NOCTUA
La tradizione filosofica dall’antico al moderno
History of Philosophy from the Ancient to the Modern Age
Autore / Author: Mario Loconsole
Affiliazione / Author affiliation: Università del Salento, Lecce – Universität zu Köln
Titolo / Title: Alchimicorum periti operantur sicut periti medicorum. Albert the Great’s Account on Alchemical Transmutation
Abstract: This article deals with the most relevant philosophical side of Albert the Great’s analysis of alchemy, aimed at clarifying what alchemical transmutation consists in and whether this process can ultimately be accomplished by men. The Dominican master handles the problem differently in the earlier commentary on Lombardus’ Libri Sententiarum and in works like the De mineralibus, in which a more mature idea of the connection between art and nature is developed. In this respect, Albert’s interpretation intersects with Avicenna’s De congelatione, a fundamental text for the Latin medieval debate on alchemy, whose reception has shaped his understanding of the alchemical art. The Dominican master gradually assumes a more lenient position towards the claims of the alchemical process of transmutation, which he explains by resorting to the similitudes between alchemy and medicine and the comparison of artificial transmutation with natural processes such as the generatio ex putrefactione and the natural formation of minerals.
Keywords: Albert the Great; alchemy; art; nature; transmutation.
DOI: 10.14640/NoctuaVII5
Anno / Volume: VII
Fascicolo / Issue: 2
Pagine / Pages: 185-224
Pubblicazione / Publication date: 01/08/2020
Permalink: https://dx.doi.org/10.14640/NoctuaVII5
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ISSN 2284-1180