9288
|
The magic of Asclepius enters Renaissance thought mixed into Ficino's neo-platonism [Yates]
|
|
Full Idea:
The magic of Asclepius, reinterpreted through Plotinus, enters with Ficino's De Vita into the neo-platonic philosophy of the Renaissance, and, moreover, into Ficino's Christian Platonism.
|
|
From:
Frances A. Yates (Giordano Bruno and Hermetic Tradition [1964], Ch.4)
|
|
A reaction:
Asclepius is the source of 'Hermetic' philosophy. This move seems to be what gives the Renaissance period its rather quirky and distinctive character. Montaigne was not a typical figure. Most of them wanted to become gods and control the stars!
|
9291
|
The dating, in 1614, of the Hermetic writings as post-Christian is the end of the Renaissance [Yates]
|
|
Full Idea:
The dating by Isaac Casaubon in 1614 of the Hermetic writings as not the work of a very ancient Egyptian priest but written in post-Christian times, is a watershed separating the Renaissance world from the modern world.
|
|
From:
Frances A. Yates (Giordano Bruno and Hermetic Tradition [1964], Ch.21)
|
|
A reaction:
I tend to place the end of the Renaissance with the arrival of the telescope in 1610, so the two dates coincide. Simply, magic was replaced by science. Religion ran alongside, gasping for breath. Mathematics was freed from numerology.
|
14700
|
'Content' gives the standard modal profile, and 'character' gives rules for a context [Kaplan, by Schroeter]
|
|
Full Idea:
Kaplan sees two aspects of meaning, the 'content', reflecting a thing's modal profile, which is modelled by standard possible worlds semantics, and 'character', giving rules for different contexts. Proper names have constant character; indexicals vary.
|
|
From:
report of David Kaplan (Demonstratives [1989]) by Laura Schroeter - Two-Dimensional Semantics 1.1.1
|
|
A reaction:
This gives rise to 2-D matrices for representing meaning, and the possible worlds are used twice, for evaluating meaning and then for evaluating context of use. I've always been struck by the two-dimensional semantics of passwords.
|