Galileo’s Considerations on the Copernican Opinion Analysis

Galileo’s Considerations on the Copernican Opinion Analysis
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Galileo’s considerations on the Copernican opinion Analysis
Catholic church supported a proposal by Aristotle and Ptolemy. The proposal placed the Earth at the center of the universe. However, it was countered by astronomer Nicolai Copernicus's proposal in the 16th century, which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system. This new model by Copernicus called the heliocentric system proposed that the Earth is the third planet, and it revolves around the Sun annually and turns once daily on its axis. Religious authorities condemned this new model by Copernicus, and there were several attempts by religious scholars to argue against it. It, however, became accepted and gained supporters; Galileo Galilei is one of them. This paper analyzes Galileo's responses to Bellarmine and what he thinks of Bellarmine's idea of using Copernicanism to keep up appearances without establishing facts.[Galilei, Galileo. The Galileo affair: a documentary history. Vol. 1. Univ. of California Press, 1989.]
Cardinal Bellarmine, one of the critics of the Copernicus model of a heliocentric system, suggested that it was satisfactory to keep Copernicanism as a working hypothesis. Even if they cannot prove the proposal, they should proceed cautiously in explaining sections of the scripture which appear to teach the contrary.
In the text, Galileo responds directly to Bellarmine that rejection of the Ptolemic system was not due to Copernicus's use of eccentrics and epicycles, as they undoubtedly exist in the heavens, but due to other difficulties. He also maintains that philosophers should not get displeased but instead learn that they could be wrong and show appreciation to whoever was trying to show the truth. He argues that it was never the intention of Catholic astronomers, himself included, to falsify scripture and rather maintains that the scripture is inconsistent with the established facts about nature. He also cautions religious officials who do not study astronomy to be careful about manipulating scripture by interpreting it in a manner opposed to propositions that may be true and affir...