Autore
Priarolo, Mariangela

Titolo
Demoni o corpuscoli? La bacchetta divinatoria e la nuova scienza alla fine del XVII secolo
Periodico
Intersezioni
Anno: 2020 - Fascicolo: 3 - Pagina iniziale: 333 - Pagina finale: 358

This article focuses on an intellectual debate that arose in France from the discoveryof the culprits of a horrific crime that happened in Lyon in 1692 by meansof a divining rod, and which could highlight the impact that the new science hadhad on early modern mentality. Although this debate may appear to be a mere dispute between supporters of the natural origin of the power of the divining rod andsupporters of a supernatural source of it, it will be demonstrated that the situationis much more complex, since both parties applied the same lens to read nature,i.e. mechanism. In this regard, it is worth noting that one of the consequences ofextending mechanism to every aspect of reality is that some of those traditional supernaturalentities, such as the devil, which Nicolas Malebranche among others usedto justify the behaviour of the divining rod, were (re)introduced within a scientificexplanation of nature.



SICI: 0393-2451(2020)3<333:DOCLBD>2.0.ZU;2-S
Testo completo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.1404/98592
Testo completo alternativo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1404/98592

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