This reading session will look at Mersenne’s Questions theologiques, physiques, morales, et mathematiques (1634), a text which details a series of questions (both answered and unanswered) on topics mechanical, musical, chemical, aesthetic, natural philosophical, sociological, and moral. Historians have typically read this text as a disjointed series of scientific inquiries. However, this reading session will focus on a number of compelling features which emerge when reading the text as a whole, including Mersenne’s discussions of ‘wonder’ and ‘curiosity’; the means with which he justifies scientific collaboration; the use of ‘questions’ as a genre for philosophizing; and the unique relationship between the ‘questions’ and their corresponding ‘corollaires’, the latter of which Mersenne uses to draw out the spiritual potential of the knowledge generated from each particular question.

Places are limited (maximum 10 people). Please contact the NOTCOM projects manager to sign up: mailto:amelie.berger-soraruff@mfo.ac.uk.
PDFs will be distributed to all registered participants.