boyle, and Edwards on Testimony Appendix J: A Review of the Excellency and Grounds of the Mechanical Hypothesis (May 1674) Appendix K: John Evelyn to Boyle (20 June 1774) Works Cited Index

About the Author :
J.J. MacIntosh is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Calgary.

Review :
“To the Excellencies of Boyle published here we can add a third—the excellence of J.J. MacIntosh’s more-than-welcome edition that will make these important works accessible to an unprecedented degree. The edition animates the texts in the way that Boyle’s contemporary Richard Baxter thought that ‘his philosophy was the life of his theology (and conversely).’ The introduction, annotations, and appendices alone will be of great value to all those interested not only in Boyle, but also in any of the intellectual figures of the period.” — Thomas Lennon, University of Western Ontario “In his edition, J.J. MacIntosh offers a modernized text of Boyle’s Excellencies, together with a lengthy introduction comprising a discursive biographical account of Boyle, a synopsis of his argument, and an account of the thinkers who influenced him. MacIntosh provides helpful extra headings indicating the content of the different components of the main treatise, and elucidatory footnotes that sometimes give analogous passages from other writings by Boyle and others. At the end appear a series of appendices, notably one giving biographical notes on people mentioned in the text. In all, this edition should do much to make Boyle accessible to a wider audience.” — Michael Hunter, Birkbeck, University of London