In the Middle Ages, authoritative voices of Christianity condemn astrology as a kind of idolatry that denies free will. This is the reason why, since the 12th century, the revival of interest in astrology led some thinkers to prove its compatibility with Christian faith. This paper aims to show that this issue was addressed not only by Petrus Alfonsi’s Epistola ad Peripateticos, Raymond of Marseilles’ Liber cursuum, Michael Scot’'s Liber introductorius and the anonymous Speculum Astronomiae, as already highlighted by some studies, but also by Hildegard of Bingen’s Cause et cure.
La mia tesi è uno studio delle fonti dei riferimenti ad autori anteriori a Platone contenuti in a... more La mia tesi è uno studio delle fonti dei riferimenti ad autori anteriori a Platone contenuti in alcuni trattati di Plotino
Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie, 2019
FZPhTh 66 (2019) 2 GIULIA GUIDARA Les idées des intellectuels alexandrins sur la vérité, la philo... more FZPhTh 66 (2019) 2 GIULIA GUIDARA Les idées des intellectuels alexandrins sur la vérité, la philosophie grecque et les Présocratiques: Plotin et Clément en comparaison * Résumé La comparaison entre Clément d'Alexandrie et Plotin donne une idée de la circulation et de l'interprétation de la pensée présocratique dans l'Alexandrie des I er-III e siècles : les significatives analogies concernant Héraclite, et les importantes différences à propos de Parménide mettent en lumière l'exis-tence d'une tradition exégétique alexandrine qui est unitaire, mais aussi fluide. En outre, les points de contact et les divergences entre Clément et Plotin permettent de comprendre la manière dont la philosophie chrétienne et la philosophie « païenne » pensent les débuts (et donc aussi, la nature même) de la sagesse humaine, à savoir le contexte où la pensée présocra-tique se développe. Abstract The comparison between Clement of Alexandria and Plotinus gives an idea of the circulation and the interpretation of Presocratic thought in Alexan-dria in the 1 st-3rd centuries: the relevant analogies concerning Heraclitus, and the important differences regarding Parmenides highlight the existence of an Alexandrian exegetical tradition that is unitarian, but also fluid. Moreover, the points of contact and the differences between Clement and Plotinus show how Christian thought and "pagan" philosophy use the beginnings (and, thus, the nature itself) of human wisdom, which is the context in which Presocratic thought is developed.
In his treatises, Plotinus quotes several δόξαι to explain his theories or to refute others’ ide... more In his treatises, Plotinus quotes several δόξαι to explain his theories or to refute others’ ideas. Even if they are often quoted anonymously, these δόξαι can be attributed to Presocratic philosophers because they match fragments and testimonia collected in Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker by H. Diels and W. Kranz. It is however unclear how Plotinus (as other authors of this period) got acquainted with such δόξαι and, for this reason, three hypothesis have been advanced: Plotinus might have taken his quotations (i) from the works of the Presocratics, or (ii) from doxographies (also known as Placita), a literary genre where δόξαι of many ancient thinkers about a given topic are collected together, or again (iii) from other authors reporting them. This hypothesis is very interesting: as it is known, the starting point of Plotinus’ lectures was the reading of excertps from philosophical works like those by Severus, Cronius, Numenius, Gaius, Atticus, Aspasius, Alexander, Adrastus, and others. The possibility exists that Plotinus made use of these texts not only as an opportunity to discuss philosophical questions, but also as a source of information about ancient thinkers. This paper deals with the quotations reported in II 4 [12], 7.20-28, III 6 [26], 12.22-25, and IV 4 [28], 29.32-39 and advances the hypothesis that other sources unknown to us for the moment provided Plotinus with information about the Presocratics.
In his treatise Against the Gnostics, II 9[33], Plotinus claims that those who challenge the perf... more In his treatise Against the Gnostics, II 9[33], Plotinus claims that those who challenge the perfection of the celestial bodies cannot be virtuous, least of all can be the self-proclaimed elite of the mankind as in the Gnostics’ narrative. Not only the heavenly bodies are perfect, as their movement in circle shows: they also instance the highest ‘virtue’. What on earth can this mean? II 9[33] is the only treatise of the Enneads where the heavens are described in such terms. This article contends that Plotinus establishes a connection between ‘virtue’ and the celestial bodies in order to refute incisively the astrological beliefs of that kind of would-be Platonists that are the Gnostics in his eyes. He also includes the celestial order in his vision of the structure of reality and of the mankind’s role within the visible world.
In the Middle Ages, authoritative voices of Christianity condemn astrology as a kind of idolatry that denies free will. This is the reason why, since the 12th century, the revival of interest in astrology led some thinkers to prove its compatibility with Christian faith. This paper aims to show that this issue was addressed not only by Petrus Alfonsi’s Epistola ad Peripateticos, Raymond of Marseilles’ Liber cursuum, Michael Scot’'s Liber introductorius and the anonymous Speculum Astronomiae, as already highlighted by some studies, but also by Hildegard of Bingen’s Cause et cure.
La mia tesi è uno studio delle fonti dei riferimenti ad autori anteriori a Platone contenuti in a... more La mia tesi è uno studio delle fonti dei riferimenti ad autori anteriori a Platone contenuti in alcuni trattati di Plotino
Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie, 2019
FZPhTh 66 (2019) 2 GIULIA GUIDARA Les idées des intellectuels alexandrins sur la vérité, la philo... more FZPhTh 66 (2019) 2 GIULIA GUIDARA Les idées des intellectuels alexandrins sur la vérité, la philosophie grecque et les Présocratiques: Plotin et Clément en comparaison * Résumé La comparaison entre Clément d'Alexandrie et Plotin donne une idée de la circulation et de l'interprétation de la pensée présocratique dans l'Alexandrie des I er-III e siècles : les significatives analogies concernant Héraclite, et les importantes différences à propos de Parménide mettent en lumière l'exis-tence d'une tradition exégétique alexandrine qui est unitaire, mais aussi fluide. En outre, les points de contact et les divergences entre Clément et Plotin permettent de comprendre la manière dont la philosophie chrétienne et la philosophie « païenne » pensent les débuts (et donc aussi, la nature même) de la sagesse humaine, à savoir le contexte où la pensée présocra-tique se développe. Abstract The comparison between Clement of Alexandria and Plotinus gives an idea of the circulation and the interpretation of Presocratic thought in Alexan-dria in the 1 st-3rd centuries: the relevant analogies concerning Heraclitus, and the important differences regarding Parmenides highlight the existence of an Alexandrian exegetical tradition that is unitarian, but also fluid. Moreover, the points of contact and the differences between Clement and Plotinus show how Christian thought and "pagan" philosophy use the beginnings (and, thus, the nature itself) of human wisdom, which is the context in which Presocratic thought is developed.
In his treatises, Plotinus quotes several δόξαι to explain his theories or to refute others’ ide... more In his treatises, Plotinus quotes several δόξαι to explain his theories or to refute others’ ideas. Even if they are often quoted anonymously, these δόξαι can be attributed to Presocratic philosophers because they match fragments and testimonia collected in Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker by H. Diels and W. Kranz. It is however unclear how Plotinus (as other authors of this period) got acquainted with such δόξαι and, for this reason, three hypothesis have been advanced: Plotinus might have taken his quotations (i) from the works of the Presocratics, or (ii) from doxographies (also known as Placita), a literary genre where δόξαι of many ancient thinkers about a given topic are collected together, or again (iii) from other authors reporting them. This hypothesis is very interesting: as it is known, the starting point of Plotinus’ lectures was the reading of excertps from philosophical works like those by Severus, Cronius, Numenius, Gaius, Atticus, Aspasius, Alexander, Adrastus, and others. The possibility exists that Plotinus made use of these texts not only as an opportunity to discuss philosophical questions, but also as a source of information about ancient thinkers. This paper deals with the quotations reported in II 4 [12], 7.20-28, III 6 [26], 12.22-25, and IV 4 [28], 29.32-39 and advances the hypothesis that other sources unknown to us for the moment provided Plotinus with information about the Presocratics.
In his treatise Against the Gnostics, II 9[33], Plotinus claims that those who challenge the perf... more In his treatise Against the Gnostics, II 9[33], Plotinus claims that those who challenge the perfection of the celestial bodies cannot be virtuous, least of all can be the self-proclaimed elite of the mankind as in the Gnostics’ narrative. Not only the heavenly bodies are perfect, as their movement in circle shows: they also instance the highest ‘virtue’. What on earth can this mean? II 9[33] is the only treatise of the Enneads where the heavens are described in such terms. This article contends that Plotinus establishes a connection between ‘virtue’ and the celestial bodies in order to refute incisively the astrological beliefs of that kind of would-be Platonists that are the Gnostics in his eyes. He also includes the celestial order in his vision of the structure of reality and of the mankind’s role within the visible world.
Uploads
Papers by Giulia Guidara
In the Middle Ages, authoritative voices of Christianity condemn astrology as a kind of idolatry that denies free will. This is the reason why, since the 12th century, the revival of interest in astrology led some thinkers to prove its compatibility with Christian faith. This paper aims to show that this issue was addressed not only by Petrus Alfonsi’s Epistola ad Peripateticos, Raymond of Marseilles’ Liber cursuum, Michael Scot’'s Liber introductorius and the anonymous Speculum Astronomiae, as already highlighted by some studies, but also by Hildegard of Bingen’s Cause et cure.
In the Middle Ages, authoritative voices of Christianity condemn astrology as a kind of idolatry that denies free will. This is the reason why, since the 12th century, the revival of interest in astrology led some thinkers to prove its compatibility with Christian faith. This paper aims to show that this issue was addressed not only by Petrus Alfonsi’s Epistola ad Peripateticos, Raymond of Marseilles’ Liber cursuum, Michael Scot’'s Liber introductorius and the anonymous Speculum Astronomiae, as already highlighted by some studies, but also by Hildegard of Bingen’s Cause et cure.