Athanasius
Kircher
Hiro HIRAI
Interprétation chymique de la Création et origine corpusculaire de la vie
chez Athanasius Kircher
Annals of Science, 64 (2007), pp. 217-234.
The
famous Jesuit father Athanasius Kircher tried to interpret the Creation of the
world and to explain the origin of life in the last book of his geocosmic encyclopedia, Mundus
subterraneus (Amsterdam, 1664-1665). His
interpretation largely depended on the ‘concept of seeds’ which was
derived from the tradition of Renaissance chemical philosophy. The impact of Paracelsianism on his vision of the world is also
undeniable. Through
this tentative, Kircher namely developed a corpuscular theory for the
spontaneous generation of living beings. The present study examines this theory
and its relationship with Kircherian chymical
interpretation of the Creation in order to place it in its own intellectual and
historical context and will uncover one of its most important sources.
1. Introduction
2. Concept de semence et
interprétation chymique de la Genèse
2.1. Matière chaotique,
panspermie et semence universelle
2.2. Les trois principes
et l’influence du paracelsisme
2.3. Sel de la Nature,
feu éthéré et ‘to theion’
2.4. La vertu plastique
3. Le problème de la
génération spontanée
3.1. La ‘semence
séparée’ du corps des vivants
3.2. L’âme matérielle
et les corpuscules de la vie
3.3. La génération
spontanée est-elle vraiment spontanée?
4. Bref coup
d’œil sur la source de Kircher
Also available in a shorter English version
Athanasius Kircher’s Chymical
Interpretation of the Creation and Spontaneous Generation
in Lawrence M. Principe (ed.), Chymists and
Chymistry: Studies in the History of Alchemy and Early Modern Chemistry,
New York, Science History Publications, 2007,
pp. 77-87. 