Lexicon Philosophicum: International Journal for the History of Texts and Ideas
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Consigli
Full text linkFrom the late-fourteenth century the consilia de peste (‘discourses of the plague’), a subset of the consilia medica typical of operative medicine, multiplied. These texts hand down standardized content, but with an attention to the new disease. In the fifteenth century, a resurgence of the epidemic causes a proliferation of vernacular consigli, while printers ride the popular demand for almanacs, predictions, and practical advice. The Testamento attributed to Bonino Mombrizio remains interesting, on the one hand, for some peculiar traits and for the deeply human tone that characterizes certain passages; on the other hand, it is a testimony to the affirmation of the vulgar tongue in Italian medical literature. It is also relevant, as we shall see, from a terminological point of view
Contagio e immaginazione
Full text linkWhen we examine the Latin origin of the word ‘contagion’ as referred to the transmission of diseases, we discover that the primary referent of the term is the most corporeal thing one could imagine: the physical act of touching, contact, and therefore also the sense of touch. Being thus suspended between physical contact and immaterial influence, the term ‘contagion’ entails a disturbing tangle of meanings in which body, emotion and imagination are intertwined. This idea of contagion was studied in all its possible facets by the Flemish physician Jan Baptista van Helmont (1579-1644) – indeed, it could be said that the phenomenon of contagion is the basis of his medical-philosophical speculations
Crisi
Full text linkCrises, in common parlance, are superimposed on disasters. But unlike these, a crisis brings with it its overcoming, for a ‘crisis’ is a passage in time, and the culmination of a process. This is why models of crises are difficult to realize. In fact, a crisis is such when it challenges our descriptive knowledge and creates a new balance: maybe this requires to enter the domain of complexity – the field of non-linear models. Crisis models indeed exist as regards the endogenous generation of the crises themselves; but in these models we are forced to look for the future equilibrium within the same system that generated the crisis. The problem of finding models capable of representing crises as generators of new solutions remains open
Musica, scienza e seconda natura
Full text linkThis paper aims to develop some epistemological reflections about music theory as a peculiar item in the history of ideas, straddling artistic practice, philosophy and mathematics. This is discussed starting from the analysis of a short Hellenistic treatise known as Sectio Canonis and then examining the revitalization of some of its implications in the Early Modern age, through the work of Zarlino and Vincenzo Galilei, in substantial agreement with some reflections contained in Leopardi’s Zibaldone. Intertwining a basic phenomenology that emerges from scientific experiments, and a historically determined one produced by cultural habits, a ‘second nature’ emerges which properly constitutes the object of harmonic science. Finally, the relation of harmonic science and modern science is briefly discussed
Leibniz et Heidegger : Principe de raison suffisante et Satz vom Grund. Quelques remarques sur la destruction heideggérienne du Principe De raison (suffisante). Le Fondement (Grund) de 1929 et le Satz vom Grund (1955-56)
Full text linkIn the present discussion, I set myself the objective of sketching out Martin Heidegger’s two different approaches to the principle of sufficient reason in Leibniz. I will show that Heidegger treats the problematics of the principle of sufficient reason differently in these two texts, the first of which was published in 1929 under the title Die metaphysische Anfagsgründe der Logik nach Leibniz, and the second, of 1955, known under the title of Der Satz vom Grund (Principle of Reason). In my opinion, the question which relates the ‘logical’ and the ‘being’ evokes in a more exact way what, in principle, interests Leibniz – one has to wonder, however: why is Heidegger interested in Leibniz?Dans le présent propos, je me suis fixé comme objectif de faire une esquisse des deux différentes approches que Martin Heidegger propose du principe de raison suffisante chez Leibniz. Je ferai voir comment Heidegger traite la problématique du principe de raison suffisante différemment selon ces deux textes, dont le premier a été publié sous le titre Die metaphysische Anfagsgründe der Logik nach Leibniz de 1929 et le second, notoirement connu sous le titre de Der Satz vom Grund de 1955, Principe de raison. A mon avis, la question qui met en relation le ‘logique’ et l’‘étant’ rappelle de manière plus exacte ce qui, en principe, intéresse Leibniz, sachant que les contextes, approches et méthodes, sont différents chez les deux auteurs. On doit cependant se demander : pourquoi Heidegger s’intéresse-t-il à Leibniz
Après le ‘tournant monadologique’: une redéfinition des esprits ?
Full text linkWhile an important, even decisive work has been accomplished by Leibnizian researchers concerning Leibniz's conception of the living and the organism, barely a few lines have been devoted to the repercussions of these results on moral philosophy. Indeed the question arises of understanding what becomes of the spirits in the new relational context produced by the monadological approach. Unlike the Monadology, the Principles of Nature and Grace (PNG) introduce a new approach to subjectivity. Without starting either from the human mind, in Cartesian manner, or from spirits as some ‘panpsychism’ would do, the PNG present, within nature and under the name of spirit, an active subjectivity which proceeds from the dynamic interconnection of all things, and is inserted into it by all its organic fibers: an incorporated subjectivity.Résumé : Alors qu’un travail très important et décisif a été accompli par les chercheurs leibniziens, qui a renouvelé l’approche du vivant et de l’organisme chez Leibniz, quelques lignes à peine ont été consacrées aux répercussions de ces avancées sur la philosophie morale. Or la question se pose de savoir ce que deviennent les esprits dans le nouveau contexte relationnel produit par l’approche monadologique. À la différence de la Monadologie, les Principes de la nature et de la grâce (PNG) présentent une approche nouvelle de la subjectivité. Sans partir ni de l’esprit humain à la manière cartésienne, ni des esprits comme le ferait un ‘panpsychisme’, les PNG présentent, au sein de la nature et sous le nom d’esprit, une subjectivité en activité qui procède de l’interconnexion dynamique de toutes choses, et y est insérée par toutes ses fibres organiques : une subjectivité incorporée
Double charnière. Philosophie naturelle, métaphysique et perception dans les PNG
Full text linkTo a certain extent, the Principles of Nature and Grace (PNG), of which the title alone already reminds Malebranche, still seem to be animated by the Leibnizian imitation of the ‘Malebranche-Limbo’ (the descending movement and ascending from God to creation, then horizontally to creatures, and then going back to souls, spirits and the kingdom of grace). Here we will highlight, on the contrary, the main aspects by which Leibniz diverges from it in the PNG and in fact abandons it altogether. We will also analyze the meaning of the bipartition of Leibnizian writing in two sections, ‘physics’ and ‘metaphysics’, on the background on Leibniz’s classification of sciences and theory of the substance, and from there we will move to the consideration of the different levels of perception that Leibniz’s substances present.Dans une certaine mesure, les Principes de la nature et de la grâce (PNG), dont le titre seul rappelle déjà Malebranche, semblent encore animés par l’imitation leibnizienne du ‘Malebranche-Limbo’ (le mouvement descendant et ascendant de Dieu à la création puis, horizontalement, vers les créatures, et enfin revenant aux âmes, aux esprits et au royaume de la grâce). Nous mettrons ici en évidence, au contraire, les principaux aspects par lesquels Leibniz s’en écarte dans les PNG et en fait y renonce complétement. Nous analyserons aussi le sens de la partition de l’écrit leibnizien en deux sections (‘physique’ et ‘métaphysique’), dans le contexte de la classification leibnizienne des sciences et de sa théorie de la substance, et de là nous passerons à considérer les différents niveaux de perception que les substances présentent selon Leibniz
La réception des Principes de la nature et de la grâce dans l’Encyclopédie méthodique. L’article “système des monades”
Full text linkThis study will approach the Principles of Nature and Grace moving from the analysis of the article “Monades (Système des)” in the Encyclopédie méthodique, while placing this article in the context of the reception of Leibniz’s philosophy in France. We will see in particular how the insertion of the Principles of Nature and Grace in the entry on the System of the Monads is accompanied by an unprecedented contextualization of the Leibnizian pamphlet and how the article “Monades (Système des)” offers an example of a new understanding of the history of philosophy. So Naigeon invites us even today to re-read the Principles of Nature and Grace.La présente étude abordera les Principes de la nature et de la grâce à partir de l’analyse de l’article “Monades (Système des)” de l’Encyclopédie méthodique, tout en replaçant cet article dans le contexte de la réception de la philosophie de Leibniz en France. Nous verrons notamment comment l’insertion des Principes de la nature et de la grâce dans l’Encyclopédie méthodique s’accompagne d’une mise en contexte inédite de l’opuscule leibnizien et comment l’article “Monades (Système des)” offre l’exemple d’une nouvelle appréhension de l’histoire de la philosophie. Ainsi Naigeon nous invite-t-il aujourd’hui encore à relire les Principes de la nature et de la grâce
Contagio / Contaminazione
Full text linkScholars of Greek and Roman science – and especially of ancient medicine – have been debating for several years which notions of ‘contagion’, i.e. the transmission of a disease from an individual to another, classical antiquity may have had. It is, for many reasons, an interesting question. On the one hand the ancients, whichever ancient civilization is taken into consideration, have conceived of nature and humanity in ways very different from our current ones, but also show, through various narrative forms, feelings and perceptions that can be similar to ours. On the other hand, such comparisons allow to refine our study tools as regards differences in mentality as well as the transformation lines of culture and language