Journal of the History of Philosophy

506 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY antiquity, early Christianity, philosophy, science, and rhetoric, and because even his strong chapters on law and courtly society suggest more than they demonstrate. Perhaps the most important of the unwarranted conclusions that Peters presents is that there was "intense and unremitting Christian condemnation" (p. 8) of magic from the second century A.D. onward. Though he ignores its ancient origins, he does say something of the distinction between licit and illicit or demonic and natural magic that enabled some Christian thinkers to isolate and to protect against orthodox criticism certain elements of the occultist tradition. Yet Peters gives far too little attention to the question of a licit, natural magic within the limits of orthodoxy, and this failure of his book is especially telling in the case of astrology. Peters ought to have recognized as a general feature of premodern Christianity what he asserts of Aibertus Magnus in particular: "that a systematic condemnation of magic was not incompatible with an interest in legitimate magic." Another important distinction of which he makes little use (though he cites a version of it from Aquinas, on p. 5o) is that between attacks on the legitimacy of magic and attacks on its efficacy. As long as Christians were unable to mount a thorough assault on the efficacy of magic, as long as they shared with the ancients a cosmos charged with astrological power and haunted by demons, the temptation constantly arose to mark off some segment of occult belief or practice as both legitimate and efficacious. Power corrupts, but magical power corrupts marvellously. To my knowledge, no major Christian thinker of premodern times who seriously and effectively confronted the issue of occultism succeeded in ridding himself of every taint of magical belief: to do so would have meant reconstructing the normal world-picture, reforming the established theory of medicine, and repudiating the Church's teaching on demons and angels, among other, lesser tasks. Since Peters has not come to grips with the legitimate and efficacious magic which was available to good Christians, his account of the magician, the witch and the law stands incomplete. BRIAN P. COPENHAVER Western Washington University Antonio Antonaci. Ricerche sull'aristotelismo del Rinascimento: Marcantonio Zimara, volume 2, Dal periodo salernitano al secondo periodo padovano. Galatina: Editrice Salentina , 1978. Pp. 414 9Lire 12,ooo. This volume completes Antonaci's study of Marcantonio Zimara (ca. 147o-1532), the first part of which appeared in 197 I. While not one of the major philosophers of the period of Pomponazzi, Nifo, Erasmus, More, and Luther, nevertheless Zimara had an influence which lasted far beyond his lifetime. He was responsible for several works, which were reprinted and read for a very long time indeed. His additions to the Ps.-Aristotle Problemata were included in many Renaissance editions of that extremely popular work, eventually finding a way into the Ps.-Aristotle Masterpiece, which was reprinted in English dozens of times from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. A second work, Tabula dilucidationum in dictis Aristotelis et Averrois (first ed. BOOK REVIEWS 507 1537), became a standard word-index to Renaissance editions of Aristotle and remains a useful tool for those working with Latin editons of Aristotle. Antonaci's second volume deals with the latter part of Zimara's life, sketching in the historical and philosophical context in which he lived and analyzing several of Zimara's works. Like its predecessor, volume 2 is rather diffuse and long winded, given to generalities and extended background sections which are not always illuminating . As far as Zimara himself is concerned, much contained here is already available in Bruno Nardi's Saggi suU'aristotelismo padovano dal secolo XIV(Florence, 1958) and in other secondary works. Still, it is useful to have so much information on Zimara collected in one place, and certain sections of the book make additions to our understanding of him and his times. For example, Antonaci's study of the medical work of Zimara is revealing once again of the medical basis of much Italian philosophy of the Renaissance. Also valuable is the analysis of various unpublished works from manuscripts in Florence, Milan, and Paris. In the latter section, numerous excerpts are published...