"Between Nature and Art"-The Alchemical Underpinnings of Margaret Cavendish's Observations upon Experimental Philosophy and The Blazing World

本論文探討十七世紀女作家瑪格麗特‧柯芬蒂詩著作《實驗科學之我見》與《炫麗異世界》，當中關於自然與人為兩者優劣之分的論述。儘管兩書在內容、寫作風格和架構等方面均不相同，卻都呈現作者的自然觀及相關哲學論辨，其中尤以自然與人為之辨，為當代鍊金論述的重要主題之一。文藝復興與十七世紀的鍊金術師時常思考爭辯自然與人為力量之間的關係，著作當中提出各種不同的見，討論鍊金術的人為之力究竟能夠改善、甚至改造自然到何種程度。本論文揭示《實驗科學之我見》與《炫麗異世界》之間具有互文性，應視為整體的論述觀之；不僅如此，二書亦與當代鍊金論述具有互文性，分別以哲學和文學來處理自然與人為的課題，透過理性科哲思考與感性文學想像的雙重手法處理爭議性的論述，讓作者柯芬蒂詩對於上述議題的見解躍然紙上。儘管柯芬蒂詩批判鍊金術，但卻受到中世紀與早期現代某些鍊金思想的影響，而這些思想主張的即是自然之力勝過人為力量。

關鍵字

瑪格麗特‧柯芬蒂詩；十七世紀文學；鍊金術；自然科學

並列摘要

This paper examines the discourses on nature and art in Margaret Cavendish's Observations upon Experimental Philosophy and The Blazing World. Despite profound differences in content, style, and structure, both texts address the intricate relationship between nature and art: a popular topic in contemporary alchemical treatises. The art-nature debate was frequently pursued by Renaissance and seventeenth-century alchemists, whose writings and drawings presented diverse views on the extent to which alchemy was capable of improving on, or even re-creating, natural entities through human artifice. My study reveals that Observations and The Blazing World should be read together and alongside the works of specific alchemical authors. In addition, the philosophical and fictional musings on nature and art in the two texts participate in highly provocative discourses that present the author's insights into literature and natural philosophy. Despite her dismissal of alchemical practices, Cavendish was influenced by some medieval and contemporary alchemical theories that celebrated the idea of ”nature before art.”