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Matt_Simpson comments on Open Thread, October 16-31, 2012 - Less Wrong
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I've noticed that reading old texts with alien mindsets is an instant idea generator for fantasy settings. (Seriously, I don't get I've never heard anyone suggest the notion of "fantasy writers should read old texts" before. They're just filled with peculiar ideas about the world that one can import directly to a fantasy setting.) Would you happen to have any recommendations on texts that would be particularly suitable for this?
In undergrad, one of my friends and I came up with the idea of a medieval-philosophy based magic system for a fantasy setting -- essentially Platonic realism as magic. Wizards spent all their time collecting metaphysical materials, contemplating forms and such. Directly inspired by reading Plato, Plotinus and, I think, Augustine.
Ars Magica does something somewhat similar.