Brian P. Copenhaver (born December 21, 1942) is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and History at The University of California, Los Angeles.
He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[1] past President of the Journal of the History of Philosophy and a member of the Council of the Instituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento in Italy.
[5] Copenhaver studies magic and related beliefs and practices – astrology,[6] demonology, divination, Kabbalah[7] – as parts of normative philosophy and science as they were a few centuries ago.
His research shows that magic[8][9][10][11] and other "occult" beliefs and practices were supported primarily by the philosophy and science of Aristotle and Aristotelian scholasticism, which dominated European culture from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries.
[citation needed]In response to the September 11 attacks, he worked with Vice-Provost Judi Smith to design the first offering of UCLA’s renowned Fiat Lux courses,[19][20] and to recruit faculty to teach them on short notice.