Papers by Cecilia Muratori
Offenbarung und Episteme, 2012
This chapter, in which the first two chapters converge and culminate, analyses Hegel’s interpreta... more This chapter, in which the first two chapters converge and culminate, analyses Hegel’s interpretation of the mystical philosophy of Bohme in greater detail. The study sets out from two principal theses: that Hegel’s interpretation evolves substantially, and that this evolution is particularly evident in Hegel’s choice of themes and concepts drawn from the writings of Bohme. The inquiry proceeds in an approximately chronological order, from the Jena Wastebook to Hegel’s references to Bohme in published works, and finally to his most comprehensive analysis in the Lectures on the History of Philosophy and in the Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion. Hegel’s interest in Bohme first surfaces during his period in Jena and develops over the subsequent years. It is clear from the comparison of various manuscripts relating to Hegel’s lecture course on the History of Philosophy that his study of Bohme’s writings is still in process during the Berlin years. In particular, Hegel increasingly ...
1. The Reception of Bohme's Philosophy around '800.- Preamble: Bohme's Comeback to Ge... more 1. The Reception of Bohme's Philosophy around '800.- Preamble: Bohme's Comeback to Germany and the Romantic Reception.- The Reception of Bohme's Philosophy through Theosophy and Animal Magnetism.- The Historical Context of Hegel's Encounter with the Theosophia Revelata.- 2. Two Different Conceptions of Mysticism in Hegel's Writings.- The Meaning of 'Mysticism' in the Early Writings: Roles and Definitions.- Mysticism and Mystification: Hegel's Denunciation of Mystical Alienation.- Mysticism as SpeculationAppendix: The Loss of Mystical Dynamics: Schelling.- 3. Hegel as Interpreter of Bohme.- The Beginnings: References to Bohme in the Jena writings.- Bohme in Hegel's Published Works.- Bohme in the Lectures.- Conclusion, or How to Liberate Bohme's Philosophy.
The topic of the distinction between man and animal as discussed in Theophrastus redivivus (1659)... more The topic of the distinction between man and animal as discussed in Theophrastus redivivus (1659) is a noteworthy example of the engagement with Renaissance sources in the seventeenth century. This essay argues that it displays how conceptual continuities intertwined with significant interpretative shifts. In dealing with the specific question of human and animal happiness, the anonymous author carefully selects and brings together passages from Renaissance philosophers – especially Cardano and Vanini – but inserts them in a completely new frame, ultimately employing the Renaissance roots of this philosophical problem in order to develop his own original view. Thus Cardano’s reflections on the animals’ capability of attaining happiness and Vanini’s doubts about man’s qualitative distinction from animals are woven together in order to point to a conclusion which is in fact a subversion of the sources used to reach it: Theophrastus redivivus shows that man has lost his assigned place ...
Oxford Scholarship Online
This chapter examines the philosophical implications of Renaissance discussions of cannibalism, a... more This chapter examines the philosophical implications of Renaissance discussions of cannibalism, and more generally the pressure put on conceptions of human and animal in the wake of the discovery of the New World. Drawing on the medical tradition, Renaissance thinkers discussed the relationship between the diet, physical constitution, and rationality of various beings, including humans. One result of reflection on these issues was a blurring of the boundary line between human and animal; another was the development of the idea that human character depends to some extent on diet, so that, quite literally, you are what you eat.
Revue des sciences religieuses
La theorie aristotelicienne de l’irrationalite des animaux a ete percue comme un tournant majeur ... more La theorie aristotelicienne de l’irrationalite des animaux a ete percue comme un tournant majeur dans l’approche ethique occidentale des animaux, en tout cas depuis Animal Minds and Human Morals de Richard Sorabji (1993). Selon une idee qu’on fait remonter a Aristote et qui a eu une grande influence, on a le droit de manger des animaux parce qu’ils sont irrationnels. Cet article examine cette question en reconstituant les etapes-cles de la reception de la differenciation entre l’homme et l’animal au niveau psychologique. Il montre qu’en fait les philosophes du Moyen-Âge et de la Renaissance etaient moins preoccupes que les ethiciens actuels de ce que denier certaines facultes aux animaux pouvait impliquer sur le plan ethique. La premiere partie compare les points de vue de Porphyre et d’Augustin sur l’(ir)rationalite animale, montrant les similitudes que presentent leurs argumentations respectives en depit de leurs conclusions ethiques opposees. La seconde partie montre que Domingo de Soto et Tommaso Campanella (ainsi que Thomas d’Aquin, leur principale source) traitent la rationalite comme une categorie de domination. Ces etudes de cas suggerent que c’est la signification attribuee a la rationalite humaine plutot que l’irrationalite des animaux qui etait consideree comme le critere ethique fondamental dans la reception de reception de la psychologie aristotelicienne au Moyen Âge et a la Renaissance.
International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées
This chapter situates the interpretation of Bohme’s mysticism within Hegel’s reflection on the na... more This chapter situates the interpretation of Bohme’s mysticism within Hegel’s reflection on the nature of mysticism itself. An analysis of the presence of this theme, from the early writings (Jugendschriften) to the texts following the Phenomenology of Spirit, reveals that Hegel did not maintain a superficial dichotomy between mysticism and conceptual rigor. In Hegel’s writings, it is argued, two substantially different conceptions of mysticism are discernible: he opposes a speculative type of mysticism, characterized by the idea of dialectical movement and exemplified in the approaches of both the Neoplatonists and Bohme, to the pseudo-mystical attitude of the Romantics and of certain followers of Schelling. A close examination of the sections of Hegel’s early writings that develop and problematize the notion of mysticism serves as a starting point to consider the evolution of the two distinct understandings of the term. It will also clarify the frame of reference in which to understand Hegel’s encounter with Bohme’s mysticism. This distinction permits a more precise analysis of the characteristics of Bohme’s mysticism in Hegel’s view, while dispelling the mistaken critical assumption that Hegel rejected all forms of mysticism as leaps into the Absolute that intentionally forgo the labor of conceptuality.
The Territories of Philosophy in Modern Historiography, ed. by Catherine König-Pralong, Mario Meliadò, and Zornitsa Radeva , Brepols, 2019
Abstract: Considered by some as a path to a deeper understanding of reality, and by others as pur... more Abstract: Considered by some as a path to a deeper understanding of reality, and by others as pure hocus-pocus, the theory of animal magnetism sparked a rich philosophical controversy from the end of the eighteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century. This essay shows that both supporters and critics of animal magnetism constructed philosophical lineages to frame the position of this theory in the history of philosophy. Animal magnetism was evaluated against the backdrop of its continuities or discontinuities with certain philosophical traditions, and especially Aristotelianism. As Aristotle emerged as the scientist among philosophers, the debate on animal magnetism turned into a reflection on the differences between science and magic. Ultimately, this material indicates that the idea of science as the foundation of modernity stems from a precise historiographical narrative. Keywords: Animal magnetism, Aristotle, Philosophical historiography, Magic, Modern science, P...
Intellectual History Review
The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wi... more The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP URL' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2017
The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wi... more The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP URL' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.
Animals populate literature dealing with ideal cities and imagined parallel worlds. In this essay... more Animals populate literature dealing with ideal cities and imagined parallel worlds. In this essay I explore the place of animals in three works sharing utopian traits: Patrizi’s La città felice, Doni’s Mondi, and Campanella’s La città del sole. In particular I investigate the ways in which the narratological device of displacing the man-animal relationship into an imaginary world enables an approach to the theoretical question about the difference between man and animals as well as to the ethical one regarding man’s attitudes and use of the animals. The presence of animals is a neglected aspect of such texts despite the extensive body of scholarship on utopian literature. I argue that it is this specific combination of ontological issues and very practical remarks which makes these texts a particularly important case study for reconstructing Renaissance philosophical discussions on the status of animals. The problem of the man-animal divide and the question about human uniqueness th...
Early Science and Medicine, 2017
This article analyses the role that animals play in Della Porta’s method of physiognomics. It cla... more This article analyses the role that animals play in Della Porta’s method of physiognomics. It claims that Della Porta created his own, original, method by appropriating, and yet selectively adapting Aristotelian and pseudo-Aristotelian sources. This has not been adequately reconstructed before in previous studies on Della Porta. I trace, in two steps, the conceptual trajectory of Della Porta’s physiognomics, from human psychology to animal psychology, and ultimately from psychology to ethics. In the first step, I show how Della Porta substantially adapts the physiognomic principle of the body-soul relationship as found in the pseudo-Aristotelian Physiognomonica. In the second, I demonstrate that the real aim of Della Porta’s physiognomics is a practical one, namely understanding how to live a good life, and I explain why he refers to Aristotle in order to ground this conception.
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Papers by Cecilia Muratori