Astrology in Cultural & Historical Context with Kocku von Stuckrad

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In this episode we talk with Professor Kocku von Stuckrad, historian of religion and culture about the role of astrology and the ‘hybrid’ nature of “the science of the stars”, which has always combined rigorous empirical research and hermeneutical layers in its theory and activity. The podcast takes a look at what is accepted and what is fringe knowledge and how this concepts shift throughout time. It addresses the need to rethink the discourse of the past on science, philosophy and religion and to question binary assumptions such as science/magic, astronomy/astrology, chemistry/alchemy.

Kocku von Stuckrad is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Groningen and is co-founder and co-director of the research center Counterpoint: Navigating Knowledge.

To know more about his work, see: https://www.kockuvonstuckrad.com

The Counterpoint project can be found at: https://www.counterpointknowledge.org/

He has written many papers and books on the history of astrology, among which:

– With Günther Oestmann and H. Darrel Rutkin: Horoscopes and Public Spheres: Essays on the History of Astrology (Religion and Society 42). Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter 2005.

– Geschichte der Astrologie: Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Munich: C. H. Beck, 2003. 413 pp. New, revised edition 2007 (translated into Spanish, Portuguese and Italian)

– Die Seele im 20. Jahrhundert: Eine Kulturgeschichte. Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink 2019. XI, 279 pp. Currently being translated as: The Soul in the Twentieth Century: Insights in Psychology, Science, Nature, Philosophy, Spirituality, and Politics from Europe and America (working title). New York: Columbia University Press (forthcoming fall 2020).