Description
COUNTER-POLITICS OF ALCHEMY
Book Summary
What happens when a scientific discipline is stripped of its most uncomfortable elements? In 1666, chemistry was accepted as an official science in exchange for renouncing chrysopoeia and the search for the philosopher's stone, relegating these practices to alchemy. This book explores alchemy not as a naive precursor to chemistry, but as a space of intellectual resistance. The author proposes that the alchemical worldview—organic and non-systematizable—constitutes an alternative to dominant Western rationality. A work that invites us to rethink the boundaries between science, magic, and politics.
What is it about?
The essay begins at the historical moment when chemistry was institutionalized as a science, disassociating itself from alchemy. From there, the author develops a provocative thesis: alchemy, far from being a pseudoscience or a surpassed stage, represents an alternative mode of knowledge. Its paradoxical and contradictory rationality clashes with the singular experimental method of modern science. The book analyzes how this way of understanding the world, which conceives reality as an organic and non-totalizable whole, has been historically marginalized. But it also shows its potential as a site of resistance against dominant rationalist and political logics. The work thus connects philosophy, the history of science, and political critique.
Main Topics
- History of science and the institutionalization of knowledge.
- Alchemy as an alternative system of thought to Western rationalism.
- Critique of the exclusion of knowledge considered "non-scientific."
- Relationship between knowledge, power, and politics.
- Paradoxical rationality and organicism versus the experimental method.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in the philosophy of science, the history of thought, and political critique. It will also be of great interest to those seeking perspectives alternative to dominant rationalism, as well as those wishing to explore the intersections between knowledge, power, and intellectual resistance.
What this book contributes
- A reinterpretation of alchemy as a legitimate and politically relevant tradition of thought.
- A critical analysis of how modern science was constituted through exclusions and ruptures.
- A reflection on the possibilities of non-systematizable forms of knowledge.
- An original perspective that connects the history of science with political philosophy.
Technical Specifications
- Author: ANDITYAS MATOS
- Publisher: NED EDICIONES
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
- Collection: HUELLAS Y SEÑALES
- Publication date: February 2024
- Number of pages: 144
- Weight: 311 g
Editorial Review
This is a brief yet dense essay that offers a provocative look at a rarely traveled subject. Its main interest lies in the ability to connect the history of science with political critique, offering an original reflection on the mechanisms of knowledge exclusion. It is a work that invites debate and will be especially stimulating for readers with philosophical and political concerns.