Titlin L.I. “Figuratio Aristotelici Physici Auditus” by Giordano Bruno: Mnemonic Lists and Aristotle’s Polemics with Parmenides and Melissus Based on Bruno’s Six “Points” (“Partes”)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2025.3.11
Lev I. Titlin
Candidate of Sciences (Philosophy), Senior Researcher, Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Goncharnaya St, 12, Bld. 1, 109240 Moscow, Russian Federation
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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2625-8483
Abstract. The article presents the first translation into a modern European language (Russian) of an excerpt from the work of Giordano Bruno "Figuratio aristotelici physici auditus ad eiusdem intelligentiam atque retentionem per quindecim imagines explicanda" (Paris, 1586; hereafter "Figuratio"). The translated excerpt includes the dedication to Pietro Dalbene, in which Bruno sets out his methodology for engaging with Aristotle; the mnemonic lists (in sections II–VII); "The Division of General Philosophy"; "The Division of the Philosophy of Nature"; the Introduction; and the first four sections of the first chapter of Book I. In the introductory article accompanying the translation, general information is provided about Bruno's "Figuratio", and the books of "Figuratio" are correlated with the books of Aristotle's "Physics". Six lists that Bruno presents as tools of his mnemonic technique are analysed, and the principle underlying their construction is identified. An attempt is made to interpret the symbolism of the list in section V. Introductory remarks are given on Bruno's art of memory, particularly in comparison with his treatise "On the Shadows of Ideas". The scheme of the "unified subject" is examined in detail, showing that it represents an image of a human being used as part of Bruno's mnemonic system for storing large amounts of information. The six partes ("parts", translated as "points"), which, according to Bruno's interpretation, form the basis for Aristotle's polemic with Parmenides and Melissus, are discussed in detail. These points concern the notions of "being", "the one", "the immovable", "the principle", the phrase "being is one", and the Eleatic mode of argumentation. Aristotle's arguments against Parmenides and Melissus are analysed, and their reception in Bruno's text is demonstrated. The translation is accompanied by extensive commentary. Passages from the translated fragment are correlated with V. P. Karpov's Russian translation of Aristotle's "Physics". The translation is based on the edition: Iordani Brvni Nolani. Opera Latine conscripta. Vol. I. Pars IV. Florentiae: Le Monnier, 1889.
Key words: "Physics", Aristotle, Parmenides, Melissus, principle, mnemonics, one.
Citation. Titlin L.I. "Figuratio Aristotelici Physici Auditus" by Giordano Bruno: Mnemonic Lists and Aristotle's Polemics with Parmenides and Melissus Based on Bruno's Six "Points" ("Partes"). Logos et Praxis, 2025, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 95-118. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2025.3.11
“Figuratio Aristotelici Physici Auditus” by Giordano Bruno: Mnemonic Lists and Aristotle’s Polemics with Parmenides and Melissus Based on Bruno’s Six “Points” (“Partes”). © 2025 by Lev I. Titlin is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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