Revolutionary Politics and Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" (review)

668 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY ~6:4OCTOBER 1988 hydrostatic balance, the sector compass, lodestone, thermoscope, telescope, microscope , a navigational instrument, and, finally, a pendulum escapement which, through the efforts of Viviani, was finally embodied in the great clock in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, where it continues to keep time to this day. The remainder of the essays return to the issues of Galileo's defense of the Copernican theory, and his resulting trial and condemnation. Their conclusions are at variance with those offered by Wallace and Moss, sometimes explicitly. The first of these is a succinct and moving account by Owen Gingerich of Galileo's astronomical discoveries and their significance as reasons for the choice of the Copernican system. He discusses the role this choice played in the trial and subsequent condemnation , and concludes with an appreciation of Galileo's methodological contributions, including his recognition that science can proceed only with the probable, never having access to absolute proofs. Next is an evocative reexamination by Stillman Drake of Galileo's Dialogue. Some thirty years after he translated the work, Drake writes that he has only now come to understand it. Put briefly, the essence of this new understanding is that Galileo's mature physics was substantially correct, and that the elementary blunders in science he was charged with are illusory. Consequently, Drake is no longer willing to accept the "usual" assumptions of"overzealous Copernicanism, defective scientificjudgment, and insincerity of purpose on Galileo's part." Drake builds an impressive case, although he has not retreated from his cheerful animus against philosophy and philosophers. A small gem is the account by Bernardino Bonansea of the little-known but courageous defense of Galileo offered by Tommaso Campanella while he was himself imprisoned on suspicion of heresy. Lastly, Maurice Finocchiaro offers an interpretation of those of Galileo's arguments which seem only rhetorical to Wallace and Moss, seeking to demonstrate their relevance to the merits of Galileo's case and the broader problems of the Church and freedom of inquiry. He also raises fundamental questions about the theological, legal, and scientific bases of the trial, reminding us that the crime of Galileo was to be "vehemently suspected" of heresy. The only misprint I noted appears on page x72, in Drake's essay: in 1592 Galileo moved from Pisa to Padua, not to Florence. Printed in large, clear type, with several illustrations, the book is well-bound, and has a useful index which bridges all the essays. DAVID GRUENDER The FloridaState University Richard Ashcraft. RevolutionaryPoliticsand Locke's"Two Treatisesof Government." Princeton : Princeton University Press. 1986. Pp. xxii + 6~ 3. Cloth, $65.oo. Paper, $15.oo. Locke's famous picture of himself in the Essay ConcerningHuman Understandingas an underlaborer for the likes of Boyle and Newton does, I believe, reveal an important BOOK REVIEWS 669 aspect of his character which takes us deeply into his whole intellectual style. It is that Locke saw himself primarily in the role of an assistant, an aide rather than a general. Thus we find him as junior partner to Boyle and Sydenham in science and medicine and as secretary to Shaftesbury in politics. It is, ! suspect, because of this trait, that this important and deeply researched book had to be written. For, despite the mass of papers which he left us, it is often not easy to trace Locke's activities in his central interests for two reasons. The first is that he failed to appreciate the worth of his own contribution and therefore failed to identify it clearly. The second had other causes; he was well aware that his own views were often too radical to allow him the peaceable life he sought if they were known. His theological views fall into the latter category, his medical research into the former. His political opinions fall into both. Ashcraft's thesis includes the claim that we can only understand a text in political theory if we see it from within the context in which it was written. The book amply justifies that claim with respect to Locke's Two Treatises. It does much more besides, for it adds considerably to our knowledge of a crucial period in...