Nature in the books of seven metals – Ǧābirian corpus in dialogue with ancient Greek philosophy and Byzantine alchemy –

Watanabe, Masayo (2023) Nature in the books of seven metals – Ǧābirian corpus in dialogue with ancient Greek philosophy and Byzantine alchemy –, [Dissertation thesis], Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna. Dottorato di ricerca in Philosophy, science, cognition, and semiotics (pscs), 35 Ciclo.
Documenti full-text disponibili:
[img] Documento PDF (English) - Richiede un lettore di PDF come Xpdf o Adobe Acrobat Reader
Disponibile con Licenza: Salvo eventuali più ampie autorizzazioni dell'autore, la tesi può essere liberamente consultata e può essere effettuato il salvataggio e la stampa di una copia per fini strettamente personali di studio, di ricerca e di insegnamento, con espresso divieto di qualunque utilizzo direttamente o indirettamente commerciale. Ogni altro diritto sul materiale è riservato.
Download (6MB)

Abstract

The Ǧābirian corpus was a receiver of ancient Greek ideas and, at the same time, a source of knowledge for the later Greek-speaking world, in particular for medieval Byzantine alchemy. Both aspects are explored in the dissertation with respect to the notion of nature. After a general introduction to the Corpus and the sciences described in it, particular attention is devoted to a Byzantine anonymous text, The Work of Four Elements, which was probably influenced by the Ǧābirian Books of Seventy. These texts exemplify how, in the theory of the Ǧābirian science, things are constructed from four natures (hot, cold, moist and dry), the balance of which defines what a thing is. By changing the balance of natures, one can transmute any metals into gold that is perfectly proportioned in terms of natures. Ǧābir presents the art of dyeing metals gold in the Books of Seven Metals which, along with chrysopoetic recipes, also include medical recipes and theoretical contents such as the theories of four humours, properties, and talismans. Moreover, Ǧābir postulated a substrate that does not change in itself and continues to exist when natures move in and out of things. Such primary existence is called the fifth nature as an additional principle to the four natures. This key concept for the Ǧābirian theory, which has been underexplored so far, is discussed through the textual and critical analysis of various unedited sources: the Books of Seven Metals and the Book of the Fifth Nature. This study confirms that the fifth nature was probably derived from ancient Greek philosophical concepts such as the Empedoclean particles, the Aristotelian fifth element and the Stoic pneuma. Thus, this research indicates the importance of the Ǧābirian corpus both in the history of alchemy and the history of philosophy.

Abstract
Tipologia del documento
Tesi di dottorato
Autore
Watanabe, Masayo
Supervisore
Co-supervisore
Dottorato di ricerca
Ciclo
35
Coordinatore
Settore disciplinare
Settore concorsuale
Parole chiave
Ǧābir ibn Ḥāyyan, Ǧābirian corpus, Ancient Greek philosophy, Arabic alchemy, Byzantine alchemy, Nature, The fifth nature, Science of balance, Ḫārṣīnī, The Books of Seven Metals, The Work of Four Elements
URN:NBN
Data di discussione
17 Febbraio 2023
URI

Altri metadati

Statistica sui download

Gestione del documento: Visualizza la tesi

^