焦尔达诺·布鲁诺Giordano Bruno

焦尔达诺·布鲁诺的父亲Giovanni Bruno是一名职业军人，娶了Fraulissa Savolino。他们给儿子施洗时取名Filippo Bruno，但后来Filippo被称为“Il Nolano”，这是根据他出生的小镇命名的，该镇位于维苏威火山东北坡。直到17岁进入那不勒斯的圣多明我大修道院（托马斯·阿奎那曾在此任教）时，Filippo才取了布鲁诺这个名字。

布鲁诺14岁时离开家乡诺拉，前往附近的那不勒斯求学。他在那不勒斯听人文学科、逻辑学和辩证法的讲座，正是在这时，他受到一位老师的影响而倾向阿威罗伊主义。这是基于通过穆斯林哲学家阿威罗伊对亚里士多德著作的解释而形成的基督教哲学。其基本信念是理性和哲学高于信仰以及建立在信仰之上的知识。我们在讲述布鲁诺生平的故事时将会看到，他如何继续受到阿威罗伊主义思想的影响。

在那不勒斯学习之后，布鲁诺于1565年进入圣多明我·马焦雷修道院，此时取名布鲁诺。他的观点被修道院中的许多人认为是异端，但尽管如此，他于1572年被任命为天主教神父。回到圣多明我·马焦雷修道院后，他修读神学课程，完成了那里的全部课程，但他对呈现给他的基督教教义中的某些要点感到不安。他后来写道，这种教义：-

……试图把我从更有价值、更高尚的事务中拉走，把我的精神锁上枷锁，把一个在美德服务中的自由人变成一套可悲而愚蠢的欺骗体系的奴隶。

布鲁诺从不接受所教的东西而不深入探究相反的观点，他阅读了各种被禁的文本，尤其讨论了阿里乌主义。这种信仰认为基督低于上帝，但高于人，使他具有神性但不是上帝。教会开始准备以异端罪审判布鲁诺，但他在1576年2月逃往罗马，从而避免了审判。事情越来越糟，因为在罗马他被诬告谋杀，所以他在1576年4月再次逃跑，以避免另一次即将到来的开除教籍的企图。

最终到了日内瓦，布鲁诺加入了加尔文宗，但他很快发现，该宗对自由思想者的宽容并不比罗马天主教会多。他在日内瓦被捕，被加尔文宗开除教籍，但在他撤回主张后，又被允许重新加入该教会，随后得以自由离开日内瓦。他前往法国，在图卢兹时试图重新加入天主教会，但他的申请被拒绝。他从那里去了里昂，在那里写下了关于记忆术的Clavis Magna，这是他专攻的一个主题。1581年，他前往巴黎，布鲁诺成为巴黎大学的哲学讲师，在那里他继续发展他的记忆训练术。

巴黎似乎为布鲁诺的问题提供了一个答案，因为他的观点在那里并未被视为问题。相反，他得到了法国国王亨利三世的青睐，后者于1582年任命他为皇家讲师。次年，布鲁诺带着亨利三世亲自提供的介绍信前往伦敦。牛津似乎是一个对布鲁诺颇具吸引力的学术之地，他于1583年夏天访问了那里，并就尼古拉·哥白尼关于地球围绕固定太阳旋转的理论进行了一系列讲座。牛津大学的学者们认为不可接受的，可能更多是布鲁诺的态度而非他的科学信念，布鲁诺别无选择，只能返回伦敦。他似乎有一种与人发生争执的本事，甚至包括那些与他观点相似的人。然而，一位在牛津听过他讲座的本科生是Francis Godwin，他因此写下了英国文学中第一个太空旅行故事The Man in the Moone。

回到伦敦后，布鲁诺很快在伊丽莎白一世的宫廷中受到青睐，并结交了许多极具影响力的朋友。他继续讨论尼古拉·哥白尼的理论，但与几位博学之士的讨论却演变成了一场争吵。此时，布鲁诺决定写下自己的想法，他以三篇关于宇宙论的对话和三篇关于道德的对话的形式完成了这一工作。他关于宇宙论的想法相当卓越，因为他不仅主张地球在运动，还主张宇宙是无限的，其中包含像太阳一样的其他恒星和像地球一样的其他世界。当然，布鲁诺意识到这与《圣经》版本的宇宙相矛盾，但他提出了与伽利略几年后相同的论点，即《圣经》应被视为提供道德教诲，而非物理学教诲。在著作中，布鲁诺还论证基督教是一种通过信仰而非通过哲学或科学推理来持守的宗教。

布鲁诺在这些著作中也抨击了亚里士多德的物理学，而在他1585年10月返回巴黎后，这些观点再次给他带来了麻烦。作为解释，我们应当说明，由于13世纪的Thomas Aquinas，亚里士多德的哲学和物理学已被吸收进基督教。到布鲁诺返回巴黎时，气氛已经改变。他先前所经历的那种宽容面貌已经消失，取而代之的是各宗教派别之间的斗争。布鲁诺从不是一个低调的人，他公开讲演，反对亚里士多德的观点。他还攻击了一位年轻的天主教数学家Fabrizio Mordente，出版了四篇对话，嘲笑Mordente的观点。布鲁诺被迫离开巴黎，前往德国，在那里游历各大学，宣讲自己的信念，并抨击数学家和哲学家的观点。

他主张不同的基督教教会应当被允许共存，并且应当尊重彼此的观点。在我们看来，这算不上什么大罪，但在当时盛行的宗教氛围中却并不受欢迎。他关于教会之间和平的教导，导致他于1589年1月在赫尔姆施泰特期间被路德教会开除教籍。他留在赫尔姆施泰特，在那里写了一些文本和诗歌，内容最好被描述为数学魔法，但正如他许多作品一样，这些作品在魔法之中也包含了一些非凡的洞见，其中包括关于物质的原子论。布鲁诺于1590年前往法兰克福，希望在那里出版这些作品，但他在该城并不受欢迎。他曾在一座加尔默罗会修道院住了一段时间，并继续就自己的观点发表演讲。

第二年，布鲁诺受邀返回意大利，他以为在严厉的教皇西克斯图斯五世去世后，天主教会如今更为宽容，于是接受了邀请。许多人认为，这一邀请是一个把他带到宗教裁判所面前的圈套，而布鲁诺上当了。他显然知道帕多瓦正在物色数学讲席的人选，而布鲁诺认为这正好会给他一个平台，让他想要更广泛传播自己的观点。他前往帕多瓦，在那里写下了Lectures on Geometry和Art of Deformation。此时他还在帕多瓦为德国学生私下授课。然而到1591年末，帕多瓦大学向布鲁诺明确表示，他们希望由伽利略来填补空缺的数学讲席，而不是他。布鲁诺随后前往威尼斯，在那里成为莫切尼戈的客人，莫切尼戈是威尼斯共和国最著名的贵族家族之一。正是莫切尼戈以书面指控把他交给了宗教裁判所，因此许多人觉得他们是用邀请设下圈套骗了他。

他参与了与那些和他持相同观点的人的讨论，即自然哲学的研究应当被允许，即使它导致教会不接受的观点。他因此成为威尼斯宗教裁判所的明显目标，并于1592年5月22日被逮捕。他一直倡导“Libertas philosophica”——思考和从事哲学的自由。随后进行了审判，在审判中布鲁诺为自己有权持有关于宇宙本质的观点辩护，他声称这些观点并非神学观点。看起来他的论证路线即将获胜，但就在这时，罗马宗教裁判所要求把他送往罗马，由他们审判。

1593年1月，布鲁诺抵达罗马，他的审判开始了，这场审判拖了七年。起初，布鲁诺用他在威尼斯宗教裁判所受审时用过的同样论据为自己辩护。然而，罗马宗教裁判所宣布，他在物理学和宇宙学上的观点是神学性的，并要求他撤回。布鲁诺非常诚实地回答说，他不知道要求他撤回什么，试图说服宗教裁判所，他的观点与基督教一致。教皇克莱门特八世要求将布鲁诺判为异端，宗教裁判所对他作出了死刑判决。听到判决时，他回应道：——

也许你们对我作出判决时的恐惧，比我接受判决时的恐惧更大。

他被堵住嘴，以免旁观者被他的任何异端言论所诱惑，并于1600年2月17日在鲜花广场被活活烧死。现在普遍记载，布鲁诺因相信宇宙是无限的而被烧死在火刑柱上，但正如我们所看到的，整个事件远比这复杂得多。以一种奇怪的方式，布鲁诺几乎像是在挑战宗教裁判所审判他。也许他认为这会给他提供一个尽可能好的平台，让他的信仰为人所知。

很难对布鲁诺的观点作出准确评估。当然，他提出了一些因其灵感般的洞察力而相当非凡的想法。在On Cause, Principle, and Unity中，他写道：——

整个地球，这颗恒星，不会消亡，自然界中任何地方都不可能有消解和湮灭，它通过改变和更替其所有部分而时时更新自身。没有绝对的上下，正如亚里士多德所教导的；空间中没有绝对的位置；但一个物体的位置是相对于其他物体的位置而言的。宇宙中处处存在着不停息的相对位置变化，而观察者始终处于事物的中心。

其他洞见令当今的物理学家惊叹，他们能在布鲁诺的著作中看到量子理论的思想。然而，另一些人认为，他的著作中混入了大量魔法内容，这削弱了那些非凡洞见的重要性。布鲁诺的成就被贬低的另一个原因是，他在数学和科学方面的知识并不那么渊博，这使得一些历史学家倾向于认为他的洞见更多是运气而非理解。一些人视他为科学的殉道者，而另一些人则认为他的行为愚蠢，并这样描述他：-

……才华横溢、好争论，并最终自我毁灭。

Giordano Bruno's father, Giovanni Bruno, was a professional soldier who married Fraulissa Savolino. They baptised their son Filippo Bruno but later Filippo was called "Il Nolano" after the town of his birth which stands on the northeastern slope of Vesuvius. Only at the age of 17 when he entered the Dominican convent of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, where Thomas Aquinas had taught, did Filippo take the name Giordano.

Bruno left his home town of Nola to travel to nearby Naples when he was 14 years old to study there. He attended lectures on humanities, logic and dialectics in Naples and it was at this time that he was influenced by one of his teachers towards Averroism. This was Christian philosophy based on an interpretation of Aristotle's works through the Muslim philosopher Averroes. Its basic belief was that reason and philosophy are superior to faith and knowledge founded on faith. We shall see as we relate the story of Bruno's life how he continued to be influenced by the ideas of Averroism.

After his studies in Naples, Bruno entered the Dominican convent of San Domenico Maggiore in 1565 taking at this time the name Giordano. His views were considered heretical by many in the convent, but nevertheless he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1572. Returning to San Domenico Maggiore he took courses on theology, completing the full range of course there, but he was upset by certain points in the Christian teaching which was presented to him. He wrote later that the teaching:-

... attempted to draw me from worthier and higher occupations, to lay my spirit in chains, and from a free man in the service of virtue to make me the slave of a miserable and foolish system of deceit.

Never one to accept what he was taught without probing deeper into contrary views, Bruno read various banned texts and in particular discussed Arianism. This was the belief that Christ was inferior to God, but greater than man, making him divine but not God. The Church began to prepare to try Bruno for heresy but he avoided the trial by fleeing to Rome in February 1576. Things went from bad to worse, for in Rome he was falsely accused of murder so in April 1576 he fled again to avoid another impending attempt to excommunicate him.

Ending up in Geneva, Bruno joined the Calvinist Church, but he soon discovered that this was no more tolerant of free thinkers than was the Roman Catholic Church. Arrested in Geneva, he found himself excommunicated from the Calvinist Church but after retracting he was allowed back into the that Church and was then free to leave Geneva. He went to France where he attempted to rejoin the Catholic Church while in Toulouse but his application was refused. From there he went to Lyon where he wrote Clavis Magna on the art of remembering which was a topic he specialised in. Moving on to Paris in 1581 Bruno became a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Paris where he continued to develop his art of memory-training.

Paris seemed to provide an answer to Bruno's problems for his views were not seen to be a problem there. On the contrary he found favour with the French King Henry III who appointed him a Royal Lecturer in 1582. In the following year Bruno went to London with a letter of introduction supplied by Henry III himself. Oxford seemed a place of learning that looked attractive to Bruno who visited there in the summer of 1583 and gave a series of lecturers on Copernicus's theory that the Earth rotated round the fixed Sun. It was probably Bruno's attitude rather than his scientific beliefs which were found unacceptable by the scholars of Oxford University and Bruno had little option but to return to London. He seems to have had a knack of falling out with people, even those with similar views to his own. However, one undergraduate student who attended his lectures in Oxford was Francis Godwin, who, as a consequence, wrote the first story of space travel in English literature The Man in the Moone.

Back in London, Bruno was soon in favour at the court of Elizabeth I and he made a number of highly influential friends. He continued to discuss Copernicus's theory but his discussions with several learned men degenerated into a quarrel. At this point Bruno decided to write down his ideas and this he did in three dialogues on cosmology and three dialogues on morality. His ideas on cosmology are quite remarkable for he not only argued for a moving Earth, but he also argued for an infinite universe containing other stars like the Sun and other worlds like the Earth. Of course Bruno was aware that this contradicted the Biblical version of the universe, but he put forward the same argument as Galileo would some years later, namely that the Bible should be seen as providing moral teaching, not the teaching of physics. In his writings Bruno also argues that Christianity is a religion which is held through faith, not through philosophical or scientific reasoning.

Bruno also attacked Aristotle's physics in these works and, after he returned to Paris in October 1585, these views were to land him in trouble again. We should comment by way of explanation that due to Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, Aristotle's philosophy and physics had become absorbed into Christianity. By the time Bruno returned to Paris the atmosphere had changed. The tolerant face which he had experienced before had gone and in its place there were struggles between the various religious factions. Bruno was never one to keep his head down, and he lectured publicly opposing the views of Aristotle. He also attacked a young Catholic mathematician Fabrizio Mordente, publishing four dialogues which made fun of Mordente's views. Bruno was forced to leave Paris and he went to Germany where he travelled around the universities lecturing on his beliefs, and attacking the views of mathematicians and philosophers.

His teachings that different Christian Churches should be allowed to coexist and that they should respect each others views does not look to our eyes a major crime but it did not go down well in the religious climate which then prevailed. His teachings of peace between churches led to his being excommunicated from the Lutheran Church in January 1589 while he was in Helmstedt. He remained in Helmstedt where he wrote a number of texts and poems on what can best be described as mathematical magic but, like so much of his work, they contain some remarkable insights among the magic, including an atomic theory for matter. Bruno went to Frankfurt in 1590 where he hoped to publish these works but was not welcome in the town. He lived for a while in a Carmelite convent and continued to lecture on his views.

In the following year Bruno was invited to return to Italy and, thinking that the Catholic Church was now more tolerant following the death of the strict Pope Sixtus V, he accepted. Many believe that the invitation was a trick to bring him before the Inquisition, and Bruno fell for it. He was clearly aware that Padua were looking to fill the chair of mathematics and Bruno thought that this would give him just the platform he wanted to make his views more widely known. He went to Padua where he wrote Lectures on Geometry and Art of Deformation. He also taught a private course for German students in Padua at this time. However by late 1591 the University of Padua made it clear to Bruno that they wanted Galileo to fill the vacant chair mathematics and not him. Bruno then went to Venice where he was a guest of Mocenigo, one of the most famous patrician families of the Venetian Republic. It was Mocenigo who handed him over to the Inquisition with written accusations, which is why many feel that they tricked him with the invitation.

Involved in discussions with those who shared his views that investigation of natural philosophy should be possible even if it led to ideas which were not accepted by the Church, he was an obvious target for the Venetian Inquisition which had him arrested on 22 May 1592. He had always advocated "Libertas philosophica" - the freedom to think and to make philosophy. A trial was set up at which Bruno defended his right to hold views on the nature of the universe which, he claimed, were not theological. It appeared that his line of argument was going to win the day, but at this point the Roman Inquisition demanded that he be sent to Rome to be tried by them.

In January 1593 Bruno arrived in Rome and his trial began which was to drag on for seven years. At first Bruno defended himself with the same arguments as he had used when tried by the Venetian Inquisition. The Roman Inquisition, however, declared that his views on physics and cosmology were theological and demanded that he retract. Bruno answered quite honestly that he did not know what he was being asked to retract, trying to convince the Inquisition that his views were in accord with Christianity. Pope Clement VIII demanded that Bruno be sentenced as a heretic and the Inquisition passed the death sentence on him. On hearing the sentence he responded:-

Perhaps your fear in passing judgment on me is greater than mine in receiving it.

He was gagged so that onlookers would not be seduced by any of his heretical statements and burned alive at the Campo de' Fiori on 17 February 1600. It is now generally recorded that Bruno was burned at the stake for his belief that the universe is infinite, but as we have seen the whole affair was considerably more complicated than that. In a strange way Bruno almost seems to have challenged the Inquisition to try him. Perhaps he thought this would give him the best possible platform from which to make his beliefs known.

It is hard to give an accurate assessment of Bruno's views. Certainly he presented some ideas which are quite remarkable for their inspired insight. In On Cause, Principle, and Unity he wrote:-

This entire globe, this star, not being subject to death, and dissolution and annihilation being impossible anywhere in Nature, from time to time renews itself by changing and altering all its parts. There is no absolute up or down, as Aristotle taught; no absolute position in space; but the position of a body is relative to that of other bodies. Everywhere there is incessant relative change in position throughout the universe, and the observer is always at the centre of things.

Other insights amaze physicists today who can see ideas of quantum theory in Bruno's writings. However, others feel that the inclusion of much which is magic into his works minimises the importance of those remarkable insights. Another reason for Bruno to be downgraded for his achievements is that his knowledge of mathematics and science was not that great and this makes some historians tend to believe that his insights were more luck than understanding. He is seen by some to be a martyr for science, while others see his actions as foolish and describe him as:-

... brilliant, contentious, and ultimately self-destructive.