Galileo Essay

Historically, Gallileo Galilei had a multitude of identites. To the Catholic Church he was a heretic. To religious reformers, Galileo was bastion of truth and chapion of the the individual. But who was galileo, in his own mind? It may be impossible to determine what the historical Galieo thought of himself; however making inferences and even creating and entire identity from what is known about the man can be a fruitful journey into the human soul. The is exactly what German Dramatist Bertolt Brecht has done in his laudable play "Life of Galileo." This recreation of Galileo depicts his struggle to find his place within the tumultuous atmpsphere of the fledgling Italian Renaissance. As the play progresses, the audience witnesses Galileo being pulled between established authourity of the church and rising influence of free thought. However even he cannot eslcape the influence of the church, the most powerful and pervasive gonverning body of the era.

Galileo’s struggle, and the struggle of his period in history, is with the challenge of truth. Rather, it is the challenfe of whether to accept the world as it has been portrayed for him or to attempt to understand the world around him in order to determine his own truth. How does Brect portray this challenge? The answer is quite emphatically one-sided. As galieo states, “The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom,but to set a limit to infinite error.”¹ Within this simple statement Brecht highlights the very nature of both sides of the struggle. Here Brecht recognizes two absolutely imperative themes. First science, and free thought by extension, cannot and will not immediately grant a total understanding of the world. Furthermore, the scientific process is a process ...

... middle of paper ...

... dilemma in the above quotation. Where G can see the obvios and ievitable nature of “truth”, those who would not realize its power are prone to attack it. There is a particularly interesting aspect of this excerpt. The point at which G states that “judgement” is a hurdle to those who wish to combat lies. This passage implies that there are those who would, and might already have, use truth and reason ineffectively and appositionally. Could this be an allusion to another character?

Both the scientific and religious influences have a powerful impact on G during the course of the play. However, the most important influence on G is surely himself. G does not see himself as a hero or a villain. Instead, G is motivated purely by self interest. ⁴ this might seem anticlimactic, when discussing “nations” and popes. However, G is fulfilling his purpose. He is treating himself