Plotinus＇ account of matter in Ennead III 6[26] 11-15 serves two purposes. The terms, evil and ugly, present the negative side of matter＇s causality, providing for the change characteristic of the sensible world and...Plotinus＇ account of matter in Ennead III 6[26] 11-15 serves two purposes. The terms, evil and ugly, present the negative side of matter＇s causality, providing for the change characteristic of the sensible world and the possibility of ontological evil and privation as well as of moral evil among human beings. The receptacle and other images from Plato＇s Timaeus present the positive side of this causality, matter as allowing for the presence of forms in the bodies of the sensible world. Plotinus explicitly articulates the linguistic problem surrounding the nature of matter, since language is derived from the corporeal and thus needs constant correction when applied to matter as incorporeal. His use of language, thus, always has two phases, first, capturing the nature of matter as aptly as possible, and second, highlighting the difference between matter and the image, analogy, or metaphor used to help explain it.展开更多
The purpose of this essay is to identify and analyze one of Lavinia Fontana＇s mysterious paintings, traditionally entitled Cleopatra but here considered to be an inventive portrayal of an ancient scientist, Cleopatra...The purpose of this essay is to identify and analyze one of Lavinia Fontana＇s mysterious paintings, traditionally entitled Cleopatra but here considered to be an inventive portrayal of an ancient scientist, Cleopatra the Alchemist （ca. third century BCE）. There are four parts to this study. The first is an iconographical analysis of the painting by Lavinia Fontana＇s Cleopatra the Alchemist （1605） at the Galleria Spada in Rome. The second section deals with the origin of the Egyptian Cleopatra the Alchemist as an Egyptian scientist and of her inventions, which include the alembic and the ouroboros motiE The third section consists of an emblematic comparison between the imagery in the painting and alchemical references. The last brief section considers problematic copies of the painting展开更多
In the Timaeus, Plato makes a distinction between reason and necessity. This distinction is often accounted for as a distinction between two types of causation： purpose oriented causation and mechanistic causation. W...In the Timaeus, Plato makes a distinction between reason and necessity. This distinction is often accounted for as a distinction between two types of causation： purpose oriented causation and mechanistic causation. While reason is associated with the soul and taken to bring about its effects with the good and the beautiful as the end, necessity is understood in terms of a set of natural laws pertaining to material things. In this paper I shall suggest that there are reasons to reconsider the latter part of this account and argue for a non-mechanistic understanding of necessity. I will first outline how the notion of necessity is introduced in the dialogue. Next I will show how a mechanistic account of necessity fails to capture Plato＇s purpose of treating it as a causal factor; and, finally, I will argue that this purpose is better understood as an attempt, on Plato＇s part, to account for the causal origin of disorder and irrationality, an origin articulated in terms of a pre-cosmic situation and the notoriously difficult notion of the third kind.展开更多
文摘Plotinus＇ account of matter in Ennead III 6[26] 11-15 serves two purposes. The terms, evil and ugly, present the negative side of matter＇s causality, providing for the change characteristic of the sensible world and the possibility of ontological evil and privation as well as of moral evil among human beings. The receptacle and other images from Plato＇s Timaeus present the positive side of this causality, matter as allowing for the presence of forms in the bodies of the sensible world. Plotinus explicitly articulates the linguistic problem surrounding the nature of matter, since language is derived from the corporeal and thus needs constant correction when applied to matter as incorporeal. His use of language, thus, always has two phases, first, capturing the nature of matter as aptly as possible, and second, highlighting the difference between matter and the image, analogy, or metaphor used to help explain it.
文摘The purpose of this essay is to identify and analyze one of Lavinia Fontana＇s mysterious paintings, traditionally entitled Cleopatra but here considered to be an inventive portrayal of an ancient scientist, Cleopatra the Alchemist （ca. third century BCE）. There are four parts to this study. The first is an iconographical analysis of the painting by Lavinia Fontana＇s Cleopatra the Alchemist （1605） at the Galleria Spada in Rome. The second section deals with the origin of the Egyptian Cleopatra the Alchemist as an Egyptian scientist and of her inventions, which include the alembic and the ouroboros motiE The third section consists of an emblematic comparison between the imagery in the painting and alchemical references. The last brief section considers problematic copies of the painting
文摘In the Timaeus, Plato makes a distinction between reason and necessity. This distinction is often accounted for as a distinction between two types of causation： purpose oriented causation and mechanistic causation. While reason is associated with the soul and taken to bring about its effects with the good and the beautiful as the end, necessity is understood in terms of a set of natural laws pertaining to material things. In this paper I shall suggest that there are reasons to reconsider the latter part of this account and argue for a non-mechanistic understanding of necessity. I will first outline how the notion of necessity is introduced in the dialogue. Next I will show how a mechanistic account of necessity fails to capture Plato＇s purpose of treating it as a causal factor; and, finally, I will argue that this purpose is better understood as an attempt, on Plato＇s part, to account for the causal origin of disorder and irrationality, an origin articulated in terms of a pre-cosmic situation and the notoriously difficult notion of the third kind.
