Entre alchimie et épistémologie. Le concept du 'caput mortuum' dans 'Documents' et 'Minotaure'.

The expression mortuum caput, which is of alchemical origins and meaning 'tete de mort' in Latin, designated the residue that apparently useless form after the distillation or sublimation of a substance. despite its apparent uselessness, alchemists used it to make additional experiments that they hoped, could lead to the elixir discovery of life. In the vilest materials, so there was the seeds of something more exquisite. It is hardly surprising that concept has been examined in the review of nearly Documents, including chief editor, Georges Bataille, favored search on all phenomenon that emphasized the inherent value of meanness (especially as the basis for the exaltation of the soul).