scholarly journals Thomas Browne and the Silent Text

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-130
Author(s):  
Jessica Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Philosophie Naturelle ◽  
Textual Silence ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Thomas Browne ◽  
Article Analyse

Throughout his writings, the physician and essayist Thomas Browne (1605–82) grapples with the problem of how and whether to interpret the silence of texts. His innovative solutions to the problem of “negative authority,” the term used in early modern theological debates over the significance, or lack thereof, vested in things omitted by the scriptures, challenge more conventional reformed defenses of scriptural perspicuity and also reveal how these hermeneutic puzzles in turn shape Browne’s understanding of the relationship between theology and natural philosophy and between rhetoric and logic. This article analyzes Browne’s idiosyncratic treatment of textual silence within its historical moment and also considers the interpretive challenges posed by omissions in Browne’s own writings, focusing in particular on his Pseudodoxia Epidemica. À travers son oeuvre, le médecin et essayiste Thomas Browne (1605–82) se demande s’il faut interpréter le silence des textes, et si oui, comment. À la question de « l’autorité négative », ainsi que le problème était nommé dans les débats théologiques de la première modernité — que signifient les silences et les omissions des Écritures, s'ils signifient quelque chose? — il répond de manière originale et défie les défenses réformées, plus conventionnelles, de la perspicacité scripturale ; ces réponses révèlent également l'influence de ces énigmes herméneutiques, en retour, sur la conception de Browne quant aux relations entre théologie et philosophie naturelle, ainsi qu' entre rhétorique et logique. Cet article analyse la façon spécifique dont Browne, dans son contexte historique, traite du silence textuel, et il considère les problèmes d’interprétation que posent les omissions dans les textes de Browne lui-même, en particulier dans son Pseudodoxia Epidemica.

ARISTOTELIANISM, DESCARTES, AND HOBBES

2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL EDWARDS
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The historiography of early modern Aristotelian philosophy and its relationship with its seventeenth-century critics, such as Hobbes and Descartes, has expanded in recent years. This article explores the dynamics of this project, focusing on a tendency to complicate and divide up the category of Aristotelianism into multiple ‘Aristotelianisms’, and the significance of this move for attempts to write a contextual history of the relationship of Hobbes and Descartes to their Aristotelian contemporaries and predecessors. In particular, it considers recent work on Cartesian and Hobbesian natural philosophy, and the ways in which historians have related the different forms of early modern Aristotelianism to the projects of the novatores.

scholarly journals “Encores me frissonne et tremble le coeur dedans sa capsule”: Rabelais’s Anatomy of Emotion and the Soul

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-58
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Lacore-Martin
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Ancient Philosophy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Animal Spirits ◽  
Philosophie Naturelle ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

This article examines the role of anatomical references in the representation of emotion and argues that they constitute textual markers of the Rabelaisian view of the relationship between the body and the soul, and the nature of the soul itself. By analyzing the ancient models of natural philosophy and medicine on which Rabelais draws—Galen, in particular—and by contextualizing Rabelais’s thinking within contemporary debates on the faculties of the soul, the article aims to shed light on his representation of the intersection between material and immaterial processes within the human body. Instead of trying to reconcile potentially contradictory aspects of these ancient models with the Christian faith, Rabelais’s prose is informed by an intuitive understanding of ancient philosophy. His exploitation of the Galenic concept of the animal spirits gives us invaluable insights into the influence of materialist representations of the soul on Rabelais’s thinking. Cet article étudie le rôle des références anatomiques dans la représentation rabelaisienne de l’émotion et propose d’y voir les marqueurs textuels de la façon dont Rabelais conçoit les rapports entre l’âme et le corps, et la nature de l’âme elle-même. En analysant les modèles anciens de la philosophie naturelle et de la médecine — Galien en particulier — dont Rabelais s’inspire et en situant sa pensée dans le contexte des débats contemporains sur les facultés de l’âme, l’article vise à éclairer la façon dont Rabelais représente l’intersection à l’intérieur du corps humain des processus matériels et immatériels. Sans chercher à réconcilier avec la foi chrétienne certains aspects de ces anciens modèles qui peuvent être en contradiction avec elle, la prose rabelaisienne porte la marque d’une compréhension intuitive de la philosophie ancienne. En particulier, l’exploitation de la conception galénique des esprits animaux donne de précieux aperçus concernant l’influence des représentations matérialistes de l’âme sur la pensée de Rabelais.

scholarly journals THE TRADITION OF ALCHEMICAL AND ASTROLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE WITHIN AND AROUND THEOPHAN PROKOPOVYCH’S LIBRARY

Skhid ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 51-58
Author(s):  
Kostiantyn RODYHIN ◽  
Mykhailo RODYHIN
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Physical Knowledge ◽  
Baroque Era ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Western Historiography

The important role of the alchemical and astrological tradition in the formation and trans-formation of science as a social institution in the Early Modern period is researched in detail in Western historiography of science. At the same time, the Ukrainian aspect of this pan-European phenomenon needs further intensive study.The article deals with the alchemical and astrological component of Ukrainian science of the High Baroque era on an example of Theophan Prokopovych (1677 – 1736). The analysis of the ca¬talog of Prokopovych’s library confirmed that the alchemical-astrological and magical-physical knowledge belonged to the sphere of interests of the scholar. His activity, in addi-tion to cosmogonic reasoning and mathematical calculations, also had a practical compo-nent. Books from the library’s holdings included works of late alchemy, which allowed Pro-kopovych to be aware of the latest ideas, trends, and achievements in this and related fields of knowledge. This is reflected in the formation of the worldview and creative work of the scholar.A comparison of the facts of biographies, the essence and direction of creativity, and the relationship of the authors mentioned in Prokopovych’s treatise “Natural Philosophy or Physics”, testified to the existence of the united pan-European scientific and information space, within which the tradition of late alchemy was formed and transformed during the 16th-18th centuries. Theophan Prokopovych also belonged to this tradition, and his works reflected the state and essence of Ukrainian alchemical knowledge of the High Baroque era. Prokopovych’s own views on problems of alchemy and astrology are a topic of special re-search.

Confessionalisation and Erudition in Early Modern Europe

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Sociology Of Knowledge ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Intellectual Activity ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

This volume examines the relationship between the history of scholarship and the history of Christianity in the early modern period. Leading British, American and continental scholars explore the ways in which erudition contributed to—or clashed with—the formation of confessional identities in the wake of the Reformation, at individual, institutional, national and international levels. Covering Catholics and Protestants in equal measure, the essays assess biblical criticism; the study of the church fathers; the ecclesiastical censorship of scholarly works; oriental studies and the engagement with Near Eastern languages, texts and communities; and the relationship between developments in scholarship and other domains, including practical piety, natural philosophy, and the universities and seminaries where most intellectual activity was still conducted. One of the volume’s main strengths is its chronological coverage. It begins with an unprecedentedly detailed and comprehensive review of the scholarly literature in this field and proceeds with case studies ranging from the early Reformation to the eighteenth century. The volume also features the publication of a remarkable new manuscript detailing Isaac Newton’s early theological studies in 1670s Cambridge. It will be of interest not only to early modern intellectual and religious historians, but also to those with broader interests in religious change, the reception of oriental and classical sources and traditions, the history of science, and in the sociology of knowledge.

scholarly journals God-Pantocrator and God-Coordinator: The Status of a Miracle in the Scientific Revolution

2021 ◽  
Vol V (4) ◽  
pp. 116-137
Author(s):  
Igor Dmitriev
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Scientific Revolution ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One ◽  
Theological Thought ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Reasoning By Analogy

Scientists and philosophers of the 17th century, with all the novelty of their ideas, at the same time were in no hurry to reject the concept of a miracle, although many of them, such as I. Newton, rejected the understanding of a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature, its “ordinary course”. On the whole, with regard to the Christian concept of the miracle in the natural philosophy of the early modern period, a very uncertain situation developed. On the one hand, in the era of the Scientific Revolution, there was a clear tendency to explain extraordinary phenomena by the action of natural causes, which in theology found its meaningful expression in the Protestant concept of the cessation of miracles (cessatio miraculorum) in post-apostolic times, and in philosophy (more precisely, in the philosophico-theological literature), especially in the teachings of B. Pascal, R. Descartes, B. Spinoza, D. Hume and other authors, in an effort to build a rational theology in which the status of a miracle turned out to be very uncertain. On the other hand, the difficulties that arose in science after I. Newton's discovery of the law of universal gravitation and associated with the problem of actio in distans, forced researchers to resort to theological concepts and images in natural-philosophical reasoning, in particular, to refer to the concept of a miracle. The latter circumstance required the development of a new understanding of miracles, namely the concept of “coincidence miracles”, which made it possible to preserve the apologetic functions of miracles and at the same time to neutralize the philosophical and theological criticism of the concept of miracle by B. Spinoza and D. Hume. My aim in this article is to demonstrate that the relationship between theological and scientific (more precisely, natural-philosophical) problems is by no means reduced to the use of theological concepts in the process of the formation of classical science in the mode of general reasoning by analogy or as general ideological statements. Theological concepts turned out to be included in the natural-philosophical discourse on a par with purely physical arguments, and, on the contrary, theological thought had to somehow react to natural-philosophical discoveries, which ultimately led to a mutual adjustment of both natural-philosophical and theological concepts.

Afterword

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Brownlee
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Popular Entertainment ◽  
Departure Point ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Relationship

The recent upturn in biblically based films in Anglophone cinema is the departure point for this Afterword reflecting on the Bible’s impact on popular entertainment and literature in early modern England. Providing a survey of the book’s themes, and drawing together the central arguments, the discussion reminds that literary writers not only read and used the Bible in different ways to different ends, but also imbibed and scrutinized dominant interpretative principles and practices in their work. With this in mind, the Afterword outlines the need for further research into the relationship between biblical readings and literary writings in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe.

The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Dance

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
William Shakespeare ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
The Body ◽  
Single Source ◽  
Dance Studies ◽  
Disciplinary Field ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Integral Feature

The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Dance is the first collection of essays to examine the relationship between William Shakespeare and dance. Despite recent academic interest in movement, materiality, and the body—and the growth of dance studies as a disciplinary field—Shakespeare’s employment of dance as both a theatrical device and thematic reference point remains under-studied. The reimagining of his writing as dance works is also neglected as a subject for research. Alan Brissenden’s 1981 Shakespeare and the Dance remains the seminal text for those interested in early modern dancing and its appearances within Shakespearean drama, but this new volume provides a single source of reference for dance as both an integral feature of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century culture and as a means of translating Shakespearean text into movement.

Coda: Repositioning Early Modern Prague on the Global Stage

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Suzanna Ivanič
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Musical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
The City

The question that sparked this forum was to what extent we can see Prague as an important stage for Renaissance and Reformation exchange and as an internationally connected city. It is striking, though not unexpected, that all the authors have been drawn to some extent to sources and subjects in Rudolfine Prague. It must be stressed, however, that the emphasis of each of these studies is somewhat different to an older field of “Rudolfine studies.” The researchers here do not focus on the emperor's court but use it as context. It is tangential to their main focal points—on Jewish communities, religious change, and the exchange of scientific and musical knowledge—and these are first and foremost historians not of Prague but of social and cultural history, music, art, material culture, and religion. This indicates a marked shift from the historiography. For this generation of scholars, Prague is not only a city that is home to a fascinating and intriguing art historical moment but is also a city of early modern international connections. It provides a unique context for understanding communities, everyday experiences, religion, and culture in early modern Europe—a multilingual, multiconfessional, and multicultural mixing pot whose composition changed dramatically across the early modern period. Rudolf's court was certainly a catalyst for these crossings and encounters, but they did not fade away after his death in 1612, nor were they limited to the confines of the castle above the city.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document