The Great Books of Medieval and Early Modern Divination (and Anti-Divination)
April 17, 2012
Convenor: Prof. Stefano Rapisarda
The history of philosophy, like the history of literature – and at times even the history of science – can justifiably be defined as a "dialogue" between texts. Texts interact without regard to distances of time and space: they talk to one another, quote, refer to, hint, allude, comment, and remark. They can make tributes, acknowledgements, contradictions, and confutations. In the history of western divination, we can, for example, find Ptolemy in dialogue with Greek and 'Oriental' traditions; Augustine dealing with the pagan tradition via biblical authority and Christian doctrine; the Secretum secretorum in dialogue with Hermetic and pseudo-Hermetic traditions; Nicole Oresme's Livre de divinacions in dialogue with Cicero's De divinatione, and so on. In this workshop we wish attempt to explore a number of 'canonical'; texts on the subject of divination (and anti-divination), as individual texts, in their social, cultural, and political contexts, and in their intertextual connections.
Programme
| 09.30 – 10.00 | Introduction Prof. Stefano Rapisarda |
| 10.00 – 10.40 | Arguing Divination by the Book: Categories of Foretelling in the Vulgate Bible Dr Erik Niblaeus |
| 10.40 – 10.50 | Welcome Address Prof. Dr. Klaus Herbers |
| 10.50 – 11.10 | Coffee Break |
| 11.10 – 11.50 | Astrology between Rational Science and Inspired Divination: Pseudo-Ptolemy's Centiloquium Prof. Jean-Patrice Boudet |
| 11.50 – 12.30 | The Secret of Secrets and its Reception in the Middle Ages Hans Christian Lehner |
| 12.30 – 12.50 | Discussion |
| 12.40 – 14.00 | Lunch Break |
| 14.00 – 14.40 | Pythagoras' index: Denoting Authorship in Sortes Books Dr Allegra Iafrate |
| 14.40 – 15.20 | Le Dodechedron occitan du manuscrit BNF Fr. 14771 Dr Katy Bernard |
| 15.20 – 15.30 | Discussion |
| 15.30 – 15.50 | Coffee Break |
| 15.50 – 16.30 | Apuntes sobre el De sortibus de Tomás de Aquino Prof. Alberto Alonso Guardo |
| 16.30 – 17.10 | The Ars notoria in the Middle Ages and in Modern Times: Diffusion and Influence(s) Prof. Julien Véronèse |
| 17.10 – 17.20 | Discussion |
| 17.20 | Summary and Final Discussion |
| 19.00 | Dinner |
Location
IKGF Seminar Room
Ulrich-Schalk-Straße 3a – 91056 Erlangen
Downloads
Workshop Flyer A5 (3 MB)
Workshop Poster A3 (250 KB)
Contact
For more information, please contact Erik Niblaeus at erik.niblaeus@ikgf.uni-erlangen.de.