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Philosophers of science have long tried to identify some demarcation line capable of distinguishing science from pseudoscience. Nonetheless, no ultimate set of requirements has so far been achieved, leaving demarcation uncertain and fluctuating, if not merely rhetorical. The habit of using the word ‘science’ to address a specific kind of knowledge is a modern practice, with ‘science’ having gradually taken over terms like ‘natural philosophy’ and ‘natural history.’ Thereby, the term ‘pseudoscience’ is also a recent one, with its meaning running alongside scientific endeavors of the nineteenth century. The article contributes to the debate aiming to pragmatically describe the function of pseudoscience in epistemology. To account for this, we argue that questions like What is pseudoscience? or What makes science science? would be better replaced by the question What do people do with the word pseudoscience?

Abstract Jan David, S.J.’s Duodecim specula (Antwerp: Jan Moretus, 1610), an innovative emblematic treatise in twelve chapters, focuses on various kinds and degrees of specular image generated by the human soul. Each chapter responds to an opening imago, designed and engraved by Theodoor Galle, that illustrates the operations of the mirror in question. Three of the imagines, v. The Mirror of Others’ Eyes, viii. The Mirror of Created Things, and x. The Mirror of Example, rather than displaying persons, actions, or things that fall under the purview of the respective mirror, instead depict the mirrored image that such a speculum is seen to reflect. Accordingly, as printed imagines that prove upon closer inspection to contain specular imagines or, better, that function as pictorial representations of particular kinds of image, these imagines imaginum (images of images) can be said to produce a trompe-l’oeil effect. They ask the reader-viewer to consider why s/he thinks s/he sees a present image when what is actually seen by the eye is a pictured image, a pictured picture, doubly mediated by the process of representation. My essay examines how and why this deceptive effect was marshaled by David as a figure of thought: by articulating the manner and meaning of these three specula in particular, he offers the reader-viewer a therapeutic antidote wherewith to combat the human propensity for idolatry and self-deception.

Abstract This paper shows how Ménestrier’s theorizing on emblems developed from his practice as devisor of decorative schemes and festivals, as indeed did that of fellow Jesuits. It explains his concern for developing a theoretical framework (whereas fellow Jesuits usually published collections of emblems with little theory) in terms of the influence exerted by his Jesuit training in Aristotelian philosophy and Thomist theology and the example set by the (ex-)Jesuit theorist Emanuele Tesauro. It puts Ménestrier’s theory and practice of emblems within the context of his more general concern for “erudite,” or symbolic, images and how he conceived such images, in general, operate on humans. In conclusion, I suggest how this understanding of such images’ potential within the context of Catholic renewal affects how Ménestrier understands the purpose and creation of emblems. This article is part of the special issue of the Journal of Jesuit Studies on Jesuit emblems and emblematic edited by Walter S. Melion.

Abstract The introductory essay examines the principles of Jesuit emblematic usage, as codified by Antonio Possevino, S.J. (1533–1611) in his educational treatise Bibliotheca selecta de ratione studiorum of 1603 and developed by two of the Society’s key emblematists: Jan David, S.J. (1545–1613) in his Duodecim specula of 1610 and Herman Hugo, S.J. (1588–1629) in his Pia desideria of 1624. The essay concludes by summarizing the five articles contained in this issue of the Journal of Jesuit Studies and then, on that basis, offering a brief account of the state of the question in the study of Jesuit emblematics.