Alessandro Palazzo | University of Trento (original) (raw)
Books by Alessandro Palazzo
open access, 2024
During the Middle Ages, physicians, philosophers, and theologians developed a complex and rich di... more During the Middle Ages, physicians, philosophers, and theologians developed a complex and rich discourse on the concept of sickness. Illness (infirmitas) was perceived as the natural state of existential imperfection for homo viator, fallen due to sin and impaired in his bodily integrity. Leprosy, smallpox, plague and the other collective diseases that constantly plagued medieval societies prompted reflections on etiology and modes of transmission of epidemics. Building on Galenic teachings, medieval medicine –both Arabic and Latin– delved into the study of fevers. Key concepts in medical pathology, such as the humors, humidum radicale, and spiritus, were assimilated and reinterpreted within philosophical and theological frameworks. The ten contribution collected in this volume explore this rich array of concepts and themes by closely examining the theories and works of prominent and lesser-known figures in medicine, theology, and philosophy active across Latin Christendom, the Islamic context, and the Jewish world: from Augustine to ʿAlī ibn al-ʿAbbas al-Maǧūsī, from Avicenna to Constantine the African, from Maimonides to Albert the Great, from Arnau de Vilanova to Gentile da Foligno, from Henry of Herford to Michele Savonarola.
Prognostication in the Middle Ages: Philosophical Strategies to Deal with Uncertainties The Wint... more Prognostication in the Middle Ages: Philosophical Strategies to Deal with Uncertainties
The Winter School "Prognostication in the Middle Ages: Philosophical Strategies to Deal with Uncertainties", organized by prof. Stefano Perfetti (University of Pisa), is part of a co-research initiative within a PRIN PNRR (Research Project of National Interest, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research). The project focuses on "Social, Political, and Religious Prognostication and its Roots: Philosophical Strategies for Coping with Uncertainties and Planning the Future", prot. P2022BMJ5A.
The scientific committee of the school includes the heads of the affiliated units from various Italian universities (Florence, Foggia, IMT-Lucca, Naples l'Orientale, Pisa, Siena, and Trento).
The invited speakers, who are independent of the PRIN units, are prominent scholars in the field of Medieval Prognostication. They include (in alphabetical order):
Lisa Devriese (KU-Leuven);
Gianfranco Fioravanti (University of Pisa, emeritus);
Mattias Heyduk (Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie-Mainz);
Meryem Sebti (Centre Jean Pépin, Villejuif);
Stefano Simonetta (University of Milan);
Christina Thörnqvist (Södertörn University, Stockholm);
Maaike van der Lugt (Université Paris Diderot);
Oleg Voskoboynikov (University of Bologna).
The Winter School will last four days and each day will feature three two-hour seminars delivered in English by renowned international scholars specializing in medieval thought. The sessions will explore the notion of prognostication and its connections with dreams, prophecy, astral signs, determinism and contingent futures, medicine, physiognomy, politics, and social uncertainty.
The Winter School will be held on campus, in Pisa, at Palazzo Boilleau, via Santa Maria, 85.
Students whishing to earn 5 ECTS credits must submit a written report on a topic agreed with the coordinator by March 10, 2025.
Aim
The main goal of the Winter School is to offer young scholars a platform for discussion, dialogue, and training in an international research environment, hosted by the University of Pisa.
The School aims to showcase the latest developments in the study of medieval methods for predicting or modeling the future. These include conjunction astrology, geomancy, prophecy, medicine, and their connections to political events and eschatological expectations. These topics will be explored from a multicultural perspective, examining various medieval linguistic and religious contexts.
Who can apply
The Winter School is open to PhD students, early career researchers, and master degree students in philosophical, historical, and literary disciplines who wish to experience a full-time program of training and discussion within an international scientific context.
Participants will be given the opportunity to present their research and discuss it with the many specialists in medieval culture present during the working days.
Language
English
Program Intensity
Full-time
This paper explores Albert the Great’s views on pestilences and contagious diseases. Albert did n... more This paper explores Albert the Great’s views on pestilences and contagious diseases. Albert did not dedicate a specific work or part of a work to these topics, but upon thorough inspection it is evident that pestilences were given careful attention within his corpus. Despite objective historical limitations (he did not experience any plague outbreaks during his lifetime and in his works the terms pestis and pestilentia are vague, covering a large variety of different sicknesses), Albert’s investigation of the causes of pestilential and contagious diseases is worthy of consideration. My first claim is that he explained these phenomena in scientific terms and not as a result of God’s will, which in the Middle Ages was often invoked as the cause of natural calamities. My second thesis is that Albert’s explanatory models provided the basis for the late-medieval discourse on plague. In his works, the fourteenth-century treatises on plague, the so-called Pestschriften, found some of the conceptual tools they used to construct the etiological and nosological identity of this devastating disease.
In the Middle Ages, foreknowledge, understood both as divine prescience and as the human ability ... more In the Middle Ages, foreknowledge, understood both as divine prescience and as the human ability to foresee future events, was the subject of intense research conducted in several disciplinary fields. The colloquium aims to explore different conceptual constellations (future contingents, divinely inspired and natural prophecy, divinatory dream, scientific prognostication, and other conjectural disciplines), provide historical reconstructions and doctrinal analyses, and investigate the specific theories and contributions of medieval authors.
Edited Books by Alessandro Palazzo
A cura di Alessandro Palazzo e Anna Rodolfi 🔗 https://bit.ly/35rX6Nn A. Palazzo – A. Rodolfi, In... more A cura di Alessandro Palazzo e Anna Rodolfi 🔗 https://bit.ly/35rX6Nn
A. Palazzo – A. Rodolfi, Introduction. ISLAMIC AND JEWISH TRADITIONS. C. Martini Bonadeo, La rivelazione, la profezia, il profeta e la sua facoltà immaginativa nelle opere di Abu Nasr Al-Farabi - A. Bertolacci, The Metaphysical Proof of Prophecy in Avicenna - M. Signori, Prophecy and the Authority of the Prophet in al-Gazali’s Maqasid al-fala sifa - M. Benedetto, Between Impiety and Holiness: The Art of Prophecy in Maimonides. CHRISTIAN TRADITION. R. De Filippis, Prophecy, Prophets and the Problem of Truth in Latin Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages - M. V. Ingegno, Lingue e profezia in Gilberto Porretano (I Cor. 14,1-40) - A. Rodolfi, Prophesying and Being a Prophet. The Case of Caiaphas as an Evil Prophet, from Hugh of Saint-Cher to Thomas Aquinas - A. Palazzo, Eckhart on Divine Prescience and Human Foreknowledge: Prophecy, Visions, and Divination. - F. Bonini, Forms of Pronosticatio in the Plague Tractate by Augustine of Trento - R. Fedriga – R. Limonta, Eloquium prophetarum. Prophecies and Future Contingents in William of Ockham, Walter Chatton and Richard Kilvington - M. Lodone, Profezia e ragione. Enrico di Langenstein contro Telesforo da Cosenza. Indexes by A. Palazzo.
Edited by Alessandro Palazzo and Irene Zavattero. Geomancy had a prominent position among the me... more Edited by Alessandro Palazzo and Irene Zavattero.
Geomancy had a prominent position among the medieval arts of
divination. Outstanding thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Albert
the Great and Bonaventure dealt with it. Writers and poets quoted
geomantic concepts and texts. This volume addresses crucial issues
concerning this particular form of prognostication as well as the
ecclesiastical reactions and condemnations. Chief texts of Latin
medieval geomancy – Hugh of Santalla’s Ars geomantiae, Estimaverunt
Indi and the Geomantia ascribed to William of Moerbeke
– as well as texts from the Arabic and Hebrew geomantic tradition
are carefully investigated here. Attention is also paid to lesserknown
forms of divination – onomancy, chiromancy, spatulomancy
and astral medicine – and to magic.
Porto, Fédération Internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales (Textes et Études du Moyen Âge, 61), 2011
Papers by Alessandro Palazzo
in: Medical and Philosophical Perspectives on Illness and Disease in the Middle Ages, ed. by A. Palazzo, F. Bonini, 294-381, 2024
The Catena aurea entium, composed by the Dominican Henry of Herford (ca. 1300–1370) is a ten-book... more The Catena aurea entium, composed by the Dominican Henry of Herford (ca. 1300–1370) is a ten-book encyclopedia in question-and-answer form. Although this work is a compilation based on a large body of sources, it is original in its selection of themes and sources, in the way these sources are rewritten, and in the doctrinal solutions proposed. This is evident from the section on angelology (Book I, 2, questions 1-28). Besides Henry's extensive recourse to Thomas Aquinas’ angelology and his interest in the relationship between angels and superior intelligences – an issue much debated by Albert the Great –, we note a predominance of issues dealing with demons. While he repeatedly evokes Augustine's criticism of middle-Platonic demonology, he also shows great interest in erotic and love anecdotes concerning demons. The line between demons and pagan deities is often blurred and, in some cases, tends to vanish altogether.
La Catena aurea entium del domenicano Enrico di Herford (ca. 1300–1370) è una enciclopedia in 10 libri in forma di domande e risposte. Pur trattandosi di una compilazione basata su un vasto corpus di fonti, l'opera reca i tratti dell'originalità (nella scelta dei temi e delle fonti, nelle modalità di riscrittura dei testi, nelle soluzioni dottrinali proposte), come risulta evidente anche dalla sezione di argomento angelologico (libro I,2, qq. 1-28). Accanto all'ampio ricorso all’angelologia di Tommaso d'Aquino e all’interesse per il rapporto tra gli angeli e le intelligenze, questione al centro della riflessione di Alberto Magno, si nota una prevalenza di temi di argomento demonologico. Se da un lato Enrico evoca a più riprese la polemica agostiniana contro la demonologia medio-platonica, dall'altro raccoglie, con viva curiosità, gli aneddoti sulle prodezze amorose dei demoni. Il confine tra i demoni e le divinità pagane è spesso labile e tende a scomparire del tutto in alcuni casi.
It has been argued that the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were a crucial period in the medi... more It has been argued that the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were a crucial period in the medieval development of the idea of contagion. Theologians and physicians cooperated in devising a conceptual model based on medical literature (Hippocratico-Ga- lenic and Avicennian) and formulated primarily to explain the origin, transmission, and development of contagious diseases, but that was flexible enough to be applied to a number of other different phenomena (the communication of sin and vices, love sickness, fasci- nation, etc.). This article explores the ways in which Albert the Great contributed to the formation of this broad and highly articulated notion of contagion. First, he provided a systematic analysis of the mechanisms of pathogenesis and transmission of contagious dis- eases (in particular, pestilences and leprosy). Moreover, his interests encompassed several different forms of contagion, including the powers of stones (e.g., the attractive virtue of the magnet) and animals, the influences of the woman’s body and mind (mulier menstruata and vetula), fascination. Albert also provided different models for the explanation of the “contagious influence” (mechanical explanation based on physical contact, the Avicenni- an theory of psychosomatic transformations, the Avicennian doctrine of the power of the soul over external bodies, spiritual transmission of sins). As a result of his investigation into the mechanisms of disease transmission, air contamination, noxious influences, and fascination, Albert came to problematize the usual idea of natural causality based on the principle of contact between substances, and to test the potentials and limits of action at-a-distance. In particular, the present paper will examine Albert’s views on some of the phenomena explained through the concept of contagion: pestilences, leprosy, the basilisk, the menstruating woman, and fascination.
Chapter 2 of Book 2 of Physics offers one of Aristotle's most sophisticated arguments in favour o... more Chapter 2 of Book 2 of Physics offers one of Aristotle's most sophisticated arguments in favour of the finalism of natural processes and living organisms. The text has attracted scholarly attention, leading to different, if not conflicting, interpretations. In his commentary on the Physics (II.3.1-4), Albert the Great (1200-1280) not only elucidates this chapter in light of Averroe's commentary, but also sets out his analysis of natural finalism, which includes both a scathing critique of the Empedoclean zoogony and a rich and complex teratological catalogue aimed at explaining monstruous births naturally in terms of the interaction between the virtus formativa and matter. For Albert, the first origin of teleologism is the emanation of the intellectual form from the First Cause which produces a hierarchy of descending ontological levels, thus ensuring that nature is inherently rational, and thus end-oriented: opus naturae est opus intelligentiae.
open access, 2024
During the Middle Ages, physicians, philosophers, and theologians developed a complex and rich di... more During the Middle Ages, physicians, philosophers, and theologians developed a complex and rich discourse on the concept of sickness. Illness (infirmitas) was perceived as the natural state of existential imperfection for homo viator, fallen due to sin and impaired in his bodily integrity. Leprosy, smallpox, plague and the other collective diseases that constantly plagued medieval societies prompted reflections on etiology and modes of transmission of epidemics. Building on Galenic teachings, medieval medicine –both Arabic and Latin– delved into the study of fevers. Key concepts in medical pathology, such as the humors, humidum radicale, and spiritus, were assimilated and reinterpreted within philosophical and theological frameworks. The ten contribution collected in this volume explore this rich array of concepts and themes by closely examining the theories and works of prominent and lesser-known figures in medicine, theology, and philosophy active across Latin Christendom, the Islamic context, and the Jewish world: from Augustine to ʿAlī ibn al-ʿAbbas al-Maǧūsī, from Avicenna to Constantine the African, from Maimonides to Albert the Great, from Arnau de Vilanova to Gentile da Foligno, from Henry of Herford to Michele Savonarola.
Prognostication in the Middle Ages: Philosophical Strategies to Deal with Uncertainties The Wint... more Prognostication in the Middle Ages: Philosophical Strategies to Deal with Uncertainties
The Winter School "Prognostication in the Middle Ages: Philosophical Strategies to Deal with Uncertainties", organized by prof. Stefano Perfetti (University of Pisa), is part of a co-research initiative within a PRIN PNRR (Research Project of National Interest, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research). The project focuses on "Social, Political, and Religious Prognostication and its Roots: Philosophical Strategies for Coping with Uncertainties and Planning the Future", prot. P2022BMJ5A.
The scientific committee of the school includes the heads of the affiliated units from various Italian universities (Florence, Foggia, IMT-Lucca, Naples l'Orientale, Pisa, Siena, and Trento).
The invited speakers, who are independent of the PRIN units, are prominent scholars in the field of Medieval Prognostication. They include (in alphabetical order):
Lisa Devriese (KU-Leuven);
Gianfranco Fioravanti (University of Pisa, emeritus);
Mattias Heyduk (Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie-Mainz);
Meryem Sebti (Centre Jean Pépin, Villejuif);
Stefano Simonetta (University of Milan);
Christina Thörnqvist (Södertörn University, Stockholm);
Maaike van der Lugt (Université Paris Diderot);
Oleg Voskoboynikov (University of Bologna).
The Winter School will last four days and each day will feature three two-hour seminars delivered in English by renowned international scholars specializing in medieval thought. The sessions will explore the notion of prognostication and its connections with dreams, prophecy, astral signs, determinism and contingent futures, medicine, physiognomy, politics, and social uncertainty.
The Winter School will be held on campus, in Pisa, at Palazzo Boilleau, via Santa Maria, 85.
Students whishing to earn 5 ECTS credits must submit a written report on a topic agreed with the coordinator by March 10, 2025.
Aim
The main goal of the Winter School is to offer young scholars a platform for discussion, dialogue, and training in an international research environment, hosted by the University of Pisa.
The School aims to showcase the latest developments in the study of medieval methods for predicting or modeling the future. These include conjunction astrology, geomancy, prophecy, medicine, and their connections to political events and eschatological expectations. These topics will be explored from a multicultural perspective, examining various medieval linguistic and religious contexts.
Who can apply
The Winter School is open to PhD students, early career researchers, and master degree students in philosophical, historical, and literary disciplines who wish to experience a full-time program of training and discussion within an international scientific context.
Participants will be given the opportunity to present their research and discuss it with the many specialists in medieval culture present during the working days.
Language
English
Program Intensity
Full-time
This paper explores Albert the Great’s views on pestilences and contagious diseases. Albert did n... more This paper explores Albert the Great’s views on pestilences and contagious diseases. Albert did not dedicate a specific work or part of a work to these topics, but upon thorough inspection it is evident that pestilences were given careful attention within his corpus. Despite objective historical limitations (he did not experience any plague outbreaks during his lifetime and in his works the terms pestis and pestilentia are vague, covering a large variety of different sicknesses), Albert’s investigation of the causes of pestilential and contagious diseases is worthy of consideration. My first claim is that he explained these phenomena in scientific terms and not as a result of God’s will, which in the Middle Ages was often invoked as the cause of natural calamities. My second thesis is that Albert’s explanatory models provided the basis for the late-medieval discourse on plague. In his works, the fourteenth-century treatises on plague, the so-called Pestschriften, found some of the conceptual tools they used to construct the etiological and nosological identity of this devastating disease.
In the Middle Ages, foreknowledge, understood both as divine prescience and as the human ability ... more In the Middle Ages, foreknowledge, understood both as divine prescience and as the human ability to foresee future events, was the subject of intense research conducted in several disciplinary fields. The colloquium aims to explore different conceptual constellations (future contingents, divinely inspired and natural prophecy, divinatory dream, scientific prognostication, and other conjectural disciplines), provide historical reconstructions and doctrinal analyses, and investigate the specific theories and contributions of medieval authors.
A cura di Alessandro Palazzo e Anna Rodolfi 🔗 https://bit.ly/35rX6Nn A. Palazzo – A. Rodolfi, In... more A cura di Alessandro Palazzo e Anna Rodolfi 🔗 https://bit.ly/35rX6Nn
A. Palazzo – A. Rodolfi, Introduction. ISLAMIC AND JEWISH TRADITIONS. C. Martini Bonadeo, La rivelazione, la profezia, il profeta e la sua facoltà immaginativa nelle opere di Abu Nasr Al-Farabi - A. Bertolacci, The Metaphysical Proof of Prophecy in Avicenna - M. Signori, Prophecy and the Authority of the Prophet in al-Gazali’s Maqasid al-fala sifa - M. Benedetto, Between Impiety and Holiness: The Art of Prophecy in Maimonides. CHRISTIAN TRADITION. R. De Filippis, Prophecy, Prophets and the Problem of Truth in Latin Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages - M. V. Ingegno, Lingue e profezia in Gilberto Porretano (I Cor. 14,1-40) - A. Rodolfi, Prophesying and Being a Prophet. The Case of Caiaphas as an Evil Prophet, from Hugh of Saint-Cher to Thomas Aquinas - A. Palazzo, Eckhart on Divine Prescience and Human Foreknowledge: Prophecy, Visions, and Divination. - F. Bonini, Forms of Pronosticatio in the Plague Tractate by Augustine of Trento - R. Fedriga – R. Limonta, Eloquium prophetarum. Prophecies and Future Contingents in William of Ockham, Walter Chatton and Richard Kilvington - M. Lodone, Profezia e ragione. Enrico di Langenstein contro Telesforo da Cosenza. Indexes by A. Palazzo.
Edited by Alessandro Palazzo and Irene Zavattero. Geomancy had a prominent position among the me... more Edited by Alessandro Palazzo and Irene Zavattero.
Geomancy had a prominent position among the medieval arts of
divination. Outstanding thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Albert
the Great and Bonaventure dealt with it. Writers and poets quoted
geomantic concepts and texts. This volume addresses crucial issues
concerning this particular form of prognostication as well as the
ecclesiastical reactions and condemnations. Chief texts of Latin
medieval geomancy – Hugh of Santalla’s Ars geomantiae, Estimaverunt
Indi and the Geomantia ascribed to William of Moerbeke
– as well as texts from the Arabic and Hebrew geomantic tradition
are carefully investigated here. Attention is also paid to lesserknown
forms of divination – onomancy, chiromancy, spatulomancy
and astral medicine – and to magic.
Porto, Fédération Internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales (Textes et Études du Moyen Âge, 61), 2011
in: Medical and Philosophical Perspectives on Illness and Disease in the Middle Ages, ed. by A. Palazzo, F. Bonini, 294-381, 2024
The Catena aurea entium, composed by the Dominican Henry of Herford (ca. 1300–1370) is a ten-book... more The Catena aurea entium, composed by the Dominican Henry of Herford (ca. 1300–1370) is a ten-book encyclopedia in question-and-answer form. Although this work is a compilation based on a large body of sources, it is original in its selection of themes and sources, in the way these sources are rewritten, and in the doctrinal solutions proposed. This is evident from the section on angelology (Book I, 2, questions 1-28). Besides Henry's extensive recourse to Thomas Aquinas’ angelology and his interest in the relationship between angels and superior intelligences – an issue much debated by Albert the Great –, we note a predominance of issues dealing with demons. While he repeatedly evokes Augustine's criticism of middle-Platonic demonology, he also shows great interest in erotic and love anecdotes concerning demons. The line between demons and pagan deities is often blurred and, in some cases, tends to vanish altogether.
La Catena aurea entium del domenicano Enrico di Herford (ca. 1300–1370) è una enciclopedia in 10 libri in forma di domande e risposte. Pur trattandosi di una compilazione basata su un vasto corpus di fonti, l'opera reca i tratti dell'originalità (nella scelta dei temi e delle fonti, nelle modalità di riscrittura dei testi, nelle soluzioni dottrinali proposte), come risulta evidente anche dalla sezione di argomento angelologico (libro I,2, qq. 1-28). Accanto all'ampio ricorso all’angelologia di Tommaso d'Aquino e all’interesse per il rapporto tra gli angeli e le intelligenze, questione al centro della riflessione di Alberto Magno, si nota una prevalenza di temi di argomento demonologico. Se da un lato Enrico evoca a più riprese la polemica agostiniana contro la demonologia medio-platonica, dall'altro raccoglie, con viva curiosità, gli aneddoti sulle prodezze amorose dei demoni. Il confine tra i demoni e le divinità pagane è spesso labile e tende a scomparire del tutto in alcuni casi.
It has been argued that the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were a crucial period in the medi... more It has been argued that the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were a crucial period in the medieval development of the idea of contagion. Theologians and physicians cooperated in devising a conceptual model based on medical literature (Hippocratico-Ga- lenic and Avicennian) and formulated primarily to explain the origin, transmission, and development of contagious diseases, but that was flexible enough to be applied to a number of other different phenomena (the communication of sin and vices, love sickness, fasci- nation, etc.). This article explores the ways in which Albert the Great contributed to the formation of this broad and highly articulated notion of contagion. First, he provided a systematic analysis of the mechanisms of pathogenesis and transmission of contagious dis- eases (in particular, pestilences and leprosy). Moreover, his interests encompassed several different forms of contagion, including the powers of stones (e.g., the attractive virtue of the magnet) and animals, the influences of the woman’s body and mind (mulier menstruata and vetula), fascination. Albert also provided different models for the explanation of the “contagious influence” (mechanical explanation based on physical contact, the Avicenni- an theory of psychosomatic transformations, the Avicennian doctrine of the power of the soul over external bodies, spiritual transmission of sins). As a result of his investigation into the mechanisms of disease transmission, air contamination, noxious influences, and fascination, Albert came to problematize the usual idea of natural causality based on the principle of contact between substances, and to test the potentials and limits of action at-a-distance. In particular, the present paper will examine Albert’s views on some of the phenomena explained through the concept of contagion: pestilences, leprosy, the basilisk, the menstruating woman, and fascination.
Chapter 2 of Book 2 of Physics offers one of Aristotle's most sophisticated arguments in favour o... more Chapter 2 of Book 2 of Physics offers one of Aristotle's most sophisticated arguments in favour of the finalism of natural processes and living organisms. The text has attracted scholarly attention, leading to different, if not conflicting, interpretations. In his commentary on the Physics (II.3.1-4), Albert the Great (1200-1280) not only elucidates this chapter in light of Averroe's commentary, but also sets out his analysis of natural finalism, which includes both a scathing critique of the Empedoclean zoogony and a rich and complex teratological catalogue aimed at explaining monstruous births naturally in terms of the interaction between the virtus formativa and matter. For Albert, the first origin of teleologism is the emanation of the intellectual form from the First Cause which produces a hierarchy of descending ontological levels, thus ensuring that nature is inherently rational, and thus end-oriented: opus naturae est opus intelligentiae.
The EI is one of the most authoritative, if not the most authoritative, treatises of geomancy the... more The EI is one of the most authoritative, if not the most authoritative, treatises of geomancy the Latin West has ever known. Condemned in 1277 by Étienne Tempier, this work was praised by later Latin treatises as the origin of geomancy and thus widely quoted in the following centuries.
Compared with other geomantic works, the EI displays a much more complex and dynamic structure. Apparently unsystematic and deprived of a rational organization, it is actually a composite multilayered text with a clear internal articulation. Its aim is not to provide an orderly exposition of geomantic notions and ready-for-use sets of questions-and-answers, but rather to familiarize the reader with the complexities and intricacies of the geomantic art. In the EI, the reader is led through several steps, from the rules governing the casting of the dots to the sophisticated methods of pars fortunae and scientia puncti, and to the mastery of geomancy, an art that is based on a rigorous method, long study, and God’s support.
In other words, the EI must not be regarded as a theoretical description of geomancy, but rather as a way of moving towards the secrets of geomancy, a way of developing the ability to disclose the intentio in the figures the geomancer has produced under the influence of the stars.
From this perspective, the visual content of the text plays a crucial role. The progress of the text through the many sections I have identified is punctuated by a succession of images, charts, and tables. The visual representations are not embellishments of the text, but part and parcel of it, insofar as they visualize the steps of the geomantic method and are aimed at a practical learning of this method.
My analysis has also shown, in contrast to widespread assumptions, that the EI provides instructions on the formation of the geomantic theme and establishes a solid link between the geomantic method and celestial causality – and astrology –, a link based on the concept of intentio. The dependence of the geomantic technique on astral influence, however, must be placed in a broader “theological” framework. It is God who is the true agent of the geomantic procedure, in which the geomancer and the inquirer cooperate as instrumental causes.
According to the doctrine of the Great Year, after a long period of time the same astral configur... more According to the doctrine of the Great Year, after a long period of time the same astral configurations reappear and the planets return to their original positions. The end of a world cycle is marked by a natural cataclysm, after which the world is restored to its original state and history repeats itself. This article deals with Albert the Great’s views on the Great Year, focussing on two of his early theological works (the De iv coaequaevis and the Sentences commentary). The evidence here provided offers a comprehensive overview of the variety of contexts and themes which Albert considers to be related to the Great Year. He is fully aware of the many doctrinal implications of the concept of the Great Year. His analysis is deeply embedded in the astronomical discussions on the phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes. A predominantly scientific approach is evident in the care with which he distinguishes the different types of Great Year. The major contribution of these works to the debate lies in the analysis of the impact of the Great Year on Christian eschatology and, more generally, in the investigation of the relationship between astrology and physics, on the one hand, and eschatology, on the other.
The Catena aurea entium by Henry of Herford is an important testimony to the dissemination of Alb... more The Catena aurea entium by Henry of Herford is an important testimony to the dissemination of Albert the Great’s Aristotelian commentaries in the late medieval Germany. The fact that the scientific sections of Henry’s en- cyclopaedia (i.e., the parts dealing with geography, mineralogy, botany, zo-ology, anatomy, and the science of generation) rely on Albert’s works has already been established, though not sufficiently investigated, by scholars. This paper focuses on some interesting quotations from Albert’s treatises on natural philosophy in Book 1 of the CAE. These quotations show that Henry does not merely quote, but reworks Albert’s passages in a more or less substantial way through reformulations, shifts, omissions, additions, and so on. Book 1 of the CAE, which deals with divine being, associates the Christian God with the deities of the Gentiles, thus suggesting the idea that there is an agreement between Christian tradition and pagan wisdom. The quotations from Albert’s scientific works are part of this original project.
Albert’s works provide Henry with a philosophical-scientific understanding of the events of myth as told by literary and mythographic sources. Moreover, Henry cites a passage from Albert’s De caelo et mundo that em- phasizes the perfection of number three according to Pythagoras and Hermes and thus confirms that the ancient sages had already glimpsed the Christian dogma of the Trinity. The textual reworking and doctrinal rethintking that characterize Henry’s approach to the Albertinian sources reveal an authorial intention. More ex- tensive and exhaustive research will be able to determine whether Henry’s rewriting of Albert’s works also inolves other parts of the CAE besides Boook 1. In any case, the CAE appears as an “original” work despite being a collection of quotations. The CAE not only reveals its author’s idiosyn- crasies and interests regarding the choice of passages to be quoted, but also rearranges, manipulates, and combines its sources according to doctrinal intentions and a cultural project. In this sense, Henry’s encyclopaedia is a significant contribution to the German philosophical-theological debates of the fourteenth century.
Alia subinde ex eodem uerbo persuadendi calumnia nascitur, inuenta sane a Platone tractata multim... more Alia subinde ex eodem uerbo persuadendi calumnia nascitur, inuenta sane a Platone tractata multim in Gorgia, sed posthac multo inpudentius a quibusdam technicis, obtrectatoribus Hermagorae, frequentata.
Catastrophes, such as inundations, deluges, conflagrations, famines, and plagues, regularly affec... more Catastrophes, such as inundations, deluges, conflagrations, famines, and plagues, regularly affected daily life in the Middle Ages. These were devastating, tangible events that disrupted the fabric of social and family life, affected the economies of communities, cities, and regions, and left permanent scars on the lives of the people. Unsurprisingly, medieval intellectuals were led to reflect on these unsettling phenomena, oscillating between the theological interpretation that they constituted divine punishments for human sins and more naturalistic explanations 1. Proponents of the latter approach could base their investigation into the origins, mechanisms, and effects of natural calamities on a range of philosophical sources (Aristotle, Albumasar, Avicenna, Averroes, etc.). Albert the Great was certainly one of the medieval authors most interested in the study of natural disasters. Elsewhere, I have described his analysis of the Great Year 2 and the great conjunctions 3 , both celestial periodicities capable of causing catastrophic events on Earth 4. While Albert was aware of the doctrinal risks of these two theories for Christian religion (e.g., their deterministic stance and a cyclic conception of time), he also saw their philosophical potential. The Great Year and the great conjunctions, in particular, allowed him to focus and better define the relationship between astrology/natural philosophy and escathology and to exploit a powerful explanatory tool for natural catastrophes. Albert's analysis of natural calamities is thus closely tied to both theories, their astrological content, and their naturalistic implications. In what follows, I intend to shed light on Albert's theory of deluges. The discussion of catastrophes, and floods in particular, as proposed in the De causis proprietatum elementorum and the Meteora, is part of a larger scientific project. When it comes to describing what happens in the natural realm, Albert is concerned with offering an explanation that does not resort to supernatural interventions and miracles 5. This is not tantamount to denying the existence of a supreme cause for all reality, that is God, who is also the first origin for all naturals events, but to recognizing the autonomy of philosophical discourse and its suitability for exploring causae secundae: deluges of
Origin, Development and Decline of the Western Geomantic Tradition Geomancy is a form of predicti... more Origin, Development and Decline of the Western Geomantic Tradition
Geomancy is a form of prediction that first appeared in the Middle Ages in Arabic North Africa and from there spread throughout the Mediterranean and across Eu- rope, where it became one of the most important divinatory arts. As a consequence, in the Latin world a large body of geomantic literature, made up of Arabo-Latin trans- lations, Latin treatises, vernacular writings, indirect testimonies in philosophical, theological and literary works, developed.
The paper is intended to describe the Arabic background and the main features of the Western geomantic tradition that flourished and influenced European intel- lectual history from the 12th century — the first translations of Arabic treatises were done in this century — until its decline in the 18th century. Though belonging to various literary genres, being composed within diverse historico-cultural contexts and for diverse purposes, all geomantic texts shared common conceptions: the awareness of being part of a tradition, the narrative about the origins, the idea that geomancy has Hermetic and/or Islamic roots, the religious characterization and le- gitimation of the geomantic art, the view that it is associated with supernatural spir- its, and the ritualization of its method.
In the 18th-century Enlightenment, geomantic texts went through a process of simplification and « desacralization », which eventually transformed them into the oversimplified practical handbooks which are today appreciated by those who are in search of an easy-to-use technique for predicting future events.
In contrast, in some Arabic countries and in Persia geomancy has remained un- changed as a strongly ritualized divinatory practice. This divinatory art has survived thanks to the oral tradition, which was lively still into the 20th century, but has also been nourished by the written sources of the medieval tradition.
Traditionally regarded as a treatment of prophecy, Eckhart’s exegesis of Jn. 1,48 («Priusquam te ... more Traditionally regarded as a treatment of prophecy, Eckhart’s exegesis of Jn. 1,48 («Priusquam te Philippus vocaret, cum esses sub ficu, vidi te») in the Commentary on the Gospel of John does not have much in common with the many quaestiones and treatises de prophetia that were written in the 13th and 14th centuries. Eckhart is interested not in prophecy per se, but as one of the modes of foreknowledge.
His analysis has a prominent metaphysical character, as it focuses on prescience, understood as that perfection which is proper to the First Cause and which is participated by created beings in unequal and varied ways. Prescience is communicated to the inferior beings by the First Cause, which pre-contains in Itself all perfections in a simple and perfect way. Every created being participates in God’s science according to its own ontological rank and cognitive ability. In this way, Eckhart explains human foreknowledge and other creatures’ ability to foreshadow the future thorugh the Neoplatonic model of the emanation.
As a consequence, he deliberately ignores the distinction between divinely inspired prophecy and natural precognition, a distinction which had been clearly established by some of his famous Dominican brethren (Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Ulrich of Strasbourg). By contrast, according to Eckhart, biblical prophecy, visions and dreams, natural prophecy, divinatory disciplines, and presages are all different instances of one and the same kind of foreknowledge.
Another remarkable consequence of Eckhart’s approach is the great importance he attaches to divination. In his view, divinatory disciplines are legitimate forms of foreknowledge, modes of the manifestation of the divine prescience.
After having studied philosophy at the University of Cologne ''in the way of Thomas'' (in via Tho... more After having studied philosophy at the University of Cologne ''in the way of Thomas'' (in via Thomae), Denys de Leeuwis (b. 1402; d. 1471) entered the Charterhouse at Roermond, where he spent, almost uninterruptedly, the rest of his life. To him we owe a massive literary output, which he organized according to a three-tiered hierarchical scheme of wisdom: philosophy is the lowest level of a hierarchy which, through scholastic theology, culminates in mystical theology. The three orders of wisdom are analogical and isomorphic; that is, philosophy prepares for and somehow foreshadows the superior modes of supernatural knowledge. This explains Denys' keen interest in philosophical matters. Unlike the majority of fifteenth-century Carthusians, Denys conceived of mystical theology not as an affective act only, but as a cognitive act complemented by love. Influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Albert the Great, Henry of Ghent, and fifteenth-century Albertists, Denys came to challenge, during his life, some major doctrines of his early ''patronus'' Thomas Aquinas.
Med Phil4 Programme 1, Maladies of the Soul, 6 November 2022 Cluj-Napoca
Accademia degli Agiati di Rovereto Link sul sito www.agiati.org Prenotazione obbligatoria entro l... more Accademia degli Agiati di Rovereto
Link sul sito www.agiati.org
Prenotazione obbligatoria entro le 16.00 del giorno dell'evento a info@agiati.org
L'iniziativa è parte del progetto Agostino da Trento: peste e astrologia nel Trecento trentino fi... more L'iniziativa è parte del progetto Agostino da Trento: peste e astrologia nel Trecento trentino finanziato da Fondazione Caritro Contatti Staff di Dipartimento-Lettere e Filosofia tel.
Geomancy was one of the most renowend medieval predictive arts. In this method the geomancer trac... more Geomancy was one of the most renowend medieval predictive arts. In this method the geomancer traces 16 rows of dots on the sand or paper, without counting the points, moving from right to left. Once all the lines have been produced and divided into groups of four, he marks off the points by two until one or two remain in each line. The remaining patterns constitute the first four images (mothers) from which all other figures in the chart are derived (daughters, nieces, witnesses, the judge and, if necessary, the arbitrator). Each of the sixteen possible configurations is good or bad, is male or female, and has astrological connotations. The 15 positions in the chart – houses – are related too to specific sets of meanings. Algebric principles underly the whole process. By reading the images located in the houses, the geomancer is able to foresee the Future and reveal the Unknown on behalf of clients seeking answers to pressing questions. Therefore, geomancy was an operative technique that constructed itself the images it interpreted.
By focusing on the Estimaverunt Indi, the geomantic treatise condemned by Tempier in 1277, I intend to highlight the peculiar role played by the geomantic images and their philosophical relevance. The following issues will be addressed:
1. What is the effective role of the geomancer in the image construction? Is he a free agent or an instrument of celestial causality?
2. How concretely does the geomancer read the chart? What is meant by geomantic intentio? How does God contribute to the geomantic process?
3. What is the purpose of images, charts, diagrams outlined on the manuscripts of the Estimaverunt? Do they have a decorative function? Are they visual tools illustrating the text? Do they belong to the instructions related to the image construction or interpretation?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI4qL9Jv2-s&list=PLKUHEuvGnUNCph2sKuIb\_4afmPxF8UjJv&index=11
The Retrieval and Renewal of Medieval Metaphysics. Berthold of Moosburg's Commentary on Proclus' Elements of Theology
DATA: gennaio-aprile 2024, giovedì 17-19 MODALITA’: Conferenza individuale e dialogo a due voci;... more DATA: gennaio-aprile 2024, giovedì 17-19
MODALITA’: Conferenza individuale e dialogo a due voci; entrambi le forme prevedono un momento di confronto con il pubblico.
TITOLO DEL CICLO:
Sguardi filosofici sul futuro
Il ciclo di quattro incontri, che si pone in continuità con le passate edizioni del progetto “La filosofia incontra gli altri saperi”, prenderà in esame lo statuto e la legittimità del futuro all’interno della riflessione filosofica. Le conferenze mirano ad indagare, secondo una prospettiva diacronica, alcuni degli aspetti centrali del dibattito filosofico sul futuro, vale a dire alla luce di quali modelli etici, politici e religiosi i filosofi abbiano concepito il futuro; in che modo i filosofi si siano confrontati con il problema della previsione dal punto di vista conoscitivo; come l’ingegno umano abbia ideato, progettato e costruito una precisa idea di vita individuale e collettiva diversa dal presente o del tutto inesistente in quel presente; infine, come donne, uomini e popoli abbiano prefigurato, con consapevolezza e con straordinaria capacità profetica, ampi squarci di mondi alternativi, che potessero raccogliere i loro diritti, i loro bisogni e le loro speranze. Il futuro esiste, diventa reale, retroagisce sul presente e ne modifica il corso, sollecita la creatività umana, stimola la forza critica, immaginativa e utopica che ci è propria, apre insopprimibili spazi di libertà. Il tema prescelto sarà sviluppato da una prospettiva interdisciplinare, per cui, le conferenze, oltre a indagare concetti e teorie filosofici, si confronteranno con gli approcci e i metodi di altri saperi (la storia, la religione, la sociologia, ecc.).
Inaugurerà il ciclo la conferenza di Maurizio Bettini, giovedì 18 gennaio 2024, che si occuperà delle forme della trasmissione orale della cultura all’interno di Roma a partire dal libro Roma, città della parola, in vista della costruzione della memoria per le generazioni successive e i posteri; giovedì 15 febbraio 2024, Sandra Plastina (Considerar la mutatione dei tempi e delli stati e degli uomini: l’idea di futuro nelle filosofe italiane del Rinascimento) parlerà dell’utopia nel Rinascimento, anche attraverso gli scritti di alcune filosofe della storia moderna; giovedì 7 marzo 2024, Cecilia Martini Bonadeo (Quale vita futura? L’escatologia filosofica dell’Islam medievale) si occuperà del futuro escatologico, della vita ultraterrena nell’Islam medievale. Nell'ultima conferenza, che si svolgerà giovedì 11 aprile 2024, Costantino Esposito affronterà il tema nel pensiero di uno dei più eminenti interpreti della filosofia del Novecento, Martin Heidegger (‘“La provenienza resta futuro”. Il tempo di Heidegger’).
The XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM ("Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents,... more The XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM ("Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents, Prophecy, and Divination") will be held in Trento (Italy), 13-15 September 2023.
All those who are interested in giving a paper are warmly invited to submit a proposal by January 31, 2023. Submissions should contain the title of the presentation, an abstract of no more than 500 words, as well as the author’s name and affiliation. Please send your abstract to:
alessandro.palazzo@unitn.it
irene.zavattero@unitn.it
Further details are available on the following page:
https://hiw.kuleuven.be/siepm/siepm-2023
Link sul sito www.agiati.org Prenotazione obbligatoria entro le 16.00 del giorno dell'evento a in... more Link sul sito www.agiati.org
Prenotazione obbligatoria entro le 16.00 del giorno dell'evento a info@agiati.org
Date:
17.2.2022; 3.3.2022; 10.3.2022; 21.3.2022; 31.3.2022; 14.4.2022
Centri e periferie nella storia del pensiero filosofico Lecce, 26 -27 -28 marzo 2018 Sala Confere... more Centri e periferie nella storia del pensiero filosofico Lecce, 26 -27 -28 marzo 2018 Sala Conferenza del Rettorato, Piazza Tancredi 7 26 marzo Sezione mattutina ore 9: saluti istituzionali modera: alessandra Beccarisi (università del Salento) Vincenzo Zara (Rettore dell'Università del Salento) Carlo Salvemini (Sindaco di Lecce) Giovanni Tateo (Direttore del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici) Maarten Hoenen (Presidente SIEPM) Onorato Grassi (Presidente SISPM) Giacomo De Angelis (Presidente Associazione Italiana Alexander von Humboldt) Freimut Löser (Presidente Meister Eckhart Gesellschaft) ore 9.45. Ruedi Imbach, aufstieg und Fall eines nicht-existierenden Gegenstandes. eine gelehrte, aber nichtsdestotrotz persönliche Geschichte der sogenannten Bochumer-Schule ore 10.45: PAUSA ore 11.15: Onorato Grassi, note per una edizione delle opere di Pietro aureolo ore 12: PRAnZO Sezione Pomeridiana modera: elisa rubino (università del Salento) ore 15: Pasquale Porro, Napoli: una periferia filosofica nel Medioevo? ore 15.45: Valeria Sorge, Per una microstoria dell'umanesimo rinascimentale. agostino nifo e la cultura napoletana del 500 ore 16.30: PAUSA ore 17: Andrea Tabarroni, Un nuovo inizio per la filosofia? Ancora sulle origini dello studio bolognese di medicina e arti modera: maarten Hoenen (albert-Ludwigs-universität Freiburg) ore 19: Abendvortrag: Andreas Speer, die universalität der Vernunft und die Vielheit ihrer Sprachen 27 marzo Sezione mattutina modera: irene zavattero (università degli Studi di trento) ore 9.30: Luca Bianchi, L'aristotelismo vernacolare nel Rinascimento italiano: un fenomeno regionale? ore 10.15: Catherine König-Pralong, centres, périphéries, civilisation. Jules michelet contre Victor cousin ore 11: PAUSA modera: antonella Sannino (università degli Studi di napoli "L'orientale") ore 11.30: Carmela Baffioni, il Linguaggio di adamo, la caduta di adamo. Walter Benjamin alla luce di un inedito testo arabo medievale ore 12.15: Charles Burnett, diplomatic editions versus critical editions in the case of translations from arabic into Latin ore 13: PRAnZO Sezione Pomeridiana modera: Fiorella retucci (università del Salento) ore 15: Freimut Löser, on the margin: Some notes on meister eckhart ore 15.45: Markus Vinzent, Jutta Vinzent, centres and Peripheries -the self-location of eckhart ore 16.30: PAUSA ore 17: Geert Warnar, From the outside. medieval dutch literature, Learning and the use of dialogue modera: andreas Speer (universität zu Köln) ore 19: Abendvortrag Kent Emery, an off-line encounter between Scholastic theology and the monastic Sapientia christianorum: the Solitary mind of denys the carthusian 28 marzo Sezione mattutina modera: nadia Bray (università del Salento) ore 9.30 Stefano Caroti, «causa, principio ed uno sempiterno». Le metamorfosi di melisso ore 10.15: Tiziana Suarez-nani, Ciò che non ha centro né periferia: l'infinito secondo Nicola di Strasburgo ore 11: PAUSA modera: alessandro Palazzo (università degli Studi di trento) ore 11.30: Giulio D'Onofrio, dante dal cerchio al centro ore 12.15: Chiusura dei lavori ore 13: PRAnZO Sezione Pomeridiana -WorKSHoP dottorandi Nuove prospettive della ricerca filosofica medievale modera: coralba colomba (università del Salento) ore 15: Marco Maniglio, L'origine del mondo nel Sapientiale di tommaso di York ore 15.15: Antonio Punzi, Alle origini della metafisica scolastica: il Sapientiale di tommaso di York ore 15.30: Francesco de Benedittis, il commento di Giovanni Pecham al Libro i delle Sentenze di Pietro Lombardo. edizione critica e analisi ore 15.45: Discussione modera: massimo Perrone (universität zu Köln) ore 16: Francesca Bonini, alle origini del tomismo: la Lectura Thomasina di Godino ore 16.15: Federica Ventola, Durando di San Porciano: un filosofo e teologo tra tradizione e innovazione ore 16.30: Tommaso Ferro, il concetto di causa essentialis in ulrico di Strasburgo e nella Scuola domenicana di colonia ore 16.45: Discussione ore 17: PAUSA modera: diana di Segni (universität zu Köln) ore 17.30: Elisa Bisanti, La presenza del Menone e del Fedone nel Xiii secolo ore 17.45: Eleonora Andriani, L'Elucidarium di onorio augustodunense nel Prohemium del Liber introductorius di michele Scoto ore 18: Antonino Rubino, La tradizione manoscritta del Sefer Ḥaye ha-nefesh di Abraham Abulafia ore 18.15: Discussione ore 18.30: Marilena Panarelli, Alle periferie dell'indagine filosofica: i funghi nella trattazione di alberto magno ore 18.45: Mario Loconsole, arte e natura: alberto magno sui sigilli ore 19: Discussione
Aula 001, Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia via Tommaso Gar, 14
Conference Geomancy and Other Forms of Divination: Foreseeing Events and Dominating Nature: Models of Operative Rationality and the Circulation of Knowledge in the Arab, Hebrew and Latin Middle Ages. Università Degli Studi di Trento (June 11-12, 2015), 2015
Aula 001, Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia via Tommaso Gar, 14
The goal of the research is to carry out a systematic analysis of a corpus of manuscripts preserv... more The goal of the research is to carry out a systematic analysis of a corpus of manuscripts preserved in the libraries of the Provincia of Trento and handing down medieval works of natural philosophy and science. The expected result is an online catalogue and, subsequently, a printed catalogue (A).
The project “Social, Political, and Religious Prognostication and its Roots: Philosophical Strate... more The project “Social, Political, and Religious Prognostication and its Roots: Philosophical Strategies for Coping with Uncertainties and Planning the Future” (2023-2025) has been funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) under the PRIN-PNRR 2022 call. I have the honor of coordinating the project, which will be implemented within a network of five Italian universities: Università di Trento (Host Institution), Scuola IMT Alti Studi Lucca (unit led by Silvia Di Vincenzo), Università di Firenze (Anna Rodolfi), Università di Foggia (Alessandra Beccarisi), Università di Pisa (Stefano Perfetti).
Aula 001, Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia via Tommaso Gar, 14
Geomancy had a prominent position among the medieval arts of divination. Outstanding thinkers suc... more Geomancy had a prominent position among the medieval arts of
divination. Outstanding thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Albert
the Great and Bonaventure dealt with it. Writers and poets quoted
geomantic concepts and texts. This volume addresses crucial issues
concerning this particular form of prognostication as well as the
ecclesiastical reactions and condemnations. Chief texts of Latin
medieval geomancy – Hugh of Santalla’s Ars geomantiae, Estimaverunt
Indi and the Geomantia ascribed to William of Moerbeke
– as well as texts from the Arabic and Hebrew geomantic tradition
are carefully investigated here. Attention is also paid to lesserknown
forms of divination – onomancy, chiromancy, spatulomancy
and astral medicine – and to magic.
Napoli, Palazzo du Mesnil, giovedì 20 settembre 2018, Ore 16 Tavola rotonda Astrologia, geomanzia... more Napoli, Palazzo du Mesnil, giovedì 20 settembre 2018, Ore 16 Tavola rotonda Astrologia, geomanzia e magia naturale. A proposito di tre recenti pubblicazioni Indirizzi di saluto: GIAMPIERO MORETTI Modera: LORIS STURLESE AGOSTINO PARAVICINI BAGLIANI -Editor Micrologus Library
Round Table organized by Cetefil/Centro Centro Interateneo per l’edizione di testi filosofici med... more Round Table organized by Cetefil/Centro Centro Interateneo per l’edizione di testi filosofici medievali e rinascimentali with papers by José Filipe Silva, Fabio Bulgarini, Elisa Rubino, Stefano Pelizzari, Giulio Navarra, Amalia Cerrito, Marilena Panarelli, Lars Reuke
24.05.2023 - Lecture by Axel Honneth, in the framework of the cycle Voices from Contemporary Phil... more 24.05.2023 - Lecture by Axel Honneth, in the framework of the cycle Voices from Contemporary Philosophy, organized by the Department of Humanities of Trento and co-ordinated by Michele Nicoletti, Alessandro Palazzo, Tiziana Faitini. Discussants: Paolo Costa and Sofia Alexandratos. Honneth is the most eminent figure of the so-called third generation of the Frankfurt School, and one of the most influential voices in social philosophy today. His main body of work revolves around questions of social freedom, power and recognition.
The XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM ("Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents,... more The XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM ("Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents, Prophecy, and Divination") will be held in Trento (Italy), 13-15 September 2023. All those who are interested in giving a paper are warmly invited to submit a proposal by January 31, 2023. Submissions should contain the title of the presentation, an abstract of no more than 500 words, as well as the author’s name and affiliation. Please send your abstract to: alessandro.palazzo@unitn.it irene.zavattero@unitn.it Further details are available on the following page: https://hiw.kuleuven.be/siepm/siepm-2023
Accademia degli Agiati, Rovereto, webinar. Il ciclo "Il filosofo e il coraggio della verità" ved... more Accademia degli Agiati, Rovereto, webinar.
Il ciclo "Il filosofo e il coraggio della verità" vede al centro delle proprie riflessioni il tema della parrhesia intesa come cultura del sé e degli altri. A partire dalle ultime lezioni del filosofo francese al Collège de France attorno ai temi della parrēsia, si delineerà una riflessione sull'ethos parresiastico e sui campi di problematizzazione che esso determina per il singolo che lo vive e per la comunità che lo ospita
Il seminario costituisce il primo esempio italiano di "reading group" riguardante il pensiero del... more Il seminario costituisce il primo esempio italiano di "reading group" riguardante il pensiero del filosofo e teologo domenicano Alberto Magno (m. 1280), al crocevia tra periodi storici (antichità, medioevo, età moderna), culture (greca, araba, latina) e discipline (filosofia, teologia, scienza) differenti. Specialisti delle varie aree e dimensioni dell'opera di Alberto Magno, in rappresentanza delle varie tradizioni della medievistica italiana e della ricerca in storia della filosofia medievale condotta in otto atenei del nostro paese, leggono, traducono e commentano passi di un'opera-chiave dell'autore, mettendone in luce la ricchezza delle fonti, lo spessore della dottrina, e la profondità dell'influenza successiva. In questo modo, l'opera prescelta del "dottore universale" viene analizzata in una prospettiva concentrica e multidisciplinare, l'unica veramente adatta a rendere ragione dell'inclusività del pensiero di Alberto Magno e ad ottemperare all'adagio domenicano secondo cui solo nella dolcezza della sinergia si può autenticamente ricercare la verità (in dulcedine societatis quaerere veritatem).
Il seminario si terrà in italiano, in modalità mista, ed è aperto a tutti gli interessati. http://imt.lu/seminar
Partecipanti:
Alessandra Beccarisi, Paola Bernardini, Amos Bertolacci, Amalia Cerrito, Silvia Di Vincenzo, Alessandro Palazzo, Stefano Perfetti, Anna Rodolfi, Antonella Sannino, Marco Signori