Written in the stars - Medieval itineraries for natural philosophy: astrology, theology and science - AFSV00397

• Anglický název: Written in the stars - Medieval itineraries for natural philosophy: astrology, theology and science
• Zajišťuje: Ústav filosofie a religionistiky (21-UFAR)
• Fakulta: Filozofická fakulta
• Platnost: od 2023
• Semestr: letní
• Body: 0
• E-Kredity: 5
• Způsob provedení zkoušky: letní s.:
• Rozsah, examinace: letní s.:0/2, Zk [HT]
• Počet míst: neurčen / neurčen (50)
• Minimální obsazenost: neomezen
• 4EU+: ne
• Virtuální mobilita / počet míst pro virtuální mobilitu: ne
• Stav předmětu: nevyučován
• Jazyk výuky: angličtina
• Způsob výuky: prezenční
• Vysvětlení: Moodle: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=14641
• Další informace: https://dl1.cuni.cz/enrol/index.php?id=14641
• Poznámka: předmět je možno zapsat mimo plán; povolen pro zápis po webu
• Garant: MA Nicoletta Nativo
• Třída: Exchange - 08.1 Philosophy

Anotace

Is it possible to foresee our future, or to understand one’s nature according to the movement of celestial bodies? In other words, do the stars determine our destiny? Although nowadays we might be tempted to discard these questions as trivial and superstitious, ancient and medieval natural philosophy has long dealt with the problem of distinguishing descriptive and divinatory astrology, finding in questions such as astral determinism one of its more evident examples. This course examines fascination and repulsion for astrology in the Middle Ages. Our point of departure will be Aristotle's cosmology and what has been defined as its ‘astrologization’ through the Alexandrian Ptolemy (c.90-168) and the Persian Albumasar (787-886). Although astral determinism was rejected in the defense of free will, the curiosity for how stars might affect human life was sound during the Middle Ages and grew stronger in the Renaissance, as the fortune of the Speculum astronomiae proves. This course will tackle the concepts of determinism, destiny, and individual freedom as they were developed by the Arabs (Abu Masar, Al Farabi) and the Latins (Augustine, Albert of Cologne and Aquinas), starting from Antiquity to the end of the thirteenth century.

Poslední úprava: Nativo Nicoletta, MA (26.12.2022)

Cíl předmětu

The course will provide students with the opportunity to learn the basics of Aristotle’s natural thought, its original intellectual appropriation in the Arabic context, and its effect on Latin medieval thinkers. Therefore, an inquiry into the influence of the stars in human life will be envisaged to take a closer look at medieval thought on astrology and free will. Students will learn how to critically address, comment and dispute topics in natural philosophy using relevant texts and arguments. The student’s capacity of presenting on a short selected topic (10-15 min oral presentation) will be promoted throughout the course and assessed during the exams.

 

Poslední úprava: Nativo Nicoletta, MA (26.12.2022)

Literatura

Primary Literature

Al-Fārābī, On the Perfect State: Abū Naṣr Al-Fārābī's Mabādi' Ārā Ahl al-Madīna al-Fāḍila. A revised text with introduction, translation and commentary by Walzer R, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1985

Aristotle, De Caelo. Translated by Reeve C. D. C., Hackett, Indianapolis 2020

Aristotle, Metaphysics. Translated by Ross W. D., Oxford University Press, 1924

Aristotle, Physics. Translated by Reeve C. D. C. Hackett, Cambridge, MA 2018

Augustine, Confessions, Translated by Bourke V.J., Catholic University of America Press Washington 1966

Augustine, De ciuitate Dei libri XX, edited by Dombart B. and Kalb A. Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 47–8. Brepols, Turnhout 1955

Isidore of Seville, Isidori Hispalensis episcopi etymologiarum sive originum, vol. I, ed.Lindsay W. M. , Oxford 1911

Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos. Translated by Robbins F. E., Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge /Heinemann, London 1940 

Thomas Aquinas, De iudiciis astrorum. Opera omnia, vol. 43, Ex Typographia Polyglotta S.C. de Propaganda Fide, Rome 1976

Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae. Latin text and English Translation, vol. 40, Blackfriars, London 1968

Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae: Latin Text and English Translation, Introductions, Notes, Appendices and Glossaries, vol. 40, Superstition and Irreverence, trans. and ed. O’Meara T. F.  and Duffy M. J., Blackfriars, London 1968 

 

Secondary Literature 

Adamson, P. “ABŪ MA`ŠAR, AL-KINDĪ AND THE PHILOSOPHICAL DEFENSE OF ASTROLOGY.” Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales 69, no. 2 (2002): 245–70

Bodnár, I. M.,  “Movers and elemental motions in Aristotle,” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy (Volume 15), Clarendon Press, Oxford 1997: 81–117

Ferrari, L. C., Augustine and Astrology. Laval théologique et philosophique, 33(3), 1977

Janos, D., “Al-Fārābī on the Method of Astronomy.” Early Science and Medicine 15, no. 3 (2010): 237–65

Mandonnet, P., Siger de Brabant et l'Averroïsme latin au XIIIe siècle, Institut supérieur de philosophie, Louvain 1908

Porro, P. Thomas Aquinas. A Historical and Philosophical Profile, The Catholic. University of America Press, Washington, DC 2016

Resnick, I. M., eds. A Companion to Albert the Great,  Brill, Leiden the Netherlands 2013

Torrell, J-P., Saint Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 1, The Person and His Work. Translated by Royal R.  The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC, 1996

Wippel, J. F. “The Condemnations of 1270 and 1277 at Paris,” The Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 7.2 (1977):  169-201

 

Further readings

Burnett, C., “On Judging and Doing in Arabic and Latin Texts on Astrology and Divination,” in The Impact of Arabic Sciences in Europe and Asia, edited by Paravicini Bagliani A., SISMEL—Galluzzo, Firenze 2016:  3–11

Burnett, C., “Astrology.” In Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide, edited by Mantello F.A.C. and  Rigg A.G., Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC 1996: 369–82 

Davidson H. A., “Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes, on Intellect”, Oxford University Press 1992

Fidora, A. “Signs vs. Causes? An Epistemological Approach to Prognosis in the Latin Middle Ages.” Tópicos, Revista de Filosofía 47 (2014): 9–23

Torrell, J-P., Saint Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 1, The Person and His Work. Translated by Royal R.  The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC, 1996

Verardi, D., “Les Enseignements sur l’Astrologie d’Augustin d’Hippone et de Thomas d’Aquin dans la Bulle Coeli et Terrae de Sixte V.” Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques 101 (2017): 125–33

Poslední úprava: Nativo Nicoletta, MA (26.12.2022)

Metody výuky

Each lecture consists of a weekly 90 minutes long seminar. During the classes, we will read and comment on the material previously assigned. Students are expected to be prepared, engage, ask questions, and discuss. All the proposed texts, both for primary and secondary literature, are available online and they will be distributed beforehand.

 

Poslední úprava: Nativo Nicoletta, MA (26.12.2022)

Požadavky ke zkoušce

Active in-class participation and a short presentation (or a paper of 3-5 pages) are required to successfully complete the course. 

The topic for the final presentation (or paper) based on the material discussed in class, has to be previously agreed upon with the teacher. 

 

 

Poslední úprava: Nativo Nicoletta, MA (12.02.2023)

Sylabus

The course consists of two compulsory modules: A) General introduction, providing the necessary tools and proper language to address our topic, along with a historical framework; B) Approaching the topic and its entanglements through the selected relevant texts from the Latin milieu.

 

Module A.  Sources for Medieval Cosmology

• Week I, Introduction
• Week: II-III Aristotle’s cosmology
• Week IV, Astrology in the lands of Islam: Al-Kindi's circle and Abu Ma'shar
• Week V, Al-Fārābī and Ibn Sinā: metaphysical and ontological models

Module B.  Knowledge and Stars: astrology, theology and science in the Latin Middle Ages

• Week VI-VII, Augustine, why we should not rely on the stars. Signa, heresy and free will
• Week VIII-X, Albert the Great, theology and freedom: Speculum Astronomiae, The Mirror of Astronomy 
• Week XI-XII, Aquinas on astrological determinism: divination and superstition in the Summa Theologiae 
• Week XIII, Summary and Conclusions

Poslední úprava: Nativo Nicoletta, MA (26.12.2022)