clavis final

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Introduction.

Editor's preface

The purpose of our introduction is very ambitious: to demonstrate that thecapital work of Bruno, the Clavis Magna, was written and is in our hands,

thereby overturning the conviction establish among scholars andphilosophers such as Giovanni Gentile. Secondly, we show that the workhere identified and presented as Clavis Magna, has never been recognizedfor that because classified within the very narrow category of mnemonics,while it is a real manual on the Art of thinking.

To explain what is meant by the Art of thinking we say that, mnemonicsgives to those who uses it an Artificial memory extraordinarily powerful, bywhich a normal person these days, could remember with accuracy and

precision an entire telephone directory with names, addresses and phonenumbers, so does the Art of thinking, which makes use of a memorytechnique appropriately suited to this broader end, and who enables theaverage person to learn, remember and use creatively the whole totality ofhis knowledge, his abilities, and not just a limited part of it.

Plato mentions it when he says that doubt and confusion arise from the

ignorance of the Art of thinking, however, not using the Art of thinking, isbelieved to be true reasoning wich proves to be false (or sometimes false,sometimes true), and subsequent cases occurs over the same circontense,

andin the end, no longer believes in anything, and especially those who areused to thinking of everything pros and cons, which, you know, at the end

believe of being very wise and even if they have just heard that there is nosuch thing in the world nor any reasoning true and durable, but that all, asEuripes said, turned up and down, can nowhere and at no time stand resting.

It is therefore miserable thing that you have the real reasonings balance, easyto understand, of those who sometimes seemed to him true and sometimesnot, in so many occasions have seen the defeat of the Art, being happy to

blame itself through the same reasoning, and all the other steps of his lifetime


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and hating and depriving himself of the knowledge of the true Intellect.

As antiquity has given man the artificial memory, so Bruno with this bookdelivered to mankind the Artificial Intelligence, which does not need anyelectronic machines, but directly employs the wonderful and powerfulcomputer that is the human brain, which we simply used from habit as arecorder to repeats a few silly songs.

Paolo Rossi, about Bruno, spoke of "fantasmatic logic", taking only a partialaspect of Bruno's thought: Bruno's logic is fantasmatic in that it uses in itsunfolding the imagination, but this "logic ", this thought is integrated in a

system of fantasmatic memory, to reach formulated theories that instead ofbeing "cold" or fanciful are valid interpretations of the reality, that is in someway "scientific", because their are verifiable in congruity with the outsideworld to the inside world representation.

The use of the imagination for practical purposes rather than to the onlypurposes of artistic creation, can not play heretical of those ears accustomedto call "fantasy" that which has no basis in reality, a simple and arbitraryconfinement of the individual mind.

Yet Aristotle had already warned his contemporaries that every form ofthought is fantasy, even scientific thought. "The map is not the territory,"warns Bateson. So why not take note of these fact and go bravely and useconsciously and deliberately that faculty of the human mind, and after havinglearn the system, to work against rationality and not in agreement with it?

Of course, we realize the need to add more evidences in support of thisinterpretation, and so we must find an answer to the objection that is more

spontaneous and natural in front of this thesis just put forward: if Brunoreally found artificial intelligence, or the Art of thinking, because he has notsaid it explicitly, and has instead obscurely left this invention to make us

believe that it was simple mnemonics of "logical fantasmatic" or whatever?

The direct reading of the text of Clavis Magna induces disorientation ratherthan lightening the mind of the reader, and this does not happen by chance,since, as we will explain later on, the author did not intend to expose all ofits doctrine in the pages of a text that would go into the hands of anybody,

but it was meant to arouse the curiosity of his contemporaries because they

then


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his teaching was meant, and directed personally to them.

Because many passages of his Art have been silenced and can bereconstructed only inductively, we must assume that with his death has

disappeared also the possibility to realize his dream?

Not at all, so as Bruno enjoyed a privileged status compared to Plato andAristotle, as he could use all the knowledge developed subsequently tothem, so today we are able to understand Bruno's thought making use of thediscoveries made, in particular, in this last century.

Therefore it is not a work of exhuming the oblivion of time, but rather toresume the discourse on Artificial Intelligence that only the present day canfinally be started due to the quantity and quality of the knowledge acquired.

The words of Bruno "...to explore ( these principles ) a Work so vast that itcan avail scientists, poets, orators, physicists, astronomers, fortune-tellers,mechanics, theoretical, and in short, all in all ways." sound today as a

prophetic promise facing humanity in the third millennium, rather than ourown contemporaries.

The human mind can be regarded as the most sophisticated computer youcan imagine, it can store an incredible amount of data and process them with

the rapidity and precision not less than that of the machines, and above that,is capable of creation through his creativity. So why not begin to study theBruno's software for our mind in order to use the most of its infinite ability?

Unlike other philosophers Bruno investigates how to think, instead of theknowledge in place who provide a predigested food we fit the dentures tochew on, and in having interpreted this historical necessity, is, his truegreatness, standing as a teacher of the third millennium, not a fallen victimto the old philosopher of the lnquisition.

Giving evidence of a psychological sensitivity largely ahead of his time,Bruno had been able to grasp the emergence of a new sophistry that, like theancient, argued on the primacy of discursive reasoning thereby denying thevery existence of the intellect, whose objective classical and medieval

philosophy reflection had then stretched. As a new Plato, Bruno shows theway of awakening not only the intellect, but, unlike its predecessors, at thesame time provides all the necessary information to the journey. There's notonly a chance to rediscover the art of Bruno's thinking: today we need it rightin the field of scientific research, in fact, for several years, scientists have

expressed the need to adopt new ways of thinking, seeing as those on whichthe Western science was based had already


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exhausted their problem solving method, and so Heisenberg, for example,has emphasized the role of Buddhist thought in the development of the

theory of "quanta .''

Perhaps the time has come to make a radical revolution in our way ofthinking, abandoning the prejudices and the ruling inherited from theCountrereforme and re-evaluate the imagination as mother of thought.Indeed, now is the time to use this power consciously and deliberately tofree our minds from the shackles and the superstructures that immobilize it,and the Master who can guide us in this endeavor is Giordano Bruno.

List of abbreviations

AM Ars MemoriaeCC Cantus CircaeusDU De Umbris ldearumCM Clavis Magna

DISEIC De imaginum . Signorum et Idearum compositionDA De Anima of AristotleDMR Of Memory and Reminiscence AristotleSTM Summa Terminorum Metaphisicorum

Note: The quotes from other Latin writings of Giordano Bruno in thereported pages are according to the edition cited in the bibliography.

thanksA big thank you goes to Professor Maria Semproni who worked on thetranslation from the Latin , a hello in Paola, Bozena and Bruno .


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CLAVIS MAGNAandDE IMAGINUM.

1. the mystery of Clavis Magna.

The mystery attracts, fascinates, it is a challenge that our intelligence mustwin to affirm its acumen, and especially to pay homage to the truth that ishidden in mystery. As if the charm of a beautiful woman is based on itsinaccessibility, if this really was the case, it would deny the very nature of a

beautiful woman, because if it was enjoyable for anyone, it would not be abeautiful woman, but a beautiful statue, a gracious madona or anything elseinacessible, as an object of desire, the mystery, the enigma, exists to beviolated, and in his own violation is the victory of truth that hides it, as inthe final indulge of the woman is the end of its beauty, otherwise identical toan absolute ugliness.

In the mystery lies therefore an enigma, that is, a structure, whose apparent

forms, lead astray. The challenge is to recognize the functions of thestructure beyond appearances. This recognition can take place only comingout of the context in which the riddle is stated, leaving the mind free toidentify the situation in which the particular structure occurs.

In this respect, the modern psychologists speak of lateral thinking, as anoutstanding performance of the rational mind; Brurno and all the great

thinkers talk about it before them instead as of theIntellect, the faculty thatallows us to understand the interpretation of reality, not just in theory but

intuitively materialized.

The mystery also, like beauty, is a challenge and gives rise to the feeling ofpride and the desire for possession, a very well known fact for magicians oftoday's advertising. That's why Bruno who use them largely to attractdisciples as the best minds of his time, that they should certainly abound,given the fate they reserved him.

But times change and human knowledge increases all the time despite thestupidity of the ruling classes, who, like Pareto had recognized, are

constitutionally formed by parties related to outdated ways of thinking.


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2 . It is possible that Clavis Magna has never been either written or beenlost?

We thus propose to tackle the mystery of this text ever written, or perhapslost, who knows, but enclosing what secrets? Stellar Magic, dares the

brilliant British scholars, or who knows what terrible black magic formulas.Since we do not know anything about these fantasy so as you, who more soon and so forth, as they say.

The double hypothesis that Clavis Magna was not ever composed or lostundoubtedly has the practical advantage to exempt ourselves from the tiring

task of looking for it, but it is not methodologically correct, given that theCM "...is to the origin of all inventions." cap.V p. 103 AM , and"...dedication to the invention is extremely fertile ( the Art of thinking )."

Bruno himself then affirms that everybody is hoping to immortal fame: "Theform exterior and the figure of the inventor of Clavis Magna through the art,is entrusted to the hard stone, or diamond," Chapter VI, Page 58, AM, andhe is not wrong because "...it contains all the technical operations of the soul,memory and the others," cap. XV, p. 64. And the Cantus Circaeus states: "...The Clavis Magna is of invention, judgment of science and retention of

fixing arcane" , cap. VI p. 232 .

The mystery then would be even more dense and our concerns which couldnot

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------notes........


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concerns could not increase more if we set ourselves the followingquestions:

1) Is it likely that someone entrusts his fame to a work never done?2) And if that work is so valuable, is it possible that any copyright wouldprotect it against the risk of been lost?

So let's go in order and examine for the first hypothesis the failurecomposition of Clavis Magna: apart the absence of this title from Bruno's

bibliography, we do not have any clue that the work was never written, while

the number of citations and recalls through theArt of Memory, and Cantus

Circeosuggest the opposite.

Such calls are made because "it is faily unusual that a researcher sends theprinciples of Art to a subordinate discipline " pg. 7 AM, and that a work ofgeneral nature should deal with the general principles, while specializedones(in this case it is a paper on the technique of memory) must be given theexposure of more restricted application of laws limiting the writer, wherenecessary, to recall what has already been stated in the other works.

And this is in itself a valuable clue against the hypothesis that we areconsidering: the Clavis Magna must have been composed because it

represents the work of a general nature in which are contained the generalprinciples.

In addition, the simple reading of the quotations scattered in theArt of

Memory in the Cantus Circeo gives us a lot of useful elements to get an

idea of the topics covered in the Clavis Magna, which, as you can easily

guess, are all directly connected with theArt of memorythat the two texts inour hands involved.

It's certainly not easy pretend to believe that a book, of which the author

indicating the content and speaks of so widely in detail, has never beenwritten. Nor to plead for the failed composition of the book, or the fear ofbeing unequal to the task, Bruno does not feel inferior to any of thephilosophers of the past, or of being able to deal with any subject withmastery of concepts and bewildering audacity in the use of technicical terms.

Last but not least, remember that Bruno is undoubtedly a monist, asevidence shown by his doctrine of the coincidence of contradictions, inwhich the minimum and maximum are the same. The currently most reliableinterpretations instead of presenting him as an eccentric and disorderlythinker


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passesing effortlessly from metaphysics to mnemonics, from magic tomathematics and so on, without bothering to give any systematic way to hismost brilliant insights, such as that of the infinite worlds that only in veryrecent times, man has been able to accept. To look for the center of thought,

therefore, is to engage in the work of Bruno's quest for Clavis Magna, of hisphilosophy, and at the same time a vision of the world transfiguring aninfinite variety of impressions, of ordered sequence of data, composing awhole.

But we have a definite statement of the same Bruno, contained in explicatio

30 Sigillorum, which forces us to admit that the work was composed: in

fact, in the last lines Bruno defines the Sigillus Sigillanosas one of the

volumes of the Clavis Magna. So the Clavis Magnaexist, at least in part,as the second volume is definitely in our hands, although with a differenttitle, and then you can reasonably expect to find the first one.

3. The misunderstanding of the name.

However the fact that a part of the Clavis Magnahas a different name fromthat which it was printed, leads us to formulate a new hypothesis: the name

Clavis Magnamight not be a title, but rather a generic appelation indicatingthe role of the book in relation to other works. The function of the

preparatory work also explains the uncertainty regarding the exact number of

volumes that compose it, initially only one, as shown by the numerouscitations ofDe Umbris and Cantus Circaeus, but then at least two, or more,according to the statement mentioned above. After all, to call a book with adifferent name from the title under which it was published is not an isolated

incident, in fact Cantus Circaeus is also calledArs Reminiscendi(es. E.30

S. page 135 ) and not a few doubts exist as to whether theDe Umbrisand

theArs Memoriaewe can consider two separate works, for at least threereasons:

1 ) theArs Memoriaelacks a dedication and introduction,

2) The Errata corrections note toDe Umbris Idearum is dedicated insteadtoArs Memoriae,

3) TheArs Memoriaeis cited asDe umbris Idearum(eg DISEIC , page 97).

And yet what we find in the statement made inExplication of 30 Seals?(Page 146), leads us to believe that these are two distinct works, given that:

" .. I have mostly taughtArs Memoriae that follows theDe Umbris. " Atthis point we have collected sufficient evidence in favor of the composition

of Clavis Magna, but before you seriously consider the possibility that it

remained unpublished, and therefore has been lost, that would force us todirect our research in dusty and remote places in libraries


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will agree to conduct a survey of Bruno's works in our possession withreasonable hope of identifying the title under which the work is hidden.

Immediately comes forward the issue of the time in which it was printedbecause we know that Clavis Magnamust have been composed inToulouse, a city in which Bruno was between 1581 and 1582 to comment on

theDe Anima of Aristotle, but we have no news of earlier works,De

Umbris and Cantus Circaeus.

Assuming, therefore, that it was printed some years after the actual date ofcomposition, we would like to know why the publication has taken place at alater date than the other works, that deal with related topics and needs theintroduction to be understood. Basically we could sum up the issue in onequestion: why Bruno did not care to be understood?

Let us for a moment suspend the discourse on Clavis Magnaand, as ithappens in detective stories, let's take a step back to frame the figure ofBruno.

4 . The figure of Bruno.

Bruno has a very high self esteem, here's what it looks like in the preface to

Explicatio 30 Sigillorum: "Philotheus Giordano Bruno the Nolan, a doctorof abstract theology, professor of wisdom pure and harmless, the best knownEuropean academician, far beyong philosopher, received honorablyanywhere, in any foreign place, if not between the barbarians and theignoble, awakener of sleeping souls, tamer of arrogant and recalcitrantintelligence, publisher of a universal philosophy, who does not prefer theItalian to the Britons, males to females, mitrate those crowned heads, the

men of the robe, those who wear the habit and those who do not, but ratherone who is more temperate, more civil, more loyal and pious, that does nottake into account the oint head, forehead marked, hands washed, thecircumcised penis, but (and this allows us to know the man in the face) theculture of the mind and the soul, which is hated by the propagators ofnonsense and hypocrities but sought after by the honest and the scholars, andwhose genius is applauded by the noblest..."

A beautiful lesson of nonchalance worthy of a gentleman Renaissance by aman who once had been a friar was not wearing any trace of false


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humility, but replaced the hypocrisy of social conventions with the

uncompromising and proud assertion of its value! "Our intelligence is not

likely to feel bound to a particular philosophical, to despise any address,

in full philosophical. Truly there is no one who does not hold in high

esteem those relying on their wits to contemplate things and builtsomething with Art and Method, do not overlook the mysteries of the

Pythagoreans, do not belittle the faith of the Platonic nor despise the

reasoning of the Peripatetics, from where they have a basis in reality."

DU Page. 11, in fact "the work of Plato and Aristotle alone will not be

enough to tempt those larger ego from other discoveries," DU Pag. 12. Ancomplishment greater than those performed by the greatest philosophers ofall time!

That's why he does not hesitate to attack even Aristotle, who "draws fromthe truth, if not a certain knowledge at least a proven reason", Page 63CM , which is an affirmation used of our own intendedement. This

nonchalance towards traditional authorities is justified, however, in The Ash

Wednesday Supper, dial. I, page. 39, for " we are the oldest and the

longest we age our predecessors, therefore we must comply more with the

new ideas than the most ancient ones, as moderns are having the

experience that they had not," and also" if the old ideas are true as such,

then they had to be false when they were made."

And again: "among the species it is philosophy, that is the best, which

makes the most comfortable and highly perfection of the human intellect,

and is more relevant to the truth of nature, and what possibly (makes

them) cooperate." , Page 277 Dia. It.De la Causa. So, the fact that he

experimented on a topic most noble (the refinement of intellect), gives hima rank higher than that of the philosophers of the past.

5. The academic aspirations of Bruno .Bruno aims to teach the Art of Thinking, (AM) that can not be learned from

books, but to be transmitted directly from master to disciple. For this heneeds a school. That's why he wrtite continualy to seek the protection of the

powerful as the king of France and the Queen of England who could givehim the means to realize his dream.

Hence, the dark swirls often rushed in the style, almost crude and clumsy,and sometimes it getting so high and noble that he could compete withLucretius: "Here an old woman from the back curve, stern face, sunken eyes,not very present in the soul itself, overloaded years knocking at the door of

the silent black Swan with fearful mood, the spirit depressed, broken limbs,stomach fast the languid soul, shaking all the


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the pulsation of the heart. And you look at the silent sky sublime

splendor, bowing and bowing, her head unstable on both shoulders and

tilt her face on her chest; languishing weak legs and torso arched and no

comfort in life takes not more vigorous limbs". Page. 30 CM.

Some Latin works, whom are proclamations launched to the powerful andlearned, got notice because of him, I am the pledge of a talent, can not anddo not want to replace direct teaching.

The Aquilecchia has aptly noted (Introductory note toPraelectiones

Geometricaepag.XVI) that until the end "...it confirm the academic

aspirations of Bruno, always looking for a mean of livelihood as well as,

authoritative dissemination of its doctrines".

We would add that his true aspiration was to create the new Alexander theGreat, as Aristotle had created one in antiquity, no other pedants,grammarians, who knows how to repeat in and out the ideas of others, butmen able to create their own opinions using consciously their mentalfaculties. This explains, among other things, the clear contrast between the

well writtenItalian dialoguesand poems francofones designed for readingand the lack of attention that had his published books on Psychology, thesubject of the invention of which he was proud and which rested the sense ofhis greatness, his faithful disciple claims that while he was writing

"Jumping from one foot to the other, at the same time that he thinks anddictate, hardly followed by the pen, such was is lightning wit, so great

was the power of his mind."Pref. STM.

Neither one cared, in the least, to correct errors of any kind, unless he hadnot understood exactly, more would have been the possibility if being askedto explain his invention in person.

In fact, in hisLatin worksBruno often repeats that "one thing is difficult,

and that is someone who can understand these things alone. Everyonewill understand by the master, which certainly does not stem from the fact

that we aspire to the difficulties, but the novelty of the thing and the

wealth of terms", CC , Page 215, and adds an explanation of the closed

attitude: "in fact, Plato urges Eutidemes in the knowledge the most

solemn and mysterious to be detained by the philosophers and to be

disclosed only to the few who are worthy. In fact says that the water

although you buy at very low price, is the most precious of all things.

The same we do with our friends, and even more carefully, because we

are forced by a situation more urgent than that from which Plato washeaded." The situation was more pressing for poverty and obscurity


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than of getting paid, while as Plato when he published his works alreadyenjoyed the reputation of a famous school throughout the Hellenic world .

His existential condition led him to identify with Prometheus " to the men

who, having procured the fire of the gods, have incurred their wrath ."The gods feared and envy, the wrath of whom Bruno were both the rulersof the time, the ignorance and prejudice that dominated the minds of men ingeneral, two categories of powerful enemies.

So, unable to escape the task of disseminating his teaching with writing, he

expresses that "...perhaps no one will understand everything with all the

implications, unless you get your hopes up. Nobody, however, remain

frustrated by the choice unless he is blind." ( CM , Page 53) , and then

frankly admits , "Altough, we do not write so that we want or even try to

be understood by everyone about everything, and that, there is no one to

which we can be very beneficial and go into something ingeneered,

according to the requirements of any discipline in particular," ( CM , p

122). On the other hand "to the people of genius we have shown enough

place here and there. If we didn't explain enough, we think that the place

we have expressed are more than enough. In fact we do not think to all

but to a few of you(because they are grateful)."Page 87 AM .(What vain hoped of gratitude I had, that to be able to inspire in all those

powerfull who had their court, without seing it for what it was, the herald of

the future science of humanity, and not as a magician of everything whocould bring amazement in a short time with its charlatanism.)

Bruno was obviously conscious of the need to maintain the confidentialityof certain parts of his doctrine also due to ignorance of the time, in fact:

"to disclose in detail all these things would be a huge undertaking and

difficult to communicate, especially because these days I see very few true

philosophers"such conduct "would disturb many, not to mention that

some new names and the considerations of new inventions are required",

Page 5 AM.6 . The topic of Clavis Magna

Let us now return to the mystery of Clavis Magnaand the answer to thequestion why it was published later under a different title becomes obvious:he did not want to disparage his teaching disseminating it through the books,so he published the first parts for the last of his thought, that sholars of thetime could appreciate as comparable a studies of mnemonics, and only whentimes were turning for the worse with his imminent expulsion of Frankfurt

sent to the press Clavis Magna, with the title as simple as possible, but as towarn the student to approach it with necesary caution


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"The composition of images, symbols and ideas for all kinds of

inventions, provisions and memory."

The title refers to the same definition cited above: "The Clavis Magna ... is

the invention and judgment of science and retention and fixation ofarcane", CC Page 232 Par.VI, in other words, promises the way ofstructuring the contents of our mind, with pictures, symbols and ideas inorder to create any invention, develop any theory, remember any amount ofdata.

What else can be the Clavis Magnaif not domination of the way tostructure the images we use for thinking?

Further evidence of the fact thatDe imaginum was composed beforeDe

umbris and Cantus Circaeus is the affirmation that are right in the first lines

of what should be the dedicatory epistle, he says of the fact that it is "one of

the prominent offspring of his talent, already conceived, and fixed in

writing"words that would resonate unheard if they were not penned almostat the end of his writing.There are also several other internal arguments insupport of this hypothesis:

1) The fact that the loci mentioned are immobile loci, rectangular, and

therefore likely to precede the exposure of theMoving Circulars Lociof

AMand CC;2) That this work seems dedicated to the memory was fairly developed inthe introductory which exposed to general principles, such as the theory of

the Three Worlds, theLightandIntellect;3) The entire third book is also dedicated to the seals, which constitute the

link with the subject of the second book of the Clavis Magnaalready

mentioned, the Sigillus Sigillorum;4) The Operations that have for object, the technique of memory to belogically preceded by a book which deals with images and imagination,

this art is for Bruno an essential elements among the ancients;5) For the sake of completeness, we add that, since the work of Toulouse,

and it is known that in Toulouse Bruno commented on theDe Anima of

Aristotle, there is a clear link between the Clavis Magna and theDe Anima.

The entire first section of theDe imaginum is devoted to the study of the

psyche in general and Aristotle there, is mentioned twice: "Our

understanding (ie, the operations of our intelligence) or fantasma does

not exist without imagination." (or , Pag 52) , and again right after "if you

do not intend to keep the ghosts." As if not enough, the footnotes to the

first pages of the CM can be seen as they are a


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kind of summary of the themes of Aristotle'sDe Anima, while the Bruno'smain text topic relates to the use of the imagination in the form of images, orghosts, which Aristotle refers frequently without being able to give a

complete discussion because it is the subject of the art of thinking,extremely valuable aspect of his teaching that could be offered only inexceptional personality as the young son of Philip, king of Macedonia, whowas to become Alexander the Great.

The concept of the universal soul understood as diffused light everywhereand permeating the entire reality mediated from the Arab commentators,Aristotle, Averroes and Avicenna in the first place .

7. Concordance between citations and text.

But it is not enough to say that it was composed before DISEIC and other

works, the identification with the Clavis Magna will be safe only when we

demonstrate that the calls of De Umbris and Cantus CircaeusfitsDe

imaginum.

AM. Pag. 62: The book of Clavis Magnahave 12 subjects enclosed: specie,forme, simulacri, immagini, spettri, esemplari, vestigia, indizi, segni, note,

caratteri e sigilli.CM , Pag. 59: also Pag. 204 Sigillus Sigillorum: Species, figurae,Simulacra, Similitudines, Imagines, Spectra, Exemplaria, Indicia, Signa,

Notae, Characteres, Sigilli.AM, Pag. 64, CAP. XV: remember that this art can not be used in othermeans to achieve this end, certain for sensible things and figured certainfor time and place, as we have mentioned, that occurs in all other

technical operations of the soul (see the first volume of the Clavis Magna).

CM, PAG. 116: cap.XVI, II sectionCM, PAG. 118: cap. XVII, II section, allCM, PAG. 78: cap. I, II section, all

AM, PAG. 67: it is therefore appropriate to state three points of the practiceof this Art. The first explores who and what should be the subject. thesecond teaches them the way the forms should be evaluated. The thirdteaches you to adapt the instrument, the means by which the soul operates,more quickly. All of these, are treated in detail and in depth in the first book

of the Clavis Magna.v. images, and other loci, both in the first and second book.


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AM , P. 67 : Subjects: "So the first subject the technical space, a

zone for the faculty fantasmatic, littered with all sorts of receptacles

that have flowed, passing by the windows of the soul. It divided into

several parts and holds all things seen and heard receiving them

according to their own order and how the soul pleases. And thisdefinition covers the subject's common areas according to the forms of

art common to antiquity that has been reported to us."

The first subject , however, derives from the principles of Clavis Magna:the chaos of the fantasy may treat in such a way that the power of cogitative,

balancing things seen and heard, may advance in a neat representation so thatwith his limbs first and his last part is able to give birth with greatfecundity and submit the same things perceived with the ears and eyes

each time he met the spectacle of a new tree an animal or the world.

Otherwise this chaos seems to behave in a cloud driven by external winds,for the different and conflicting impulses and capable of assuming allendless figures of the species.

Certainly, as this subject is fruitful and noble, you can better judgethrough the same experience than of any reasoning. As those who

will have been able to investigate and penetrate the Clavis Magna.It's not granted to all to penetrate this Corinth."

CM , P. 77: cap. II , section II

AM , p.70 , CAP. VI: Merge the most common to the most commun, theleast common to the less common, the proper to the proper, what is properto an individual to what is proper to an other individual. Now you can seethat not only will you be free from all fear of oblivion, but you will becomemore ready and more secure in the depecting and the perfect representationas well as the ordering and searching technic of the methods. And you have

this in the its own way in the roots of the first book of the Clavis Magna.

CM, Pag. 114: Cap. XIV: the determination of the species trough the chain.

AM, Pag. 187 , CH. II: We found indeed a method to combine theindividual subjects between them while keeping intact the ends of each, and

also in more, and longer, as you can see in the arcana of Clavis Magna.

CM, Pag. 114: Cap. XV, allCM. Pag. 118: Cap. XVII, all


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AM, Pag. 76 Cap. XIII: How great is the force of the general impressionsand what are the ways to provoke them, to keep them and change them, is

explained clearly in Clavis Magna. v. I and II of the book.

AM, Pag. 77, Cap. I. Instead it is called adjectum or form in this sense thatwhat is applied to a person's physic, technic, or fantasmatic, with aningenious preparation of thought to present, represent, record, or indicatesomething, to express or imply a similarity of writing and painting.This system covers the common forms handed down from antiquity to the

present day. The shape so obtained are at the roots of Clavis Magna: andhas made known and explained the order of the species, has madeunderstandable the statues or the microcosm, or generaly disposed insidesome architecture for mental note or speeches to represent somethingdeduced from the infinite space of the imagination that allows eachmetamorphosis. CM , Pag. 80: cap. V, section II

AM , pag. 87, Cap. IV. So we invented an easy art with which we shapethings heard or seen with convenient numbers to its kind, using the normalorder of the numbers. Conceived this way the order of the thing felt so thatthey count easily and are very easy to learn and to remember. With theformation of numbers through all things there is something of each of us.

And this theory lies in the books of Clavis Magnawhere it comes tosemimatematic numbers.

CM, Pag. 180: Book III, numerator, an other systems.

CC , Pag. 232, Par, VI. It's not to this work to deal with the verbalpositive locies, and could not be processed properly without the use of

the Art, in fact, we consider them in the book of Clavis Magna.The Clavis

Magnais in fact the Sciences of invention and judgment (dispositon) andthe arcana of retention and fixation (memory). The loci of verbal positive

sounds are treated in the book, Cubili of concinenti and assonant.

CC, Pag. 241, Cap. XXX, Par. II. By the agent or its action, such as robberfrom the theft. If, however, some will imagine other ways besides thoselisted, consider them all included and reducible to these since they have

been reduced by a perfect numbering and consideration to this issue, as isclear to those familiar with the technique of Clavis Magna.CM, Pag. 80: cap. VIII , section II

AM , pag. 103, Cap.V: You will have access to countless ways in whichmore terms are juxtaposed, as long as you have mastered the use of the

Clavis Magna


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(because it is the origin of all inventions), and those that seemed moreuseful we explain differently depending on the place.For the juxtaposition ofthe terms v. The book section II.

The definition of the origin of all inventions applied to Clavis Magnaandis taken from p. 65 of the same book in which, chap. XVI says : "That's whywe dare say that no matter what the ancients thought were on this topic,taught and ordained (as it's explained in their writings received in ourhands), and a part that is not in harmony with our invention extremely fertile

and where dedicated to the book Clavis Magna".

So the Clavis Magnawould be comparable, from a certain point of view(for how wrong) to classic work on the subject of memory, while in reality itdiffers clearly for the substantial novelties of the argument, which is notlimited to memory, but instead develops the theme of the new way ofthinking, the theme artificial intelligence, that intelligence release the datarandomness of its manifestations, and deliberatly, planned appropriately tosay, in view of performance unimaginable the natural intelligence. Thediscovery of Bruno therefore is comparable only to the discovery of a new

continent, and its status can be approached only by that of Columbus (The

Supper of Ashes, pag. 31).

Finally, if through the Clavis Magnawe access knowledge, it should also

be used to interpret Bruno's other works, which in some ways are connected.Just think of all the geometric treatments encounter in other Latin works,and in the poems of the Frankfurt School, already translated into Italian, butimpossible to understand fully if one ignores the knowledge of the Atria.

At this point, we believe we have sufficiently demonstrated that the Clavis

Magnais related with theDe imaginum Compositioneand conclude by

saying that despite everything, it is partially true that Clavis Magnawas notever written: it was never written in terms that some scholars would expect,

on the basis of the idea of Bruno striking and imaginative, a Renaissancemagician with dark cloak sprinkled with stars, a cone hat and wand core.

Not and has never been written by Bruno the work of "stars magic" filled

with dark incantations and occult "magical operations", all this was partof the cultural intelligentsia of Elizabethan England against fillature in theembrace of the last ghosts of the Middle Ages , not the man which openeda new era to humanity by handing his dream and mission to achieve artificialintelligence.

In relation to this discovery we can understand that they are no steepexcessive pages that Bruno dedicated to magnify his invention , for


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example, in the first dialogue of The Supper of Ashes, when it comes tostate that if Apelles, Phidias, Theseus and Colombo are so excited for their

accomplishments "...be that they have found a way to mount the sky, talkthe circumference of the stars, to allow the arrow to point toward the

convex surface of the firmament?". Infinite damnation to humanity are

derived from their works, along with the undeniable advantages, while "

Nolan cause to the effects the whole contrary, he dissolved the human

mind and cognition, which was locked in the prison of the turbulent

winds ", ie, in the imagination , "the torefied presence of each sense and

region, this key allow the inquisition to open this cloisters of the truth,

that open my capacity, undress the covered and veiled nature, has

donated the eyes of moles, enlightened the blind who do not see to fix hiseyes and gaze and imagin its many mirrors opposed on each side ,

discuss in silent language that he knew not, and did not dare to express

his intricate feelings, reuse the lame Valean not make progress with that

spirit that can not make the ignoble and dissolute compound, which

makes it no less present inhabitants of the houses of the sun, of the moon

and other celestial bodies named, shows just how similar or dissimilar

they are, more or worse those bodies that we see far below catered to

what and to whom we are united, opens our eyes to see this god, our

mother, who in his spine nourishes and feeds it, after productivity from

his lap, back to what I always recall, and she does not think the addition

to be a body without a soul and life, and even the scum with substances

corporal."

We understand now that this is not an exaggerated assessment of theimportance of a good book on metaphysics and mnemonics, but an allusion

to the great discovery which he cannot speak openly because "does fring for

any of this burden, but for those who can bring..." , p. 36. This knowledge,

however, is not reserved only for rare lucky, and open to those "...who are

not incapacitate by natural impotence, or deprived of talent and

discipline, but not warns and to consider what is called orbital, which

come from the privation of the act itself, and not from the faculty.",pag. 37.

Since, however, we find ourselves in the position of having to attribute toGiordano Bruno insights what belong to the wealth of knowledge of man ofthe millennium, we will try to identify cultural trends present in all of ourera, that was already available, because they obviously could not have

invented everything alone and must have used concepts already present inthe culture of the Renaissance. (see Appendix II)


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Although contradictory, the apparent inconsistency arising from that, issolved, when we introduce the distinction between the thought and itsmanifestation.Through the study of the works of others you can learn tocontinue their thought only if you have been able to recreate in you the

original movement of the thought they wanted to model: the imitation of theformal resolves instead into a ridiculous parody. That's because it is usefuland useless at the same time to studying the works of others. The game is

played on the ground of the preconsception and when the results come toconsciousness the games are already made.

You can then adapt the codes used as the final expression in the brasingmagma of the conscious thought before its definition?

If true, as Aristotle says, that thinking consists in the combination or

juxtaposition of images, you can use the natural attraction between similarfigures to suggest to the mind the models which fit the shape of the thoughts

before they are defined, as it were crystallized?

The answer to these questions is the subject of the art of thinking, not of thatart to express themselves and that classical rhetoric.

Bruno insists repeatedly on the antithesis suggested/explained, frequently,his speech appears convoluted, even enigmatic, but this apparent lack of

clarity stems from the will states that the reader being the first person torecognize and reveal the truth of his words, not the writer to provide a readymade truth, or rather pre-digested one.We believe this is the proper key tothe interpretation of the style of Bruno's speech, that Socratic, allusive andnon-defining way, precisely because he does not run the risk of becomingdogmatic and therefore, dead and sterile. This does not mean that he wasteshis clear and distinct thoughts that we usually compare to Descartes, the Atrilocis has just the function to separate the various topics, so that they can notmix or overlap. When Descartes praised the clear and distinct thoughts,

Bruno had already taken steps to teach in a way that was ordained and deep.

The allusiveness and referrals to doctrines already exposed by others, allowsyou to spare yourself the direct and full exposure of such theories as truewithout having to defend them, but also attribute to them a pre purelyfunctional discourse that has being done at that time. No wonder the quotesfrom philosophers as diverse, exhibiting antihetical doctrines, theiragreement on a precise point shows that regardless of the true point of view

from which there arises, examining it. "We do not want to write or even to

be understood by everyone and about everything."


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Chapter II

THE BEGINNING OF THE ART OF THINKING

1 . Classical rhetoric and Bruno's rhetoric.

"The composition of images, symbols and ideas for all types of invention,

arrangement, and memory." usually referred to as "The composition of

the images.", is traditionally listed among the works of mnemonics, as if it

were "The composition of the images for the memory."a failure to

translate the book into modern languages has also contributed to thecontinuation of the error.

A brief reflection on the terms invention, arrangement and memorypresented together, rather, we should put on a warning, and guide us to thinkabout the rhetoric, given that these are the three phases in which the teachingof this art is traditionally divided.

In theRhetorica ad Herennium,(1, 2, 3) the anonymous author thusdefines these words:

"The invention and the ability to find true or plausible arguments thatmake the case convincing. The arrangement and the ordering and

distribution of topics, indicates the place that each of them should

occupy. The memory and tenacious presence in thought of the topics,

the words and their disposal."

However, it looks decidedly inadequate, because of some missing parts, thecategory of mnemonics loses all interest, it would lead to a false attributionof gender in the studies of rhetoric, since it lacks any mention of the

traditional figures of speech .

" The rhetoric as it always has been treated, is a system based on a

posteriori analysis, while claiming to be a priori analysis for the

execution of literary work."

The study of this discipline does not lead to composition of literary texts,philosophic or scientific, but only to an analysis of texts, as an end in itself.Text that have been written by others. Yet it is also true that the study of the

works of the great thinkers and poets are useful to learn and apply to the artof our time, of which they were masters .


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example, in the first dialogue of The Supper of Ashes, when it comes tostate that if Apelles, Phidias, Theseus and Colombo are so excited for their

accomplishments "...be that they have found a way to mount the sky, talkthe circumference of the stars, to allow the arrow to point toward the

convex surface of the firmament?". Infinite damnation to humanity are

derived from their works, along with the undeniable advantages, while "

Nolan cause to the effects the whole contrary, he dissolved the human

mind and cognition, which was locked in the prison of the turbulent

winds ", ie, in the imagination , "the torefied presence of each sense and

region, this key allow the inquisition to open this cloisters of the truth,

that open my capacity, undress the covered and veiled nature, has

donated the eyes of moles, enlightened the blind who do not see to fix hiseyes and gaze and imagin its many mirrors opposed on each side ,

discuss in silent language that he knew not, and did not dare to express

his intricate feelings, reuse the lame Valean not make progress with that

spirit that can not make the ignoble and dissolute compound, which

makes it no less present inhabitants of the houses of the sun, of the moon

and other celestial bodies named, shows just how similar or dissimilar

they are, more or worse those bodies that we see far below catered to

what and to whom we are united, opens our eyes to see this god, our

mother, who in his spine nourishes and feeds it, after productivity from

his lap, back to what I always recall, and she does not think the addition

to be a body without a soul and life, and even the scum with substances

corporal."

We understand now that this is not an exaggerated assessment of theimportance of a good book on metaphysics and mnemonics, but an allusion

to the great discovery which he cannot speak openly because "does fring for

any of this burden, but for those who can bring..." , p. 36. This knowledge,

however, is not reserved only for rare lucky, and open to those "...who are

not incapacitate by natural impotence, or deprived of talent and

discipline, but not warns and to consider what is called orbital, which

come from the privation of the act itself, and not from the faculty.",pag. 37.

Since, however, we find ourselves in the position of having to attribute toGiordano Bruno insights what belong to the wealth of knowledge of man ofthe millennium, we will try to identify cultural trends present in all of ourera, that was already available, because they obviously could not have

invented everything alone and must have used concepts already present inthe culture of the Renaissance. (see Appendix II)


23/23

CM , Page 122 , but apparently only by those who possess the necessarycultural references.

A great thinker is but he who opens the door of the unknown, becauseeveryone can look beyond, to this category belong Blake and Boehme, towhom we are led to define visionary rather than philosophers, the job of the

philosopher is not to reveal his truth, but to help others to discover theirown, the job of the midwife, Socrates said, is not the one of an architect.

Isn't it true that the greatness of a teacher is judged by the things that can dohis students, who are the subject of his art as educator? And besides, educatedoesn't meant originaly "bring up" but rather "fullfill" as you claim today?

Bruno performs the Copernican revolution of retoric, shifting the focus fromthe moment the speech is delivered to the immediately previous to theactual wording of thought and defined concepts, and to do this is at thecenter of the system of memory around which revolve the other parts. Theinvention is no longer one of the stylistic examination, it becomes the goalto which the author's creative efforts aim, and the available instrumental todo it.

The cogitative process proposed by Bruno begins with a present given to

reason, and the next question: What do I know about this topic? For a non-organized mind, the answers are crowded, creating some confusion. Bruno

proposes to fabricate a consciously logical categories so you will haveprecedence under which the information in the memory take turns on thestage of consciousness. These categories are displayed as locus of memory,from which it extracts everything that can serve as raw material for theconstruction of thought.

2. The Atrium

Because everything starts from the mnemonic, we note that the maindifference between the macroscopic classical version and Bruno's version, isthat the latter uses a geometric layout and not "real places" as the first. It is achoice that plays an important role in clarifying the vision of what is beingobserved since the relations of affinity and contrast between the elements,that make up the meanings, are the spatial placement of the premise thatleads to the development of symbolic logic and all of Bruno's art of thinking

.

clavis final

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