Jonathan Regier | Università Ca' Foscari Venezia (original) (raw)

Papers by Jonathan Regier

Early Science and Medicine, 2023

Our introduction to a special issue of Early Science and Medicine 28/1

Early Science and Medicine, 2023

Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576), a preeminent natural philosopher, physician and astrologer of the s... more Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576), a preeminent natural philosopher, physician and astrologer of the sixteenth century, is known for the great diversity of his intellectual pursuits and writings. Across much of his work, we find an overriding concern with the dangers of human life, how those dangers might be foreseen, and how their effects can be mitigated. This essay begins by considering the epistemic significance of anxiety as it is described in his autobiography, the De propria vita. When Cardano had devoted so much effort to working out method and sense in medicine and astrology, why do episodes of foreknowledge in the autobiography seem so haphazard and disorienting? I use this question to examine Cardano’s views on the possibilities and limits of human foreknowledge, paying special attention to his treatise on dreams, the Somniorum Synesiorum libri quatuor, and his commentary on Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos.

The Cambridge History of Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution, 2022

It has long been recognized that astronomy was a catalyst of the Scientific Revolution, spurring ... more It has long been recognized that astronomy was a catalyst of the Scientific Revolution, spurring on deeply consequential speculation about the nature of the cosmos and its physical principles. Yet the history of celestial physics is far richer than was thought a generation ago, and there is much to be learned about the origins of the field, particularly in the sixteenth century, when humanist activity brought forth a dazzling array of philosophical possibility—from reconsiderations of Aristotle and Islamicate commentary to the revival of Platonic, Epicurean, and Stoic worldviews. Celestial physics offered some of the most heated arguments for or against the Aristotelian cosmos, with controversial attempts to account for astronomical observation by integrating various causal innovations. This chapter will focus on a number of themes that mark celestial physics and cosmological speculation in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries: the order of the celestial bodies and their nature, the relationship between celestial and terrestrial things, the question of celestial animism or vitalism, and the status of the divine in celestial nature.

HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, 2021

Girolamo Cardano makes a number of surprising, even shocking, claims about the soul in his De sub... more Girolamo Cardano makes a number of surprising, even shocking, claims about the soul in his De subtilitate, one of the most widely read works of natural philosophy in the sixteenth century. When he was finally investigated by the Roman Inquisition and the Index, these claims did not go unnoticed. This study will narrow in on three passages marked as heretical by the first Holy-Office censor of De subtilitate. It will consider the Inquisition’s priorities and ask about materialism, determinism, and conceptual inconsistency in Cardano’s views on the soul. The study will give special attention to the claim made by Cardano that souls can be reduced to celestial heat. In addition to De subtilitate, several other of Cardano’s works will be considered for added perspective, especially Contradicentium medicorum libri duodecim.

Kepler’s New Star (1604): Context and Controversy, ed. Patrick J. Boner, 2020

Bruniana & Campanelliana, 2020

To what extent does Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic theology correspond to his Christian theology? Thi... more To what extent does Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic theology correspond to his Christian theology? This question, although too wide to grasp all at once, furnishes the inspiration for the following essay. Here I discuss the human body in the Platonic Theology — the human body as an intellectual helpmate, companion to the soul, and site of spiritual danger. I then consider the significance of the body in On the Christian Religion, Ficino’s major Christian theological statement. I show how the meaning of physical suffering in this latter treatise corresponds to the Platonic Theology and transcends it. I conclude the paper by arguing that physical suffering, for Ficino, embeds the Christian within the history of the Church.

Isis, 2019

In the first decades after the founding of the modern Roman Inquisition in 1542, Girolamo Cardano... more In the first decades after the founding of the modern Roman Inquisition in 1542, Girolamo Cardano was the most prominent natural philosopher to face imprisonment and trial. A trove of Inquisitorial letters, decrees, and censurae have survived, offering a detailed picture of how, in the early years of its existence, the Roman Inquisition placed theological boundaries around astrology and natural philosophy. This essay covers the trial and identifies a critical point of contention: that Cardano allegedly naturalized heresy. It suggests that we view the Cardano affair as a reaction against a natural philosophy which threatened to constrain the Inquisition’s right to judge enemies and execute that judgment. Finally, it discusses how, in light of the Inquisition’s reading, we might consider Cardano’s astrology as accommodating Christian doctrine.

Earth Sciences History, 2020

This essay asks how several major figures of Renaissance and early-modern philosophy saw the Eart... more This essay asks how several major figures of Renaissance and early-modern philosophy saw the Earth as agential. It argues that the Earth’s agency served as a well-articulated and fundamental concept in their philosophies. That is, figures like Giordano Bruno and Johannes Kepler conceived of the Earth’s agency such that it solved key problems in their cosmological systems. The essay is inspired by Bruno Latour’s ecological thought, even as it acts as a corrective to certain of his assertions about early modernity. The essay concludes with some practical lessons that might be taken from early modernity.

Natural knowledge and Aristotelianism at early modern protestant universities, 2019

Contingency and Natural Order in Early Modern Science, 2019

This introductory chapter spells out our vision of a more inclusive history of space. We start wi... more This introductory chapter spells out our vision of a more inclusive history of space. We start with a close look at the meaning of the concept of space and its cognates, noting their practical as well as theoretical implications. In exploring earthly, imaginary and (un)godly places and spaces, we remain in continuous interaction with the classical historiography of space but also add unexpected perspectives. Suspicious of linear or teleological accounts, we stress the flourishing and mixing of many different ideas about space. This chapter is simultaneously a stand-alone introduction to the history of early modern space and an introduction to the contributions that follow, which we locate in a thematic network.

One of the highlights of Duncan Liddel's (1561-1613) career was his participation in a notorious ... more One of the highlights of Duncan Liddel's (1561-1613) career was his participation in a notorious controversy at the University of Helmstedt. In 1598, Daniel Hofmann (1538-1621), professor of theology, stepped over a line when he cited Tertullian and wrote that philosophers were none other than "the fathers of all heresies" ("Philosophos esse haereticorum patriarchas.") The philosophers, including Liddel, responded with a strategy of surround and conquer. Although I will not explore the social aspects of this crisis, we should mention a few local factors that contributed to it. The University of Helmstedt, which had been founded in 1576 by Duke Julius of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1528-1589), was rather exceptional compared with most sixteenth-century universities of the time, insofar as philosophy was on an equal footing with the higher faculties of law, theology and medicine. This particularity might be seen as a radicalization of the Melanchthonian humanistic paradigm. The disciplinary balance, which created a strong humanist and Aristotelian environment, was in part the result of Duke Julius's ambitions to centralize clerical and secular power, all while promoting a tolerant brand of Lutheranism. Likewise, it was fostered by the e forts of the celebrated humanist Johannes Caselius (1533-1613), who had been appointed professor by Heinrich Julius, Duke Julius's son (1564-1613) and university rector. At the same time, the faculty of theology was a stronghold of Lutheran Orthodoxy, critical of Aristotle and Scholasticism, as well as of Martin Chemnitz's (1522Chemnitz's ( -1586 writings and the Formula of Concord. Given the situation at Helmstedt, it is not surprising that a con ict like the Hofmann-streit For a comprehensive account of Duncan Liddel's life, career and ideas, see infra, chap. 3. The text in question was Hofmann's preface to a doctoral disputation defended by Caspar Pfa frad, the Propositiones de Deo, et Christi tum Persona tum O cio. See ibid., f. A2r for the o fending passage. For two excellent analyses of the philosophical stakes of the crisis, see

The world’s finitude is at the core of Johannes Kepler’s natural philosophy. In this article, I d... more The world’s finitude is at the core of Johannes Kepler’s natural philosophy. In this article, I demonstrate that finitude follows from how he conceives of geometry as a reason-giving enterprise: the geometrical orderliness of nature implies nature’s finitude. After sketching the cosmographical framework inherited by Kepler, I will discuss some of the epistemological currents that he channels in his geometrization of God and nature. I will finish the article with a brief analysis of his profound differences with Nicholas of Cusa regarding infinity and knowability.

Kepler's Theory of Force and his Medical Sources, 2014

Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) makes extensive use of souls and spiritus in his natural philosophy. ... more Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) makes extensive use of souls and spiritus in his natural philosophy. Recent studies have highlighted their importance in his accounts of celestial generation and astrology. In this study, I would like to address two pressing issues. The first is Kepler’s context. The biological side of his natural philosophy is not naively Aristotelian. Instead, he is up to date with contemporary discussions in medically flavored natural philosophy. I will examine his relationship to Melanchthon’s anatomical-theological Liber de anima (1552) and to Jean Fernel’s very popular Physiologia (1567), two Galenic sources with a noticeable impact on how he understands the functions of life. The other issue that will direct my article is force at a distance. Medical ideas deeply inform Kepler’s theories of light and solar force (virtus motrix). It will become clear that they are not a hindrance even to the hardcore of his celestial physics. Instead, he makes use of soul and spiritus in order to develop a fully mathematized dynamics.

Journal of Early Modern Studies, Apr 2013

I will analyze how a natural philosopher, according to Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), can move from... more I will analyze how a natural philosopher, according to Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), can move from phenomena to knowledge of a priori causes, those causes included in the divine “idea” of the world. By doing so, I hope to enlarge upon recent studies that discuss the influence of regressus-style logic on Kepler’s natural philosophy. The first part of this article will focus on Kepler’s influences at Tübingen and on the preface to the first edition of the Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596). The preface is an important document. In it, Kepler presents his own narrative of discovery. In the second half of the article, I will jump to his last a priori works, those published around 1620. I will argue that these add a level of detail and precision to the a priori method first presented in the Mysterium. I will end by considering the 1621 edition of the Mysterium, showing how Kepler strongly clarifies the limits of geometry in his natural philosophy.

Esse arts + opinions, 2007

“Interview with Dan Graham: Minimalism Against Minimalism,” Esse arts + opinions (Montreal, CA), ... more “Interview with Dan Graham: Minimalism Against Minimalism,” Esse arts + opinions (Montreal, CA), no. 61, Autumn 2007, pp. 46-53.

Books and edited collections by Jonathan Regier

Early Science and Medicine, 2023

Our introduction to a special issue of Early Science and Medicine 28/1

Early Science and Medicine, 2023

Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576), a preeminent natural philosopher, physician and astrologer of the s... more Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576), a preeminent natural philosopher, physician and astrologer of the sixteenth century, is known for the great diversity of his intellectual pursuits and writings. Across much of his work, we find an overriding concern with the dangers of human life, how those dangers might be foreseen, and how their effects can be mitigated. This essay begins by considering the epistemic significance of anxiety as it is described in his autobiography, the De propria vita. When Cardano had devoted so much effort to working out method and sense in medicine and astrology, why do episodes of foreknowledge in the autobiography seem so haphazard and disorienting? I use this question to examine Cardano’s views on the possibilities and limits of human foreknowledge, paying special attention to his treatise on dreams, the Somniorum Synesiorum libri quatuor, and his commentary on Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos.

The Cambridge History of Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution, 2022

It has long been recognized that astronomy was a catalyst of the Scientific Revolution, spurring ... more It has long been recognized that astronomy was a catalyst of the Scientific Revolution, spurring on deeply consequential speculation about the nature of the cosmos and its physical principles. Yet the history of celestial physics is far richer than was thought a generation ago, and there is much to be learned about the origins of the field, particularly in the sixteenth century, when humanist activity brought forth a dazzling array of philosophical possibility—from reconsiderations of Aristotle and Islamicate commentary to the revival of Platonic, Epicurean, and Stoic worldviews. Celestial physics offered some of the most heated arguments for or against the Aristotelian cosmos, with controversial attempts to account for astronomical observation by integrating various causal innovations. This chapter will focus on a number of themes that mark celestial physics and cosmological speculation in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries: the order of the celestial bodies and their nature, the relationship between celestial and terrestrial things, the question of celestial animism or vitalism, and the status of the divine in celestial nature.

HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, 2021

Girolamo Cardano makes a number of surprising, even shocking, claims about the soul in his De sub... more Girolamo Cardano makes a number of surprising, even shocking, claims about the soul in his De subtilitate, one of the most widely read works of natural philosophy in the sixteenth century. When he was finally investigated by the Roman Inquisition and the Index, these claims did not go unnoticed. This study will narrow in on three passages marked as heretical by the first Holy-Office censor of De subtilitate. It will consider the Inquisition’s priorities and ask about materialism, determinism, and conceptual inconsistency in Cardano’s views on the soul. The study will give special attention to the claim made by Cardano that souls can be reduced to celestial heat. In addition to De subtilitate, several other of Cardano’s works will be considered for added perspective, especially Contradicentium medicorum libri duodecim.

Kepler’s New Star (1604): Context and Controversy, ed. Patrick J. Boner, 2020

Bruniana & Campanelliana, 2020

To what extent does Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic theology correspond to his Christian theology? Thi... more To what extent does Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic theology correspond to his Christian theology? This question, although too wide to grasp all at once, furnishes the inspiration for the following essay. Here I discuss the human body in the Platonic Theology — the human body as an intellectual helpmate, companion to the soul, and site of spiritual danger. I then consider the significance of the body in On the Christian Religion, Ficino’s major Christian theological statement. I show how the meaning of physical suffering in this latter treatise corresponds to the Platonic Theology and transcends it. I conclude the paper by arguing that physical suffering, for Ficino, embeds the Christian within the history of the Church.

Isis, 2019

In the first decades after the founding of the modern Roman Inquisition in 1542, Girolamo Cardano... more In the first decades after the founding of the modern Roman Inquisition in 1542, Girolamo Cardano was the most prominent natural philosopher to face imprisonment and trial. A trove of Inquisitorial letters, decrees, and censurae have survived, offering a detailed picture of how, in the early years of its existence, the Roman Inquisition placed theological boundaries around astrology and natural philosophy. This essay covers the trial and identifies a critical point of contention: that Cardano allegedly naturalized heresy. It suggests that we view the Cardano affair as a reaction against a natural philosophy which threatened to constrain the Inquisition’s right to judge enemies and execute that judgment. Finally, it discusses how, in light of the Inquisition’s reading, we might consider Cardano’s astrology as accommodating Christian doctrine.

Earth Sciences History, 2020

This essay asks how several major figures of Renaissance and early-modern philosophy saw the Eart... more This essay asks how several major figures of Renaissance and early-modern philosophy saw the Earth as agential. It argues that the Earth’s agency served as a well-articulated and fundamental concept in their philosophies. That is, figures like Giordano Bruno and Johannes Kepler conceived of the Earth’s agency such that it solved key problems in their cosmological systems. The essay is inspired by Bruno Latour’s ecological thought, even as it acts as a corrective to certain of his assertions about early modernity. The essay concludes with some practical lessons that might be taken from early modernity.

Natural knowledge and Aristotelianism at early modern protestant universities, 2019

Contingency and Natural Order in Early Modern Science, 2019

This introductory chapter spells out our vision of a more inclusive history of space. We start wi... more This introductory chapter spells out our vision of a more inclusive history of space. We start with a close look at the meaning of the concept of space and its cognates, noting their practical as well as theoretical implications. In exploring earthly, imaginary and (un)godly places and spaces, we remain in continuous interaction with the classical historiography of space but also add unexpected perspectives. Suspicious of linear or teleological accounts, we stress the flourishing and mixing of many different ideas about space. This chapter is simultaneously a stand-alone introduction to the history of early modern space and an introduction to the contributions that follow, which we locate in a thematic network.

One of the highlights of Duncan Liddel's (1561-1613) career was his participation in a notorious ... more One of the highlights of Duncan Liddel's (1561-1613) career was his participation in a notorious controversy at the University of Helmstedt. In 1598, Daniel Hofmann (1538-1621), professor of theology, stepped over a line when he cited Tertullian and wrote that philosophers were none other than "the fathers of all heresies" ("Philosophos esse haereticorum patriarchas.") The philosophers, including Liddel, responded with a strategy of surround and conquer. Although I will not explore the social aspects of this crisis, we should mention a few local factors that contributed to it. The University of Helmstedt, which had been founded in 1576 by Duke Julius of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1528-1589), was rather exceptional compared with most sixteenth-century universities of the time, insofar as philosophy was on an equal footing with the higher faculties of law, theology and medicine. This particularity might be seen as a radicalization of the Melanchthonian humanistic paradigm. The disciplinary balance, which created a strong humanist and Aristotelian environment, was in part the result of Duke Julius's ambitions to centralize clerical and secular power, all while promoting a tolerant brand of Lutheranism. Likewise, it was fostered by the e forts of the celebrated humanist Johannes Caselius (1533-1613), who had been appointed professor by Heinrich Julius, Duke Julius's son (1564-1613) and university rector. At the same time, the faculty of theology was a stronghold of Lutheran Orthodoxy, critical of Aristotle and Scholasticism, as well as of Martin Chemnitz's (1522Chemnitz's ( -1586 writings and the Formula of Concord. Given the situation at Helmstedt, it is not surprising that a con ict like the Hofmann-streit For a comprehensive account of Duncan Liddel's life, career and ideas, see infra, chap. 3. The text in question was Hofmann's preface to a doctoral disputation defended by Caspar Pfa frad, the Propositiones de Deo, et Christi tum Persona tum O cio. See ibid., f. A2r for the o fending passage. For two excellent analyses of the philosophical stakes of the crisis, see

The world’s finitude is at the core of Johannes Kepler’s natural philosophy. In this article, I d... more The world’s finitude is at the core of Johannes Kepler’s natural philosophy. In this article, I demonstrate that finitude follows from how he conceives of geometry as a reason-giving enterprise: the geometrical orderliness of nature implies nature’s finitude. After sketching the cosmographical framework inherited by Kepler, I will discuss some of the epistemological currents that he channels in his geometrization of God and nature. I will finish the article with a brief analysis of his profound differences with Nicholas of Cusa regarding infinity and knowability.

Kepler's Theory of Force and his Medical Sources, 2014

Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) makes extensive use of souls and spiritus in his natural philosophy. ... more Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) makes extensive use of souls and spiritus in his natural philosophy. Recent studies have highlighted their importance in his accounts of celestial generation and astrology. In this study, I would like to address two pressing issues. The first is Kepler’s context. The biological side of his natural philosophy is not naively Aristotelian. Instead, he is up to date with contemporary discussions in medically flavored natural philosophy. I will examine his relationship to Melanchthon’s anatomical-theological Liber de anima (1552) and to Jean Fernel’s very popular Physiologia (1567), two Galenic sources with a noticeable impact on how he understands the functions of life. The other issue that will direct my article is force at a distance. Medical ideas deeply inform Kepler’s theories of light and solar force (virtus motrix). It will become clear that they are not a hindrance even to the hardcore of his celestial physics. Instead, he makes use of soul and spiritus in order to develop a fully mathematized dynamics.

Journal of Early Modern Studies, Apr 2013

I will analyze how a natural philosopher, according to Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), can move from... more I will analyze how a natural philosopher, according to Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), can move from phenomena to knowledge of a priori causes, those causes included in the divine “idea” of the world. By doing so, I hope to enlarge upon recent studies that discuss the influence of regressus-style logic on Kepler’s natural philosophy. The first part of this article will focus on Kepler’s influences at Tübingen and on the preface to the first edition of the Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596). The preface is an important document. In it, Kepler presents his own narrative of discovery. In the second half of the article, I will jump to his last a priori works, those published around 1620. I will argue that these add a level of detail and precision to the a priori method first presented in the Mysterium. I will end by considering the 1621 edition of the Mysterium, showing how Kepler strongly clarifies the limits of geometry in his natural philosophy.

Esse arts + opinions, 2007

“Interview with Dan Graham: Minimalism Against Minimalism,” Esse arts + opinions (Montreal, CA), ... more “Interview with Dan Graham: Minimalism Against Minimalism,” Esse arts + opinions (Montreal, CA), no. 61, Autumn 2007, pp. 46-53.

Annals of Science, 2019

There is a sense in which Kepler comes to us ready-made. In his earliest known writings, he was a... more There is a sense in which Kepler comes to us ready-made. In his earliest known writings, he was a committed Copernican and deeply convinced of the world's mathematical structure. In 1596, he published his first book, the Mysterium cosmographicum, a defence of the Copernican order based on the idea that planetary distances are determined by the five Platonic solids. God was a mathematician and had arranged nature by way of the most perfect mathematical entities. If the Mysterium uncovered the divine architecture of the world, there remained the issue of explaining why God had chosen certain periods for the planets and not others. This pertained to harmony, and, in the early years of the new century, Kepler began to develop a harmonic theory whose crowning achievement was the Harmonice mundi, published in 1619. That book is famous for announcing the relationship known as Kepler's Third Law, although most of it is concerned with other physical and mathematical relationships. The book also has a distinct political element in its dedication to King James VI and I, as well as in a digression addressing the mathematical-political concept of harmony advanced by Jean Bodin. Of course, Kepler was no stranger to politics: by 1619, he had lived for over a decade at the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II's court in Prague, advising the latter as an astronomer and astrologer. Yet Kepler's political ideas have largely gone unexamined.

The British Journal for the History of Science, 2017

Pioneering works in the sociology of risk describe risk society as a uniquely modern phenomenon r... more Pioneering works in the sociology of risk describe risk society as a uniquely modern phenomenon resulting from technological, economic and political developments over the last two centuries (Beck 1992 [1986]; Giddens 1991). Meanwhile, a few recent studies have suggested in one way or another that early modern risk can and should be reconsidered from a number of disciplinary perspectives, and that it can shed light on later developments (Walter 2008; Niget and Petitclerc 2012; Bertrand 2014; Nacol 2017). This panel will consider how sophisticated approaches to risk and risk management manifested in early modernity on a variety of fronts: the metaphysical and theological, the natural philosophical, the environmental and institutional, and the medical.

Early Modern Geological Agency Organized by: Tina Asmussen (ETH Zürich) and Pietro Daniel Omodeo ... more Early Modern Geological Agency Organized by: Tina Asmussen (ETH Zürich) and Pietro Daniel Omodeo (Università Ca'Foscari Venezia)

Panel - History of Science Society Annual Meeting - Utrecht, 2019

& This paper investigates the ambivalent character of Saturn in the context of sixteenth and earl... more & This paper investigates the ambivalent character of Saturn in the context of sixteenth and early seventeenth literature on mining and metalworking in relation to desires, vices and virtues. The mythical figure Saturn, the son of Father Sky (Uranus) and Mother Earth (Gaia), was in medieval and renaissance alchemy and astrology related to the metal lead. As the last of the seven planets and in greatest distance to the sun he was qualified as dry and cold. In literature and art, he enjoyed an ambivalent reputation representing plenty and wealth but also death, sexual violence (castration), cannibalism, and transience. He was perceived as the patron over the earth, woods and stones. Along with deviant figures-such as criminals, witches, magicians, frauds-miners and peasants were regularly depicted as the children of Saturn. Representing the changing fortunes of mining, he appeared as protagonist in allegorical mining festivals or as emblems on artworks and coins until the eighteenth century. Saturn in his dual nature as evil and promising figure is both an image of desire, offering wealth and affluence, and an image punishment, infamy and death. These characteristics turned him into an appropriate personification of the uncertain, dangerous, but at the same time promising mining industry. In order to analyze the promotion, provocation and management of desire in Renaissance natural philosophy, it is essential to consider economics and markets as well. In this sense, this paper seeks to qualify and continue Culianu's thoughts. ⚜

The issue addresses the relationship between cosmology and ratio, or the dialectical and structur... more The issue addresses the relationship between cosmology and ratio, or the dialectical and structural connection which links the same definition of “world” as an uniform, homogeneous, coherent and possible system with the very logical and narrative (and then uniform, homogeneous, coherent and possible) character of our rational description of it. Otherwise, every ratio mundi – understood both in a metaphysical or in an epistemological or in a phenomenological way – amounts, really because it is a ratio, as an explication and an articulation of an object formerly preunderstood and, so to speak, invented, cum discursu, or rather into specific logic and descriptive categories. Because of this structural co-belonging of the concept of “cosmos” to his own narrative dimension, we may can reduce the history of cosmology to a long sequence of depictions, but overall of creations and re-creations of the world, that allow us to distinguish in a only partial way a physical and naturalistic discussion from a theological, a metaphysical or a linguistical-imaginative one.