ABSTRACT
When the new scientific method destroyed the idea of a universe arranged in relation to an ultimate end, it invalidated at the same time a hierarchical social system in which the pursuits and aspirations of the individual were predetermined by final causes. The new science, “neutral” as it was, ignored an organization of life which deprived the large majority of mankind of its freedom. In the course of its effort to establish the physical and mathematical structure of the universe, it had also to disclaim any concern for the concrete individual, the perceptible “body.” Such a process of abstraction was fully validated by its result-a logical system of propositions governing the methodical utilization and transformation of nature, with the aim of turning it into a universe controlled by human power.
