I do not cover all aspects of Boyle's empirical epistemology in detail in this book because there have already been a number of excellent studies on the topic. In this chapter, therefore, I limit myself to a discussion of the various ways in which Boyle believed he could attain knowledge of the created world. Specifically, I discuss Boyle's views on scriptural revelation, personal revelation, abstract reason (including innate ideas, which, having their origin in God, might be construed as a form of revelation), and sensory perception as possible sources of knowledge about the created world.

Scriptural Revelation

In Defence of the Doctrine Touching the Spring and Weight of the Air … Against the Objections of Franciscus Linus (1662), Boyle stated that there are only two ways of obtaining knowledge of the created world: sense perception and revelation. Linus had attempted an explication of the “rota aristotelica” in which he appealed (among other things) to the motion of angels. To this Boyle, replied that

It is not clear whether by “immediate revelation” about the actions of angels Boyle meant personal revelation or scriptural revelation. Because he viewed these as two distinct sources of knowledge, I examine them separately, beginning with scriptural revelation.

Boyle believed that scripture revealed knowledge of the created world only about matters that are not knowable by other means, such as the origin and ultimate destiny of the world.