Between Alchemy and Philosophy: A Study on Stephanus of Alexandria’s „Practical Ontology“

My research aims at studying the theoretical merging between philosophical and scientific doctrines in (Pseudo- ?) Stephanus of Alexandria’s alchemical works. In particular, I will focus on the discussion on the process of alchemical transmutation and the philosophical theories of corporeal transformations developed in Athens and Alexandria on the basis of Plato’s and Aristotle’s thematizations of being and substance. This feature is structurally bound to the problem of first matter and cosmogony, and the discussion on corporeal hylomorphism and the possibilities of a modification of substantial forms.