The Language of Demons and Angels: Cornelius Agrippa's Occult Philosophy (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History)

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Summary: The Language of Demons and Angels.
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This is the first modern study of Agrippa's occult philosophy as a coherent part of his intellectual work. By demonstrating his sophistication, it challenges traditional interpretations of Agrippa as an intellectual dilettante, and uses modern theory and philosophy to elucidate the intricacies of his thought. It also argues for a new, interdisciplinary approach to magic and its place within early modern culture, using a transhistorical conversational model to understand and interpret the texts.

The analysis walks the reader through the text of De occulta philosophia, Agrippa's 1533 masterpiece, explicating the often hidden structure and argument of the work.

This volume will especially interest early modern intellectual historians, historians of religions, and scholars interested in the history of linguistic philosophy.

Readership: All those interested in the history of magic and occultism, early modern history of ideas, intellectual history, history of science, the history of religions, and linguistic philosophy.

Christopher I. Lehrich, Ph.D. (2000) in History of Culture, University of Chicago, is Instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University.