The role of the Cabinets of Curiosities in the development of the modern museums: A philosophical approach

The Cabinets of Curiosities as the early precursors for the modern museums have been appeared in the Renaissance period. In this historical prelude the medieval theological doctrines of nature and universe have been subjected to the criticism in all aspects. Although the substantial denouncements against medieval thoughts have appeared in the art and the literature at first, the devastating ideas came up from the philosophers of nature. The Renaissance man was seeking for a new understanding of the universe. The Cabinets of Curiosities have flourished as a concomitant of the philosophical attitudes of the intellectuals of the Renaissance. Philosophers of nature have raised the importance of the observation and the experiment in acquiring the knowledge. The significance of the Cabinets of Curiosities appears as contributing to this new method of acquiring the knowledge by their collections which is the repository of the samples of nature. In this study, it will be argued that there was a mutual relationship between the Cabinet of the Curiosities and the natural philosophy in Renaissance which the resultant was the formation of the secular knowledge. It will be concluded that the secularization of the knowledge was the provision of the establishment of the modern museums. Keywords: Cabinets of Curiosities, Renaissance, Museum, Philosophy, Knowledge