S Scientia in the Renaissance, Concept of Tamás Demeter 1 , Benedek Láng 2 and Dániel Schmal 3 1 Hungarian Academy of Sciences, University of Pécs, Budapest, Hungary 2 Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary 3 Péter Pázmány Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary Abstract “Scientia” is a long-standing heritage of Aris- totelian logic and denotes an epistemic ideal pursued through several centuries. According to Aristotle’ s (1984) Posterior Analytics, knowledge that conforms to this ideal must consist of propositions that are universally and necessarily true. This necessity can be demonstrated through syllogistic inferences that proceed from premises containing the cause of the conclusion. Accordingly, scientia consisted in a systematic, demonstrative pre- sentation of why things behave the way they do, and not in the discovery of the causes from which demonstrations followed. This ideal started to erode in the Renaissance period. Its various aspects had been challenged and alter- native ideals of inquiry had been proposed. As the emphasis shifted from the demonstration of phenomena in accordance with Aristotelian logic and metaphysics to the production of useful knowledge and the standards of intelli- gibility changed, the idea of scientia would be gradually abandoned. Syllogistic inference had been increasingly criticized as incapable of producing useful knowledge, and explanations that appealed to Aristotelian essences started to be perceived as empty or unintelligible. The increasing commitment to observation and experimental practices and an ensuing “culture of fact” replaced the conviction that in natural philosophy there is room only for universally and necessary true propositions, and the devel- opment and usefulness of mathematical prac- tices shed doubt on syllogism as the only way through which demonstrative certainty could be achieved. Heritage and Rupture with the Tradition The ambiguity and heterogeneity of the modern term “science” is undeniable. Some put more emphasis on the instrumentality of potential tech- nological output, some on the nature-controlling aspect, some on the universal laws, some on experimental foundations and empirical method- ology, others on the institutional settings involv- ing laboratories, funding schemes, professionalization, and academies. None of these approaches is helpful in understanding what scientia meant in the period between 1350 and 1650. Scientia in the first part of this period referred to any body of certain theoretical # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 M. Sgarbi (ed.), Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_266-2