• Matter–Form (Hylomorphism) in Early Modern Alchemy

    Author(s):
    Elisabeth Moreau (see profile)
    Date:
    2021
    Group(s):
    Alchemy, Renaissance Science and Medicine
    Subject(s):
    Philosophy, Modern, Sixteenth century, Seventeenth century, Science--Philosophy, Technology--Philosophy, Science, Technology, History, Medicine, Middle Ages, Alchemy
    Item Type:
    Book chapter
    Tag(s):
    Early modern philosophy, History and philosophy of science and technology, Medieval and early modern medicine
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/rnzf-rg54
    Abstract:
    Hylomorphism is a recent term in the history of philosophy and the sciences. What was used from Antiquity to the early modern period was the terminological couple “matter” and “form.” According to the Aristotelian physics, matter and form are indissociable principles which constitute the elements and preside over the generation and destruction of natural beings. Matter is the material substrate of the elements while form defines their essence. Together, they play a central role in the formation of beings during the union of elements or “mixture.” In the late Middle Ages, the Aristotelian framework of matter–form was integrated into alchemical theories about material change and transmutation. In reference to Latin–Arabic alchemy, medicine, and meteorology, alchemists began to develop pre-corpuscular interpretations of elements as discrete components made of matter–form. In the early modern period, despite Paracelsus’ rejection of the Aristotelian physics, alchemists tended to maintain the notion of matter–form while proposing eclectic accounts of elements in the example of the atomistic theories of Libavius and Sennert. The Aristotelian conception of matter–form was nonetheless challenged by mechanical perspectives on chymistry in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries along the lines of Boyle and Newton.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Book chapter     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_480-1
    Publisher:
    Springer International Publishing
    Pub. Date:
    2021
    Book Title:
    Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences
    Author/Editor:
    Dana Jalobeanu & Charles T. Wolfe
    Page Range:
    1 - 3
    ISBN:
    9783319207919
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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