Versions of the Natural

Abstract

This volume explores new ways of understanding medieval and early modern conceptualizations of nature in light of current developments in critical animal studies, ecocriticism, new materialism, as well as our expanding knowledge of premodern philosophy, medicine, and encyclopedism. The articles engage numerous disciplines, including philosophy, history of science, history of ideas, and Anglo-Saxon, French, and English literary studies; their approaches represent a broad range of Anglophone and Continental European academic traditions. Collectively, the volume brings to light tensions and contradictions in premodern ideas of “nature” and “the natural.” The “versions of the natural” that emerge are more ecological and less anthropocentric than in much previous work in this area, their emphases correspondingly more philosophical, scientific, even secular, than religious or theological. All contributions combine the detailed study of specific texts and problems with wider historical, theoretical, or philosophical inquiry.