THE PARACELSIAN ISSUE: ALCHEMY AND CHEMISTRY IN MID-SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH TRANSLATION
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2020
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Haverford College. Department of History
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Thesis
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
This thesis explores the uses of the words alchemy and chemistry in mind-17th century English translations of Paracelsian treatises. I identified a gap in current scholarship where, while "alchemy" and "chemistry" have been analyzed before by such scholars as William Newman and Lawrence Principe, the usage of the two terms by Paracelsus, his followers, and the translators of his works was largely ignored. Using an understanding of some of the significant parts of Paracelsian natural philosophy, socio-political context, and my own reading of five translated documents, I determined that, contrary to some more recent scholarship, the meanings of "alchemy" and "chemistry" are not static when used by English Paracelsians, instead being dictated by the author's own personal motives, as well as the influence of several social movements of 17th century England.