Abstract
Over a series of “emblematic episodes” (p. 109), Aviva Rothman traces the career of Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) and his theory of world harmony. At the heart of her analysis are the ideological principles that prompted Kepler to recast his role as a mathematician and citizen of learned society. In the span of six chapters, Kepler is shown to support a community “characterized by multiple perspectives and practices” (p. 179), where members could mend their differences by heeding the harmony of the heavens. The result is a revolutionary vision that ran counter to the raging discord of the day. Plagued by religious persecution and surrounded by political uncertainty, Kepler relied on the resources of mathematics and moral philosophy to promote the prosperity of church and state through a plurality of opinions and polyphony of voices. Rothman structures her highly detailed account around different categories and communities whose boundaries Kepler blurred in his bold emphasis on dissent as a defining characteristic of peace. In closing, Rothman encourages her readers to regard the moral ideals of Kepler as still “worth embracing” today (p. 282).
Rothman thoughtfully explains the metaphysical ideas that inspired Kepler on his quest for harmony. In Chapter 1, she argues that Kepler first broke with his Lutheran brethren on the basis of metaphysics to embrace the Calvinist position on the Eucharist. Metaphysics, Rothman declares, “dictated his theology” at the dawn of his career (p. 64). In Chapter 2, we learn that Kepler left room for doubt, however, regarding the root of his decision. He was torn over the nature of communion from the tender age of 13. The position of the Calvinists “seemed more sensible” to the young seminarian (p. 70), since it fulfilled the biblical account more faithfully. In her examination of his excommunication years later by a local pastor in Linz, Rothman states that Kepler sought to reunify the Christian religion in a way that “embraced all confessions equally” (p. 30). She recounts the moving exchange between Kepler and Matthias Hafenreffer (1561–1619), who showed compassion for Kepler but ultimately supported his sentence. Despite the modern appeal of his mission, Kepler answered to “the narrow lens” of his religious leaders (p. 144).
How might Lutheran authorities have reversed their response to Kepler? Few, if any, viewed his rebellion as a “small splinter” in “the larger body of the church” (p. 75). On the eve of the Thirty Years’ War, Kepler reinterpreted sacred doctrine in rival terms on the basis of his own reasoning. While Rothman is right to explore the many factors that played a part in his exclusion, communion did not simply represent one of several “contentious issues” at stake (p. 100). The nature and presence of Christ was a source of debate that divided the confessions deeply, and Kepler refused to return to the fold by accepting faith over the “folly of reason.” Down to his last letter to Hafenreffer, Kepler denied the Lutheran doctrine of ubiquity, mocking his mentor sarcastically. “Enough with you and your fantasies,” Hafenreffer finally replied in frustration. Yet how did Kepler envision a church that failed to reach a consensus around their central figure? As much as we might welcome a society sewn by “communal diversity” (p. 179), some threads of thought must tie the fabric together.
Rothman turns to the Catholic Church in Chapter 3, where we discover how Kepler reconciled his religious differences with Rome. According to Rothman, Kepler separated participation in a broader community of believers from “questions of faith,” accommodating “multiple perspectives” on reverence and ritual (p. 142). She reasons that Kepler endorsed adversity and error as essential ingredients of a religious community because he believed the church, “as it existed on earth,” was “only a human construct.” (p. 144). In Chapter 4, the accommodation of varying theological views resonates with the different rhetorical devices that Kepler deployed to defend the heliocentric hypothesis. In a fresh look at his relationship with Galileo, Rothman improves our understanding of the many tactics and techniques that Kepler encouraged Galileo to employ in their common campaign for a new cosmology. The greater purpose of global harmony returns to centre stage in Chapter 5, as Rothman demonstrates how a political digression in The Harmony of the World (1619) proved “centrally relevant” to his project (p. 210). It is her view that any hint of vagueness in his work was, in fact, “a political stance guided by harmony” (p. 214).
In her final chapter, Rothman considers the solution that Kepler privately reached to resolve the calendar dispute. True to form, Kepler arrived at an ecumenical alternative that synchronized the celebration of Easter while respecting the chronological differences of doctrine and practice between Catholics and Protestants. According to Rothman, it is no coincidence that Kepler chose to frame his view of the calendar in the form of a dialogue. On every front, Kepler welcomed discourse and discerned commonality in conflict among his contemporaries. In fact, the conclusions of this study resonate with the recent work of Ulinka Rublack, where a more hopeful and humane Kepler successfully acquits his mother of witchcraft. Through a rare command of the arts and sciences, Kepler regarded differences of opinion as the result of a deeper truth that demanded tolerance rather than opposition. Equally important was his defence of “inclusivity” (p. 256), on view among the many venues where Kepler spied a higher sense of harmony. In the end, Rothman provides a probing account of Kepler and the enduring themes of community and compassion that finally spell the last gasp of the lone genius.