In the 1500s, people like Giordano Bruno and Giova Battista della Porta were living in the same city and were exposed to the same intellectual influences, which inevitably meant that some of their theories had a lot in common: this is the case with Magic. In fact, the two books written by these authors on the subject have the same title: De Magia. Although each author presents new and different ideas, the overriding concept in both is that Magic is to be interpreted as the Science of the sensible. Della Porta develops a kind of ante-litteram encyclopedia, complete with illustrations, which have nothing to do with classic magic rituals to ward off evil or to predict the future. Bruno, on the other hand, develops a whole new way of thinking, because he immediately accepts the Copernican revolution, and uses it as his starting point for a critique of Aristotle; and the balanced view presented in De Magia seems very relevant today. This article compares these two visions, key contributions to sixteenth century thought.
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