Article ID: CBB077345932

Rethinking Sylva sylvarum: Francis Bacon's Use of Giambattista Della Porta's Magia naturalis (2017)

unapi

This article analyzes the relation between Francis Bacon’s Sylva sylvarum one of its most important sources, Giovan Barttista Della Porta’s Magia naturalis. I claim that Bacon used Della Porta’s experimental reports as a basis upon which he built his science of metaphysics and natural magic. Since Della Porta’s interest lies in the immediate transformation of individual bodies, Bacon considers his approach an inferior kind of science, what he called physics mechanics. There are several changes Bacon made to Della Porta’s experimental reports. They can be grouped by addition of causal explanations, generalizations, selection reordering of instances under different headings. Through all these transformations, Bacon acquires a more profound knowledge of nature and its inner activities and takes Della Porta’s experimental reports to the “superior” science of metaphysics and natural magic.

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Authors & Contributors
Rusu, Doina-Cristina
Clementina Gily Reda
Saito, Fumikazu
Jalobeanu, Dana
Verardi, Donato
Bertolini, Manuel
Concepts
Natural magic
Magic
Natural philosophy
Occult sciences
Mathematics
Astrology
Time Periods
16th century
17th century
Renaissance
18th century
15th century
Early modern
Places
Italy
Naples (Italy)
England
Rome (Italy)
Holy Roman Empire
Paris (France)
Institutions
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome)
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