Technometry

Thesis 1. Art is the idea of eupraxia or good action, methodically delineated by universal rules. Beginning with thesis 38, Ames focuses on the last part of his definition of art: methodically delineated by universal rules.  ...methodically delineated...   Since arts are governing ideas, force is assumed by their governance.  Ames says that the best-known force of art is its delineations.  What is a delineation?  It is an accurate representation, picture, or outline of something.  A map is an example of a delineation of a country.  A biography is a delineation of a character.  Each art has many delineations.  Even though each art is singularly conceived by God, each is unraveled and perceived by us in many different ways. The representative matter, or delineations, of each art represents the good work of each art "faithfully and without any deceit" (thesis 38).  We can get a clear picture of the arts conceived by God by studying the representative matter.  We can get a

While on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I visited an unbelieving family member.  He explained to me his belief that humanity moved from riding on horseback 200 years ago, to using smartphones now, because space aliens intervened and gave us secret technological knowledge.  But I've found a better explanation for modern tech than space aliens. Ames' Technometry provides a bridge (one of several, but an important one) from the medieval world to our modern, technologically advanced era.  This section on euprattomenon is the girder of this bridge.  The Puritans were adamant that good works must come from good ideas.  Ames taught that since a rational God created good works, we humans can study His rationality and use that knowledge to create good works.  And beyond basic morality, good works produce good  things.   Puritans encouraged the creation of systems of knowledge so that people could learn concrete bodies of knowledge (science), along with the liberal arts, in as efficie