Magic, Medicine and Science

Catalog description

This course looks at the metaphysical and epistemological origins of three systems of thought—the organic, the magical and the mechanical—and considers the extent to which modern science can be seen as arising from their synthesis. Topics include Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, the Hermetic Corpus, Ficino's naturalistic magic, Pico's supernatural magic, Paracelsus and the ontic theory of disease, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, the Cambridge Platonists and Newton. | Prerequisites: EXPOS-UA 1 or EXPOS-UA 4 . Notes: Satisfies a HuSS Elective