Vol. 9 No. 2 (2018)
Articles

Language as Scientific Instrument: a Preliminary Digital Analysis of Christiaan Huygens' Last Writings and Correspondence

Ludovica Marinucci
University of Cagliari, Department of Philosophy, Italy

Published 2018-05-15

Keywords

  • History of science; Christiaan Huygens; Digital text analysis; Lexicon; AntConc corpus analysis tool

How to Cite

Marinucci, Ludovica. 2018. “Language As Scientific Instrument: A Preliminary Digital Analysis of Christiaan Huygens’ Last Writings and Correspondence”. JLIS.It 9 (2):1-17. https://doi.org/10.4403/jlis.it-12449.

Abstract

This essay focuses on a digital text analysis with AntConc computational linguistics tool in order to find, list and compare the most important key word occurrences and their collocations in some of Christiaan Huygens last writings, from 1686 to 1695 and posthumous. The greatest attention is payed to three key words – AnimusPotentia and Lex – related to the themes of  God’s power, divine and human intelligence, probabilistic epistemology, natural theology and plurality of worlds.  In addition, these key words are used to select the letters written by Huygens to the most important of his contemporaries on the same topics. This challenge firstly involves demonstrating that his last writings on philosophical and theological reflections on mechanistic philosophy are not an anomaly within Huygens’ wider work, and secondly showing that these are indications of Huygens’ involvement in a number of theoretical debates in the second half of the seventeenth century.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

  1. Huygens, Christiaan, Œuvres complètes de Christiaan Huygens publiées par la Société Hollandaise des Sciences, 22 voll., The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1888-1950.
  2. Secondary sources
  3. Andriesse, Cornelis D., Titan kan niet slapen. Een biografie van Christiaan Huygens. Amsterdam: Contact, 1993.
  4. Anthony, Laurence, “A critical look at software tools in corpus linguistics”, Linguistic Research 30, n. 2 (2013), 141-161. [online at: http://www.laurenceanthony.net/publications.html]
  5. Bertoloni Meli, Domenico, Thinking with Objects. The Transformation of Mechanics in the Seventeenth Century. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
  6. Bos, Hendrik J. M., “L’œuvre et la personnalité de Christiaan Huygens”, in Huygens et la France, table ronde du CNRS, Paris 27-29 mars 1979, edited by René Taton, 1-15. Paris: Vrin, 1982.
  7. Burch, Christopher, “Huygens’ pulse models as a bridge between phenomena and Huygens’ mechanical foundations”. Janus 68, (1981), 53-64.
  8. Burns, Robert M., The Great Debate on Miracles: From Joseph Glanvill to David Hume. Lewisburg (PA): Bucknell University Press, 1981.
  9. Cassirer, Ernst, Das Erkenntnisproblem in der Philosophie und Wissenschaft der neueren Zeit, vol. II. Berlin: B. Cassirer, 1907.
  10. Chareix, Fabien, “Experientia ac ratio: L’œuvre de Christiaan Huygens”. Revue d’histoire des sciences 56, n. 1 (2003), 5-13.
  11. –––, “Le rationnel et le raisonnable. Sur un manuscrit de Christiaan Huygens: le De Rationi Imperuijs (1690)”, in Le savoir au XVIIe siècle, edited by J. Lyons and C. Welch, Biblio 17 – 147, 335-44. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003a.
  12. –––, “L’Académie des ‘chimiques’ et des ‘mécaniques’: l’évolution de la chimie dans la pensée de Huygens”. Methodos 8, 2008 [online at: http://methodos.revues.org/1343].
  13. –––, “Christiaan Huygens lecteur de Robert Boyle”, in La philosophie naturelle de Robert Boyle, edited by M. Dennehy-C. Ramond, 311-29. Paris: Vrin, 2009.
  14. Chiari, Isabella, Introduzione alla linguistica computazionale. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2007.
  15. De Mauro, Tullio, “Quantità-qualità: un binomio indispensabile per comprendere il linguaggio”, in Ricerca qualitativa e computer, edited by R. Cipriani and S. Bolasco, 21-30. Milano: FrancoAngeli, 1995.
  16. Elzinga, Aant, On a research program in early modern physics. Göteborg: Akademiförlaget, 1972.
  17. –––, “Christiaan Huygens’ theory of research”. Janus 67, 1980, 281-300.
  18. Froehlich, Heather, “Corpus analysis with AntConc”. Programming Historian, 2015 [online at: https://programminghistorian.org/lessons/corpus-analysis-with-antconc]
  19. Funkenstein, Amos, Theology and the Scientific Imagination from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.
  20. Gabbey, Alan, “Huygens and Mechanics”, in Studies on Christiaan Huygens, invited papers from symposium on the life and work of Christiaan Huygens. Amsterdam, 22-25 August 1979, edited by Hendrik J. M. Bos et al., 166-99. Lisse: Swets & Zeittlinger, 1980.
  21. Gori, Gianbattista, “La filosofia in Olanda da Geulincx ad Huygens”, in Storia della filosofia, edited by M. Dal Pra, 595-612. Firenze: Vallardi, 1976.
  22. Gregory, Tullio, Origini della terminologia filosofica moderna. Linee di ricerca. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 2006.
  23. Hall, Alfred R., “Summary of the Symposium”, in Studies on Christiaan Huygens, invited papers from symposium on the life and work of Christiaan Huygens, Amsterdam, 22-25 August 1979, edited by Hendrik J. M. Bos et alia, 302-313. Lisse: Swets & Zeittlinger, 1980.
  24. Harrison, Peter, The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  25. Harwood, John T., The Early Essays and Ethics of Robert Boyle. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991.
  26. Hoey, Michael, Lexical Priming: A New Theory of Words and Language. London: Routledge, 2005.
  27. Hohenegger, Hansmichael, “Termini tecnici e traduzione. Note sulla traduzione della Critica della Facoltà di Giudizio di Kant”, in Tradurre filosofia. Esperienze di traduzione di testi filosofici del Seicento e del Settecento, edited by Pina Totaro, 59-92. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 2011.
  28. Hooykaas, Reijer, Experientia ac ratione. Huygens tussen Descartes en Newton, Mededeling, 201. Leiden: Museum Boerhaave, 1979.
  29. Klever, Wim,“Spinoza en Huygens. Een geschakeerde relatie tussen twee fysici”. Gewina 20, 1997, 14-31.
  30. Koyré, Alexandre, Metaphysics and Measurement. Essays in Scientific Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968.
  31. Mach, Ernst, Die Mechanik in ihrer Entwicklung historisch-kritisch dargestellt. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1883.
  32. Mormino, Gianfranco, Penetralia motus: la fondazione relativistica della meccanica in Christiaan Huygens. Firenze: La Nuova Italia, 1993.
  33. –––, “Atomismo e meccanicismo nel pensiero di Christiaan Huygens”, in Spazio, corpo e moto nella filosofia naturale del Seicento, 63-109. Milano-Udine: Mimesis, 2012.
  34. –––, “Ammirare e comprendere. La concezione del sapere in Christiaan Huygens”, in «Potentia Dei»: l’onnipotenza divina nel pensiero dei secoli XVI e XVII, edited by G. Canziani-M.A. Granada-Y.C. Zarka, 495-511. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2000.
  35. –––, “Le rôle de Dieu dans l’œuvre scientifique et philosophique de Christiaan Huygens”. Revue d’histoire des sciences 56, n. 1 (2003), 113-33.
  36. –––, “Sur quelques problèmes éditoriaux concernant l’œuvres de Christiaan Huygens”. Revue d’histoire des sciences 56, n. 1 (2003), 145-151.
  37. Pacchi, Arrigo, Cartesio in Inghilterra: da More a Boyle. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1973.
  38. Parrochia, Daniel, “Optique, Mécanique et Calcul des Chances chez Huygens et Spinoza”. Dialectica 38 (1984), 319-345.
  39. Radelet De Grave, Patricia, “L’Univers selon Huygens, le connu et l’imaginé”. Revue d’histoire des sciences 56, n. 1 (2003), 79-112.
  40. Romein, Jan and Annie, Erflaters van onze beschaving: Nederlandse gestalten uit zes eeuwen. Amsterdam: Querido, 1977.
  41. Russo, Ada, “Il lessico dei lessici: una ontologia per i lessici filosofici latini”, in Lessici filosofici dell’età moderna. Linee di ricerca, edited by E. Canone, 171-99. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 2012.
  42. Snelders, Henricus A. M., “Christiaan Huygens and the concept of matter”, in Studies on Christiaan Huygens: invited papers from the symposium on the life and work of C. Huygens, Amsterdam, 22-25 aug. 1979, edited by H. J. M. Bos et al., 104-25. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger, 1980.
  43. Sinclair, John, Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
  44. Tognini-Bonelli, Elena, Corpus Linguistics at Work. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 2001.
  45. Vermij, Rienk, The Calvinist Copernicans. The reception of the new astronomy in the Dutch Republic. 1575-1750. Amsterdam: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 2002.
  46. Vilain, Christiane, La mécanique de Christiaan Huygens: la relativité du mouvement au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Blancard, 1996.
  47. Westfall, Richard S., Force in Newtons physics: the science of dynamics in the seventeenth century. London: Macdonald, 1971.
  48. Watson Todd, Richard, “Identifying new knowledge in texts through corpus analysis”. International Journal of Language Studies 7, n. 4, Oct. 2013, 57-76.
  49. Yoder, Joella G., “The Archives of Christiaan Huygens and his Editors”, in Archives of the Scientific Revolution: The Formation and Exchange of Ideas in Seventeenth-century Europe, edited by M. C. W. Hunter, 91-107. Woolbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 1998.
  50. –––, Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Christiaan Huygens: Including a Concordance with his Œuvres completes. Leiden: Brill, 2013.
  51. Digital Resources
  52. L. Anthony, AntConc (Version 3.4.3) [Computer Software]. Tokyo: Waseda University, 2014. www.laurenceanthony.net/software/antconc
  53. Digitale bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse letteren, Uitgaven van Christiaan Huygens www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=huyg003
  54. ePistolarium, Huygens ING, Developed by Walter Ravenek http://ckcc.huygens.knaw.nl/epistolarium
  55. The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes, Online Library of Liberty http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/locke-the-works-of-john-locke-in-nine-volumes
  56. Early Modern Letter Online (EMLO) http://emlo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/home
  57. Banca dati di testi filosofici dell’età moderna, Lessico Intellettuale Europeo e Storia delle Idee (ILIESI-CNR) http://lie11.let.uniroma1.it:8777/iliesi/home.htm
  58. Daphnet Modern Phylosophy, ILIESI-CNR www.daphnet.org
  59. Lessici filosofici di età moderna, ILIESI-CNR
  60. www.iliesi.cnr.it/Lessici
  61. Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales
  62. www.cnrtl.fr/portail
  63. Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé, Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française
  64. www.atilf.fr/tlfi