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Home > Religion, Philosophy & Sprituality > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Metaphysics and ontology > The Veil of Isis: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature
The Veil of Isis: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature

The Veil of Isis: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature


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About the Book

Nearly twenty-five hundred years ago the Greek thinker Heraclitus supposedly uttered the cryptic words "Phusis kruptesthai philei." How the aphorism, usually translated as "Nature loves to hide," has haunted Western culture ever since is the subject of this engaging study by Pierre Hadot. Taking the allegorical figure of the veiled goddess Isis as a guide, and drawing on the work of both the ancients and later thinkers such as Goethe, Rilke, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger, Hadot traces successive interpretations of Heraclitus' words. Over time, Hadot finds, "Nature loves to hide" has meant that all that lives tends to die; that Nature wraps herself in myths; and (for Heidegger) that Being unveils as it veils itself. Meanwhile the pronouncement has been used to explain everything from the opacity of the natural world to our modern angst.

From these kaleidoscopic exegeses and usages emerge two contradictory approaches to nature: the Promethean, or experimental-questing, approach, which embraces technology as a means of tearing the veil from Nature and revealing her secrets; and the Orphic, or contemplative-poetic, approach, according to which such a denuding of Nature is a grave trespass. In place of these two attitudes Hadot proposes one suggested by the Romantic vision of Rousseau, Goethe, and Schelling, who saw in the veiled Isis an allegorical expression of the sublime. "Nature is art and art is nature," Hadot writes, inviting us to embrace Isis and all she represents: art makes us intensely aware of how completely we ourselves are not merely surrounded by nature but also part of nature.



Table of Contents:
Preface Prologue at Ephesus: An Enigmatic Saying Part I: The Veil of Death 1. Heraclitus' Aphorism: "What Is Born Tends to Disappear" Part II: The Veil of Nature 2. From Phusis to Nature 3. Secrets of the Gods and Secrets of Nature Part III: "Nature Loves to Hide" 4. Heraclitus' Aphorism and Allegorical Exegesis 5. "Nature Loves to Wrap Herself Up": Mythical Forms and Corporeal Forms 6. Calypso, or "Imagination with the Flowing Veil" 7. The Genius of Paganism 8. The "Gods of Greece": Pagan Myths in a Christian World Part IV: Unveiling Nature's Secrets 9. Prometheus and Orpheus Part V: The Promethean Attitude: Unveiling Secrets through Technology 10. Mechanics and Magic from Antiquity to the Renaissance 11. Experimental Science and the Mechanization of Nature 12. Criticism of the Promethean Attitude Part VI: The Orphic Attitude: Unveiling Secrets through Discourse, Poetry, and Art 13. Physics as a Conjectural Science 14. Truth as the Daughter of Time 15. The Study of Nature as a Spiritual Exercise 16. Nature's Behavior: Thrifty, Joyful, or Spendthrift? 17. The Poetic Model 18. Aesthetic Perception and the Genesis of Forms Part VII: The Veil of Isis 19. Artemis and Isis Part VIII: From the Secret of Nature to the Mystery of Existence: Terror and Wonder 20. Isis Has No Veils 21. The Sacred Shudder 22. Nature as Sphinx 23. From the Secret of Nature to the Mystery of Being Conclusion Notes Index

About the Author :
Pierre Hadot was Professor Emeritus, College de France. His books include Philosophy as a Way of Life and Plotinus.

Review :
[Hadot] is an extraordinary guide to the history of the idea of nature from Heraclitus to now. You will find yourself in the company of a wise Greek, a pagan, a philosopher who believes that a role of philosophy is to teach us how to live. -- Ian Hacking London Review of Books 20070510 Again and again sparks fly as Hadot reveals the enduring fascination of nature's mystery. -- Tom D'Evelyn Providence Journal 20070729 This very learned book displays an enormous scholarship and yet is a fascinating read. -- Robert J. Dostal Bryn Mawr Classical Review 20070325 [Hadot] has written a remarkably insightful book on the theme of the secrets of nature and their significance for the history of science and ideas about nature. First published in 2004 by Editions Gallimard, it is now available in English through Michael Chase's adept and eloquent translation...Of particular interest to historians of science will be Hadot's conception of the Promethean attitude and the mechanization of nature...Hadot's analysis is significant for its focus on Nature as female both in reality and as metaphor during the Renaissance and early modern era...[W]hatever view the reader may hold of the rise of science or of the consequences of the Promethean attitude, The Veil of Isis is a rewarding voyage through a multitude of texts, illustrations and historical figures that brings a set of complex and often contradictory ideas into a clear and compelling argument. -- Carolyn Merchant British Journal for the History of Science 20080701 Pierre Hadot, professor emeritus of the College de France, has written a remarkably insightful book on the theme of secrets of nature and their significance for the history of science and ideas about nature. First published in 2004 by Editions Gallimard, it is now available in English through Michael Chase's adept and eloquent translation...Of particular interest to historians of science will be Hadot's conception of the Promethean attitude and the mechanization of nature...The Veil of Isis is a rewarding voyage through a multitude of texts, illustrations and historical figures that brings a set of complex and often contradictory ideas into a clear and compelling argument. -- Carolyn Merchant British Journal for the History of Science


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780674030497
  • Publisher: Harvard University Press
  • Publisher Imprint: The Belknap Press
  • Height: 210 mm
  • No of Pages: 432
  • Returnable: Y
  • Width: 140 mm
  • ISBN-10: 0674030494
  • Publisher Date: 01 Sep 2008
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Language: French
  • Returnable: Y
  • Sub Title: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature


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