Hans-Werner Schütt: 'Auf der Suche nach dem Stein der Weisen. Die Geschichte der Alchemie

摘要

What was alchemy. This question has been a matter of discussion for at least the last two centuries, in which many scholars tried clarifying the limits of this activity. I have formulated this question in the past tense, because most scholars agree that alchemy as such had left the scene by the end of the 18thcentury, while its present continuation is usually not taken seriously. When asking this question, we find ourselves caught in a web of further problems: was alchemy a science as we understand it now, or was it a certain kind of teaching based on principles different from those consid-ered as 'scientific'. Why did alchemy appear, and why did it survive for so many centuries. Answers to the former question vacillated between extremes. In the 19thcentury, Justus von Liebig judged that "alchemy was never at any time anything different from chemistry [...] Alchemy was a science, and includ-ed all those processes in which chemis-try was technically applied". In 1742, however, Lenglet Dufresnoy opened his book on the history of hermetic philos-ophy: "I am about to give in this little work the history of the greatest folly, and of the greatest wisdom, of which men are capable." The difference be-tween both statements is striking, as is the standpoint of their authors. While Liebig focused his attention on chemical aspects of alchemy, Dufresnoy concen-trated on its links with hermeticism. Which one should we believe. Were al-chemists scientists, credulous fools, wise fools, or frauds (as they often ap-peared in the eyes of the broad public). All of this, and more, should be kept in mind when reading any history of al-chemy.