•  Five morning lectures by Ralph Abraham, followed by discussion.
  •  Five afternoon lectures by Giannozzo Pucci, followed by discussion.
  •  Viewing of the Palio of Florence: the historical cortege traversing the city, followed by the
    annual traditional football match.
  • Informal dinner on the bastions of the city under the fireworks celebrating the feast of
    Saint John, patron of Florence.

PROGRAM:

Monday, 18 June 2001

Arrival.

Tuesday, 19 June 2001

morning
Ralph Abraham: The Roots of Ficino’s Philosophy

In 1463, Marsilio Ficino–the central figure of the Florentine Platonic Academy under the patronage of the Medici–translated and synthesized numerous strands of ancient wisdom. This lecture will be a jump-start into Ficino’s roots. We will penetrate the essence of the Hermetic philosophy of Ancient Egypt, Plato and Neoplatonism, the astrological mysticism of the Corpus Hermeticum, the alchemical and magical rites of the Chaldean Oracles, and look how all of this was gathered by the Alexandrians of late Antiquity, and launched into the future by the last of the Gnostics, then caught and revealed by the early Humanists of the Renaissance.

Tuesday, 19 June 2001

afternoon, Planetary of La Specola
Giannozzo Pucci: The Cosmologies of Dante and Galileo

The relation between Nature and Truth and the problems of the new millenium.

Wednesday, 20 June 2001

morning
Ralph Abraham: Aspects of Ficino’s Philosophy

From his first translation of the Corpus Hermeticum in 1462 until his death in 1499, Ficino developed and propagated his unique synthesis that linked the ancient hermetic and Neoplatonic philosophies with Christianity. His synthesis was the spark that gave birth to the creative revolution of the Florentine Renaissance, in literature, art and architecture. We will delve into the spirit of the many aspects of Ficino: spiritual and hermetic philosophy, Christian Neoplatonism, astrological psychology, and Orphic music therapy.

Wednesday, 20 June 2001

afternoon, Convento di San Marco
Giannozzo Pucci: Aspects of Pico della Mirandola’s philosophy and the Christian Soul of the Renaissance from Beato Angelico to della Robbia

Thursday, 21 June 2001

morning
Ralph Abraham: The Death of Ficino and the Loss of the Spirit

The loss of the spirit after Ficino’s death. The Reformation and Counter-reformation, the Council of Trento, and the Inquisition. The birth of modern science: Paracelsus, Descartes, Galileo, and Bellarmino.

Thursday, 21 June 2001

afternoon, Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio
Giannozzo Pucci: The Prophesy of the Renaissance and the Death of Savonarola as a turning point.

The negation of the spirit of prophesy after Savonarola’s death, and the rise of utopianism. Scientific thought as the only source of truth and Nature bcomes the defendant. (Descartes, Galileo, Bellarmino).

Friday, 22 June 2001

morning
Ralph Abraham: The False Face of Modern Science: Searching for the Key to the Problem.

Critique of the European Sciences, after Husserl and Voegelin. Implications for the world. The Earth as a living organism–Gaia–and the challenge of the Green movement. The Chaos Revolution in Mathematics and its challenge to the foundations of modern science. Concepts of the mathematical theories of chaos and bifurcation. Today’s post-modern bifurcation and its similarity to the intellectual environment of the Renaissance. Paul Ray’s survey.

Friday, 22 June 2001

afternoon, Loggia del Bigallo, Piazza del Duomo
Giannozzo Pucci: The Madonna of Mercy and Ethics of Craftmanship

The symbiosis between humanity and nature as the liberating force of the Renaissance. The inadequacy of scientific thought and the adequacy of Aquino’s ethical architecture in attaining this symbiosis. The Luddite visionary denunciation of Industrialism, and today’s environmental struggle against bio-genetics and globalization.

Saturday, 23 June 2001

morning
Ralph Abraham and Giannozzo Pucci: The Inspiration of the Future

Sunday, 24 June 2001

afternoon
Viewing of the Palio of Florence: the historical cortege traversing the city, followed by the annual traditional Florentine football match.

evening
Informal farewell dinner in the olive grove on the city bastions, under the fireworks celebrating the feast of Saint John, patron of Florence.

Monday, 25 June 2001

Departure

–

OUR SPEAKERS

RALPH H. ABRAHAM

Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of California at Santa Cruz since 1968, Ralph has taught at Berkeley, Columbia, and Princeton, and also held visiting teaching positions in Amsterdam, Paris, Warwick, Barcelona, Basel, and Florence. Active on the research frontier of dynamics and chaos theory, he is a leading consultant on chaos theory and its applications in medical physiology, psychotherapy, mathematical economics, world cultural history and ecology. He is the founding editor of World Futures, and the International Journal of Bifurcations and Chaos. He has authored advanced texts on chaos theory and philosophy as well as three books: Trialogues on the Edge of the West (with Terence McKenna and Rupert Sheldrake, 1992), Evolutionary Mind (1998), and Chaos, Gaia, Eros (1994). Since 1992, he has also contributed to performances in visual and aural mathematics and music.

Together with the cultural historian William Irwin Thompson, he recently designed the innovative curriculum of the Ross School in East Hampton, New York. Ralph Abraham has also conducted workshops on world cultural history, mathematics and philosophy at the Esalen Institute and Lindisfarne Association.

GIANNOZZO PUCCI

Specializing in Political Science at the Universities of Florence, Milan and Pavia until 1967, Gianozzo later worked at the Faculty of Architecture in the University if Florence from 1968 to 1970. From 1970 to 1972, for the Union of Chambers of Commerce, he published studies on the economical production of selected small towns of Tuscany.

Inflenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas, he became a publisher of books on Gandhian and ecological philosophy. In 1976, Giannozzowas one of the first activists in the anti-nuclear movement in Italy and an early member of the European movement for organic agriculture. In Florence, he began the first Italian market, La Fierucola, for organic farmers and craftmen respectul of nature.

One of the founders and leaders of the Greens in Italy, he left every national responsibility in 1990 when he was elected a member of the Town Council of Florence and President of the city’s Commission for Town Planning from 1990 to 1996. He was then appointed President of the Florentine Traditions and served from 1997 until 1999. He now serves as President of the Fioretta Mazzei Association, an international society for the human and Christian vocation of Florence.

NOTE

This is an exclusive workshop, and because of the unique locations where the lectures will take place, attendance is limited to a maximum of 40 participants. If you wish to attend, please sign up as soon as possible by returning the attached registration form.

Cost: A fee of US$ 400, (Lit. 800,000, UK Pounds 280) is being charged for the five day lectures to cover basic expenses as well as the informal dinner and special tickets to the Florentine Calcio match in Piazza S. Corce. Full payment is kindly requested by check or money transfer at the time of registration.

Accommodation: June is the most popular month to visit Florence and hotel rooms usually sell out early in the year. We have reserved a limited number of rooms at two wonderful hotels, not on the beaten track, and will hold them for participants until January 30, 2001.

Once you have signed up, we will provide you with the hotel information, so that you may confirm directly your reservation.