José Celestino Mutis and the defence of the Copernican system in the Viceroyalty of New Granada

José Celestino Mutis is mostly known for his activities as Director of the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada between 1783 and 1808. However, before he was appointed Director of it, he created the first chair on mathematics in the Viceroyalty in which, in the frame of his defence of the utility of mathematics and the introduction of Newton’s physics, he presented and advocated for the Copernican System. In so doing, he had to face a Galilean-like process by the Dominicans, who accused him of heresy. In this paper, I analyse Mutis’ Galilean argumentative strategy in his defence of the Copernican system as well as the political and socio-cultural implications of his debate with the Dominicans.