Doctoral Dissertation Research: Magic and the Mechanics of the Unseen in the Medieval Natural Philosophy of William of Auvergne, Bishop of Paris (c.1190-1249).

引言：自然魔法的概念（对以前完全归因于神或恶魔机构干预的看不见的力量运作的另一种解释）首先出现在13世纪巴黎主教的哲学著作中，他名叫奥弗涅的威廉，他受到当时神学家两个非传统来源的强烈影响：当代和中世纪前流行信仰的民族志，以及伊斯兰自然哲学，特别是与魔法、占星术和炼金术有关的。他的自然魔法理论引发了西方思想的重要转变，在中世纪自然哲学中发挥了至关重要的作用，产生了不依赖超自然因素（神的、恶魔的等）的因果关系模型。本论文将通过对威廉的档案研究，为历史研究提供大量新的主要资源，并将为他关于魔法和自然界中看不见的力量的著作提供急需的分析。知识价值：对威廉的著作及其在13世纪和14世纪学术辩论中的作用进行批判性研究，将对提高对西方思想中科学范式和宗教范式之间的历史斗争的理解作出重要贡献，并可能证明对管理这些冲突的哲学和修辞策略的有益恢复。这项研究将产生原创作品，将提高我们对威廉和他对后来的自然思想家的影响的理解。从档案研究的基础上，可以得出以下关键问题的答案：作为自然哲学家的神学家（因此也是中世纪的科学家）是如何协商为科学和宗教创造不同的认识论类别的？威廉的民族志研究和情感是如何使他摆脱现有的教条的？他将“高”、“低”和非西方的认知文化（例如，大学、教会、大众、神话、伊斯兰）视为可行的数据来源，这种非传统的方法在哪些方面为他的创新提供了优势，他将自然中隐藏的力量作为先前归因于精神行为的现象的因果机制进行了解释？更广泛的影响：该研究将通过解决这些问题来研究威廉的创新的社会后果。在一个动荡不安的时代，这种后果并不罕见，他是如何应对智力越界的危险的——即宫廷的冷遇、异端的指控，以及可能被开除教会或大学职位的？在中世纪晚期世俗大学形成的背景下，魔法、科学和宗教的分离是如何开始形成的？我们应该以何种方式开始修正关于科学与宗教之间的历史“战争”的假定寿命和本质的共同信念？在中世纪晚期关于自然魔法的辩论中，对修辞策略的更好理解，以及社会对新语言和新范畴的逐渐接受，对现代知识文化有什么影响？

Introduction: The idea of natural magic (an alternative explanation for the operation of unseen forces formerly attributed solely to the intervention of divine or demonic agencies) first emerged in the philosophical writings of a thirteenth-century bishop of Paris named William of Auvergne, who was strongly influenced by two unconventional sources for theologians of his time: the ethnography of contemporary and pre-medieval popular beliefs, and Islamic natural philosophy, particularly that pertaining to magic, astrology, and alchemy. His theory of natural magic initiated an important shift in Western thought that played a crucial role in medieval natural philosophy, generating models of causality which did not rely on supernatural agents (divine, demonic, etc.). This dissertation will provide substantial new primary resources for historical study through archival research into William, and will provide a much-needed analysis of his writings on magic and unseen forces in nature.Intellectual Merit: A critical study of William's writings and their role in the academic debates of the thirteenth and fourteenth century will be a crucial contribution to an improved understanding of the historical struggle between scientific and religious paradigms in Western thought, and may prove a useful recovery of philosophical and rhetorical strategies for managing these conflicts. The research will yield original work that will improve our understanding of William and his influence on later natural thinkers. From this base of archival study, answers to the following key questions can be derived: How did theologians who were also natural philosophers (and hence scientists of the Middle Ages) negotiate the creation of distinct epistemological categories for science and religion? How did William's ethnographical investigations and sensibilities enable him to break free of existing doctrine? In what ways did his unconventional approach of treating "high," "low," and non-Western cultures of knowing (e.g., university, ecclesiastical, popular, fabulous, Islamic) as viable sources of data provide an advantage in his innovation of an explanatory account of hidden forces in nature as causal mechanisms for phenomena previously attributed to the action of spirits?Broader Impacts: The study will examine social ramifications of William's innovations by addressing these questions. How did he navigate the perils of intellectual transgression--namely, courtly disfavor, accusations of heresy, and possible expulsion from his ecclesiastical or university post--during a time of tremendous upheaval where such ramifications were hardly rare? How does the separation of magic, science, and religion begin to take shape in the context of the formation of secular universities in the late Middle Ages, and in what ways should we begin to revise common beliefs about the assumed longevity and nature of the historical "war" between science and religion as a consequence? What are the ramifications of a better understanding of the rhetorical strategies and the gradual social adoption of new locutions and categories in debates over natural magic in the late Middle Ages for modern intellectual culture?