Jean-Robert Chouet e le Experiences sur la nature et les effets du venin des viperes

Jean-Robert Chouet is known for having introduced the Cartesian philosophy first to the Academy of Saumur and then to that of Geneva. This article focuses on Chouet’s activity as experimental scientist through the analysis of his unpublished manuscript entitled Expériences sur la nature et les effets du venin des vipères (1671). By relying on experimentation to take a position on the lively quarrel between Francesco Redi and Moyse Charas, Chouet recognises the important role played by experience alongside reason in natural philosophy. Although it would be incorrect to compare him to a radical empiricist like Redi, Chouet can certainly be related to Jacques Rohault for his penchant to combine reasoning and observation.