Hobbes–Wallis controversy facts for kids

The Hobbes–Wallis controversy was a long-running argument between the famous philosopher Thomas Hobbes and the mathematician and clergyman John Wallis. This big debate started in the mid-1650s and went on until the 1670s.

It all began when Hobbes published a book called De corpore. This book was about physics and how the world works. In it, Hobbes shared his ideas about mathematics, saying it was less important than geometry, and geometry was less important than kinematics (the study of motion). He also claimed to have solved a very old and impossible math problem: the squaring of the circle.

Even though Hobbes later said his proof was wrong, he kept trying to solve the problem with new ideas. This led to many pamphlets being written back and forth between him and Wallis. The argument even involved the new Royal Society, a group of scientists who believed in experimental philosophy (learning by doing experiments). Hobbes, however, disagreed with this approach.

The argument lasted so long for a few reasons. In math, people were still debating if geometry or algebra was more important. Also, the Royal Society was just forming, and Hobbes, who was an outsider, often argued with this new group of thinkers.

Wallis found it easy to challenge Hobbes. Hobbes kept trying to solve math problems that were known to be impossible. He never fully gave up or admitted his mistakes. Both men were very stubborn, which hurt their reputations. Historian Quentin Skinner noted that Wallis acted badly at times. Anthony Gottlieb pointed out that Wallis was a Presbyterian, a university man, and against the King during the Civil War. This made him "three times an enemy to Hobbes," who supported the King.

Hobbes felt that the Royal Society was helping Wallis attack him, even though he had friends there. This made it harder for Hobbes to become a member of the Royal Society.

Hobbes Challenges Universities

In his book Leviathan (1651), Hobbes joined others in criticizing the university system in England. At the time, Oxbridge universities had a monopoly on teaching. These criticisms, especially from John Webster in his book Examen academiarum, angered professors at Oxford.

Wallis joined the debate, but other important people also replied first. The topic of universities was very sensitive back then. A religious leader named Thomas Hall supported the universities in his book Vindiciae literarum (1654). He believed that university learning protected against new, unusual, or unorthodox ideas. Webster, on the other hand, questioned if university-educated clergy were even needed.

In 1654, Seth Ward, who was a professor of astronomy, wrote Vindiciae academiarum to defend the universities. This book was published anonymously by Ward and John Wilkins, but everyone knew who wrote it. Ward set the tone for the argument by attacking Hobbes generally. Wilkins wrote the introduction, and Ward specifically targeted Hobbes in an appendix. Ward even claimed that Hobbes had copied ideas from another writer named Walter Warner.

Before Leviathan, Wilkins was actually friendly with Hobbes. He even wrote a Latin poem for one of Hobbes's books in 1650. But when Hobbes's full philosophy became clear in Leviathan, many of his allies, like Ward, distanced themselves. Ward then wrote a strong attack on Hobbes's philosophy in 1656.

The Dialogus Physicus of 1661

In 1661, Hobbes published Dialogus physicus, sive De natura aeris. In this book, he attacked Robert Boyle and Wallis's friends. These friends were forming a group for experimental research, which later became the Royal Society in 1662. Hobbes saw Boyle's book, New Experiments touching the Spring of the Air (1660), as the main idea of this new group.

Hobbes believed that their experimental approach went against his own methods of studying physics. He had developed his ideas years earlier based on his own theories. He warned them that if they didn't start where he left off, their work would fail. Other people, like Franciscus Linus and Henry More, also criticized Boyle at this time. Hobbes chose to broaden the argument, making it about bigger ideas than just the first phase of their debate.

Boyle himself replied to Hobbes in Examen of Mr T. Hobbes, which was added to a second edition of New Experiments in 1662. But first, Wallis got involved again with a satirical (mocking) piece called Hobbius heauton-timorumenos (1662). Wallis accused Hobbes of just playing with words. He said Hobbes used his own definitions for words like "air" to argue against the idea of a vacuum (empty space).

Hobbes reacted to these personal attacks by staying away from scientific arguments for a few years. He did write a letter about himself, called Considerations upon the Reputation, Loyalty, Manners and Religion of Thomas Hobbes's. In this letter, he shared his and Wallis's "little stories" from the time of the Civil War. Wallis did not try to reply to this.

Hobbes and the Royal Society

Hobbes never became a member of the Royal Society, which was officially formed around the time Boyle joined the controversy. People have wondered why. Some think he was difficult and didn't fit in with the Society. Others believe Wallis's attacks successfully made Hobbes look bad at math, which was part of a bigger plan to show his ideas weren't original. Another simple reason might be that Hobbes was too "controversial" (meaning, his ideas caused too much disagreement), and the Society wanted to protect its image.

It's possible that Hobbes's dislike for universities also extended to the Royal Society. John Aubrey reported that Hobbes believed he had a small group of enemies there. Wallis, Ward, and Wilkins were indeed important early members of the Royal Society. They had been part of an earlier group called the "Oxford Philosophical Club" in Oxford.

Historian Quentin Skinner suggested that small group politics explained it. He thought these three men kept Hobbes out of the Royal Society at first. Hobbes's continued absence could then be explained by his anger at how he was treated. Hobbes certainly felt it was unfair that Wallis could use the Philosophical Transactions, the Society's publication, to criticize him. He complained about this in 1672 to Henry Oldenburg.

More recent explanations are more detailed. Noel Malcolm argues that Hobbes's general ideas about how the world works (called 'mechanistic philosophy') were actually quite similar to those of the Royal Society. However, Hobbes's reputation for his political and religious views made him too risky. The Society kept him at a distance for that reason.

Later Publications

After some time, Hobbes started arguing again, and he kept it up until he was 90 years old! His first new piece, published in 1666, was called De principiis et ratiocinatione geometrarum. It was an attack on geometry professors.

Three years later, he put his three mathematical achievements together in a book. As soon as Wallis proved them wrong again, Hobbes reprinted them with answers to Wallis's objections. Wallis, who had promised to leave him alone, proved him wrong once more before the year ended. This argument continued through many other papers until 1678.

Timeline

• 1650 Hobbes, Humane Nature; or the Fundamental Elements of Policy
• 1651 Hobbes, Leviathan
• 1652 Ward, A Philosophicall Essay towards an Eviction of the Being and Attributes of God
• 1654 Webster, Academiarum examen
• 1654 Ward and Wilkins, Vindiciae academiarum
• 1655 Hobbes, De Corpore
• 1655 Wallis, Elenchus geometriae Hobbianae
• 1656 Hobbes, Six Lessons to the Professors of the Mathematics
• 1656 Hobbes, De Corpore, English edition
• 1656 Wallis, Due correction for Mr Hobbes
• 1656 Ward, In Thomae Hobbii philosophiam exercitatio epistolica
• 1657 Hobbes, Marks of the Absurd Geometry, Rural Language, Scottish Church Politics, and Barbarisms of John Wallis
• 1657 Wallis, Hobbiani puncti dispunctio
• 1657 Wallis, Mathesis universalis
• 1660 Hobbes, Examinatio et emendatio mathematicae hodiernae qualis explicatur in libris Johannis Wallisii
• 1660 Boyle, New Experiments touching the Spring of the Air
• 1661 Hobbes, Dialogus physicus, sive De natura aeris
• 1662 Wallis, Hobbius heauton-timorumenos
• 1662 Boyle, An examen of Mr. T. Hobbes his Dialogus Physicus de Natura Aeris
• 1662 Hobbes, Considerations upon the Reputation, Loyalty, Manners and Religion of Thomas Hobbes's
• 1674 Boyle, Animadversions upon Mr. Hobbes's Problemata de Vacuo