From the book
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Heinrich Khunrath · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordBrick is a candidate named in the catalogue on page 34.
- In KhunrathThe later criterion on page 44 requires a natural subject to which human artful assistance has not already come.
- In this editionThe second passage supplies a general criterion, not an explicit brick-by-brick refutation.
- A reading distinctionThe compound’s stone element does not make it an instance of the technical Philosophers’ Stone.
Meaning
Brick is a candidate named in the catalogue on page 34. Its inclusion shows that the search reported there ranges beyond natural ores and metals into manufactured things.
Use in the book
The later criterion on page 44 requires a natural subject to which human artful assistance has not already come. That criterion gives a general reason to resist identifying an ordinary manufactured material with the required starting subject, although Khunrath does not pause to argue the brick case separately.
Places to read
- 1599 p. 34Brick occurs among the proposed materials.
- 1599 p. 44The rightful natural subject is described as untouched by previous human artful work.
Translation in this edition
The second passage supplies a general criterion, not an explicit brick-by-brick refutation. This connection is an interpretive application of the text.
Source note
The compound’s stone element does not make it an instance of the technical Philosophers’ Stone.