Magic in Western Culture

Brian P. Copenhaver is Distinguished Professor and Udvar-Hazy Chair of Philosophy and History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and past president of the Journal of the History of Philosophy; he is also a member of the council of the Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento in Italy. He serves or has served on the boards of Rinascimento, Renaissance Quarterly, Annals of Science, the Journal of the History of Ideas, Early Science and Medicine, the International Archives of the History of Ideas, and the I Tatti Renaissance Library. The most recent of his eleven books is Peter of Spain's Summaries of Logic (2014, with Calvin Normore and Terry Parsons).

Part I. Introduction: 1. The scruples of J. G. Frazer; 2. Magic as a classical tradition and its philosophical foundations; Part II. Mageia: 3. Ancient philosophy in Ficino's magic I: Plotinus; 4. Ancient philosophy in Ficinio's magic II: Neoplatonism and the Chaldaean Oracles; 5. Ancient philosophy in Ficino's magic III: Hermes and Proclus; 6. Scholastic philosophy in Ficino's magic; 7. Data: a tale of two fish; Part III. Hermetica: 8. Hermes the theologian; 9. Hermes domesticated; 10. Hermes on parade; Part IV. Magic Revived and Rejected: 11. How to do magic, and why; 12. Nature, magic, and the art of picturing; 13. The power of magic and the poverty of erudition; 14. Disenchantment; Part V. Conclusion: 15. Who killed Dabholkar?