Pseudo-Paracelsus: Alchemy and Forgery in Early Modern Medicine and Natural Philosophy – Call For Papers

Pseudo-Paracelsus: Alchemy and Forgery in Early Modern Medicine and Natural Philosophy
Villa Vigoni (Italy)
25-28 July, 2016

Over the last 30 years, a number of major publications have considerably expanded our knowledge of the works of the Swiss physician Paracelsus (1493/94–1541) and his followers. Paracelsus is best known for his radical criticism of Aristotle and Galen along with his radical positions as a lay theologian and spiritual reformer. He ignited a long process leading to the emergence of chemistry as an autonomous science. His theological ideas nourished early modern debates on religious tolerance. He was also instrumental in Tycho Brahe’s reform of cosmology.

The production of forgeries under Paracelsus’s name was an integral part of the diffusion of Paracelsianism. Many of those forgeries were widely read and extremely influential, not only in the fields of medicine and “chymistry” (alchemy/chemistry), but also in cosmology, anthropology, theology and magic. For example, the famous “Philosophia ad Athenienses” included the dangerous idea on the uncreated “prime matter” of the world, while the “De natura rerum” described how to create a homunculus. Those were clearly alien to Paracelsus’s own philosophy but were taken at face value by both Paracelsians and their opponents. A number of other apocryphal works are no less interesting. All of them have yet to be studied in their own right.

The present conference, which opens a four-years project, aims to put together the knowledge of specialists with diverse backgrounds. Studying the content, sources, topics, potential authorship and dating of pseudo-Paracelsian treatises, it will reveal their distinctive and common features, their mutual connections, their kinship in style and content with the genuine works of Paracelsus. It will also explore their historical impacts on the evolution of both Paracelsianism and anti-Paracelsianism. This broad survey of the corpus will address many related disciplines and issues: medicine and alchemy, the four elements and the three principles, as well as the corpus attributed to George Ripley, the corpus attributed to Isaac Hollandus, the Ficinian idea of the World-Spirit (spiritus mundi) and its relation to alchemical quintessence, the “signatures” doctrine (signatura rerum), magnetism and imagination.

Our main targets are: Philosophia ad Athenienses; De natura rerum; De tinctura physicorum; Thesaurus thesaurorum; Aurora philosophorum; Apocalypsis Hermetis; De secretis creationis; De occulta philosophia; Liber Azoth; De pestilitate. The conference may even reconsider the dating of Paracelsus’s authentic treatises and explore their connections with the works of major Paracelsians such as Alexander von Suchten, Michael Toxites and Gerhardt Dorn.

Besides our plenary speakers, the conference seeks to involve younger researchers and postgraduate students by way of a call for papers. It also plans a workshop session in which the participants can read and discuss pseudo-Paracelsian texts along with related genuine works. This will foster the creation of an international reading group.

Proposals for 20 minutes papers are welcomed, and the participation of postgraduate students and junior researchers is particularly encouraged. Please send your proposal (300 words max) along with your short CV, by 1 January 2016, to the organizers: