Cecilia Muratori – författare

Physiognomics is the theory according to which there is a relationship between certain signs on the body and certain characteristics of the soul, and furthermore that it is possible to exploit this relationship to transition from what is visible to what is invisible: to read the body in order to gain access to the soul. This Cambridge Element showcases the philosophical relevance of physiognomics during the Renaissance, combining in-depth analysis of physiognomics' subtle, and sometimes lesser-known theoretical details, with awareness of the role of physiognomics in the main philosophical debates of the time, including on the human-animal border and on the difference between men and women. This Element presents the Renaissance revival of physiognomics as a scientific endeavour that required philosophers to organise medical, anatomical, physiological, and astrological knowledge, under the aegis of an ethical programme for the improvement of oneself and society.

Physiognomics is the theory according to which there is a relationship between certain signs on the body and certain characteristics of the soul, and furthermore that it is possible to exploit this relationship to transition from what is visible to what is invisible: to read the body in order to gain access to the soul. This Cambridge Element showcases the philosophical relevance of physiognomics during the Renaissance, combining in-depth analysis of physiognomics' subtle, and sometimes lesser-known theoretical details, with awareness of the role of physiognomics in the main philosophical debates of the time, including on the human-animal border and on the difference between men and women. This Element presents the Renaissance revival of physiognomics as a scientific endeavour that required philosophers to organise medical, anatomical, physiological, and astrological knowledge, under the aegis of an ethical programme for the improvement of oneself and society.

When does Renaissance philosophy end, and Early Modern philosophy begin? Do Renaissance philosophers have something in common, which distinguishes them from Early Modern philosophers? And ultimately, what defines the modernity of the Early Modern period, and what role did the Renaissance play in shaping it? The answers to these questions are not just chronological. This book challenges traditional constructions of these periods, which partly reflect the prejudice that the Renaissance was a literary and artistic phenomenon, rather than a philosophical phase.The essays in this book investigate how the legacy of Renaissance philosophers persisted in the following centuries through the direct encounters of subsequent generations with Renaissance philosophical texts. This volume treats Early Modern philosophers as joining their predecessors as ‘conversation partners’: the ‘conversations’ in this book feature, among others, Girolamo Cardano and Henry More, Thomas Hobbes and Lorenzo Valla, Bernardino Telesio and Francis Bacon, René Descartes and Tommaso Campanella, Giulio Cesare Vanini and the anonymous Theophrastus redivivus.

When does Renaissance philosophy end, and Early Modern philosophy begin? Do Renaissance philosophers have something in common, which distinguishes them from Early Modern philosophers? And ultimately, what defines the modernity of the Early Modern period, and what role did the Renaissance play in shaping it? The answers to these questions are not just chronological. This book challenges traditional constructions of these periods, which partly reflect the prejudice that the Renaissance was a literary and artistic phenomenon, rather than a philosophical phase.The essays in this book investigate how the legacy of Renaissance philosophers persisted in the following centuries through the direct encounters of subsequent generations with Renaissance philosophical texts. This volume treats Early Modern philosophers as joining their predecessors as ‘conversation partners’: the ‘conversations’ in this book feature, among others, Girolamo Cardano and Henry More, Thomas Hobbes and Lorenzo Valla, Bernardino Telesio and Francis Bacon, René Descartes and Tommaso Campanella, Giulio Cesare Vanini and the anonymous Theophrastus redivivus.

This book investigates Hegel’s interpretation of the mystical philosophy of Jakob Böhme (1575-1624), considered in the context of the reception of Böhme in the 18th and 19th centuries, and of Hegel’s own understanding of mysticism as a philosophical approach. The three sections of this book present: the historical background of Hegel’s encounter with Böhme’s writings; the development of two different conceptions of mysticism in Hegel’s work; and finally Hegel’s approach to Böhme’s philosophy, discussing in detail the references to Böhme both in published writings and manuscripts. According to Hegel, Böhme is “the first German philosopher”. The reason for placing Böhme at the very beginning of German philosophy is that Hegel considers him to be a profound thinker, despite his rudimentary education. Hegel’s fascination with Böhme mainly concerns the mystic’s understanding of the symbiotic relation between God and his opposite, the Devil: he considers this to be the true speculative core of Böhme’s thought. By interpreting Böhme, Hegel intends to free the speculative content of his thought from the limitations of the inadequate, barbarous form in which the mystic expressed it, and also to liberate Böhme from the prejudices surrounding his writings, placing him firmly in the territory of philosophy and detaching him from the obscurity of esotericism. Combining historical reconstructions and philosophical argumentation, this book guides the reader through an important phase in German philosophy, and ultimately into an inquiry about the relationship between mysticism and philosophy itself.