Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy, Misc

(From the Introduction) The topic I would like to present is “Scholasticism and Thomism” as found in Chapter 7 of Fabro’s "Brief Introduction to Thomism". My presentation, as both a summary and a partial commentary on some aspects of this work, may be helpful as we wait for the English translation of Fabro’s book. The title of this chapter says exactly what Fr. Fabro wants to do. He wants to relate Scholasticism and Aquinas in two senses: 1) from a historical (...) point of view, so that we may understand the origins, context and later fortune of the doctrine of St. Thomas, and 2) from a doctrinal point of view (and this is the most important) so that we may clearly distinguish St. Thomas’ doctrine from the rest of Scholasticism. This is very important because some people have tried to understand the Church’s invitation—or, rather, instruction—to study St. Thomas as simply a broad invitation to study Scholastic philosophy and theology. This is clearly not the case. The Church wants us to study the principles of Thomistic doctrine which, many times, are substantially different from other scholastic doctrines. (shrink)

The querelle des femmes was an intellectual debate over the status of women that occurred in the early modern period, between the 1400s and 1700s. A common argument for the superiority of men and inferiority of women that appeared during the debate is that women are less physically strong than men, and are therefore inferior. In response, two distinct argumentative strategies were developed by defenders of women. First, some argued that men and women did not in fact differ in physical (...) strength. A second strategy was to deny that physical strength is relevant to the question of superiority. In this case, one would argue that a difference in strength is not normatively relevant to evaluations of worth. I argue that this second strategy was the more effective response to the argument that women were inferior because of their alleged physical weakness compared to men. (shrink)

During the European Renaissance, scholars and members of the bourgeoisie showed a stronginterest in practical philosophy, namely ethics and politics. This shift was expressed in works that described ideal societies, also known as utopias. Meanwhile, the Renaissance philosophy of nature, influenced by Late Ancient philosophy and mysticism, imposed a new worldview, according to which nature was seen as a living entity. Renaissance political thinkers attempted to imbue their socio-political visions with a sense of natural philosophy. A principal idea in utopian (...) literature is the strong presence of science, a key factor in the transformation of nature. In its search for the ideal political order, humanity was not content with maximising nature’s benefits but envisioned creating a new nature, one that better served the socio-political ideals of the Renaissance and the early modern era. I would like to argue that the prominent role of technocracy in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century utopias led gradually to the disruption and perversion of nature. Despite of the intentions of the utopian thinkers, their views on nature –which range from the unconditional respect to nature to its advancement through science – encouraged finally the mastery of nature, because they connected the socio-political progress with the exploitation of nature and the control of natural forces. In particular, a discussion on the relationship between humanity, nature and science in Renaissance utopian thought can shed some light on how early technocracy progressively led to the ravaging of nature. Departing from the major Renaissance philosophers’ all-encompassing perspective, political philosophers of the time, especially those who contributed to utopian literature, predominantly viewed nature as an instrument at the disposal of humanity and its science – a playground for human inventiveness and resourcefulness. With their works, they provided a new rationale, non-religious this time that defended humanity’s full exploitation of nature. (shrink)

Il volume ripercorre lo sviluppo del pensiero del giovane Nicola Cusano dalla frequentazione del maestro albertista Eimerico da Campo presso l’Università di Colonia (1425) e dal confronto con le posizioni filosofiche dei domenicani dello Studium coloniense, fino agli anni della maturità a Roma (1450). Il saggio illustra il contesto storico-culturale della genesi del De docta ignorantia, testo che suggella la presa di distanza di Cusano dal proprio passato universitario ma anche, al contempo, la sua insoddisfazione nei confronti dell’umanesimo diffuso in (...) Italia negli anni del Concilio di Ferrara-Firenze; e lo segue nella sua ‘caccia della Sapienza’, nell’incontro con differenti tradizioni e contesti, fino alla formulazione dell’ideale del ‘Socrate cristiano’ nell’Idiota. Il volume, riccamente documentato anche sul piano della storia delle interpretazioni e degli studi su Cusano, contribuisce a far luce sulla formazione del suo pensiero e sulle questioni che ne hanno segnato la vita. (shrink)

Alvarus Pelagius’ Speculum regum and Diogo Lopes Rebelo’s De republica gubernanda per regem are “mirrors for princes”, dedicated to monarchs of whom, in light of the common good envisaged by their governance, a virtuous line of action was expected. Both texts echo St. Augustine’s discussion, in book XIX of De civitate Dei, of peace as the end to which any and the whole human community aspires. The preservation of peace, as a means for the king to accomplish the common good, (...) even if doing so involved waging war, obeys precise conditions of justice differently identified by the authors. In this study, we examine the positions of Alvarus Pelagius and Diogo Lopes Rebelo on the relations between power and peace in what concerns the right to wage war, during war, and after war. In both cases, the references to peace and war are sparse, but they allow us to identify positions that, despite the common political tradition, manifest significant divergences. (shrink)

Manuel Chrysoloras was a Byzantine scholar and diplomat. He is best known as the first notable professor of Greek language in Italy. He occupied the chair of Greek at the Florentine Studium, and he also taught Greek occasionally in Pavia, Milan, and Rome. Among his students were some of the prominent early Italian humanists including Leonardo Bruni, Uberto Decembrio, Guarino of Verona, Pier Paolo Vergerio, Palla Strozzi, Roberto Rossi, Jacopo Angeli da Scarperia, Cencio de’ Rustici, and others. His method of (...) teaching Greek language and literature was innovative and was continued by some of his students. He had a significant impact on the revival of Greek studies in the West through his Erotemata, as this work became the central textbook of Greek grammar until the sixteenth century. He was a pioneer of the so-called transferre ad sententiam method for translating Greek texts into Latin, and he was the first who translated Plato’s Republic (in collaboration with his student Uberto Decembrio). His other writings are mainly rhetorical epistles; he engaged in extensive correspondence with many of his contemporaries, eminent humanists and ecclesiastical and political figures, such as the Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus and Coluccio Salutati. He was appointed to a number of important diplomatic missions on behalf of Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, and he was in the service of Pisan Pope John XXIII. He spent most of his life visiting the European courts in an attempt to secure help for Byzantium and to negotiate the Union of the Churches. He was an ardent unionist, he participated in the Council of Constance, and he may have converted to Catholicism. (shrink)

Яскрава модернова обкладинка книжки, яку присвячено далеко не новій темі, обіцяє щось революційне, нестандартне. Ім’я автора, знаного науковця, живить передчуття нових джерел, нових думок, точно сформульованих і підкріплених ґрунтовною науковою аргументацією. Проте від самого початку читання виникають певні перепони, а під кінець стає зрозумілим, що нова версія життя українського філософа приховує своєрідний «гадательний» смисл, який стосується не лише Сковороди і культури XVIII ст. Мова про ставлення до традиції, пізнання й істини у ширшому сенсі. Спочатку оглянемо форму і зміст книжки. У (...) вступній частині під назвою «Prelude» на читача відразу чекають несподіванки. Розповідь про життя Григорія Сковороди, як і годиться, автор розпочинає з притчі про пустельника в «Silenus Alcibiadis», але раптом переносить нас у зовсім інший історичний світ. Тепер він розповідає про Олександра Потебню та подібність його думок і думок Сковороди. Чому книжку про філософа XVIII ст. треба починати з доведення подібності його думок до думок мислителя ХІХ ст.? Не дуже зрозуміло. Принаймні автор посилається на своє відчуття. І такий сюжетний хід мусить навіювати читачеві думки про історичну тяглість певних ідей. Серед цих ідей азначено такі: гостре відчуття богополишеності світу; панування «кривди» (с. 7); досягнення суспільної гармонії лише за умови чистоти сердець (с. 10); трактування серця як найглибшої основи людського буття (с. 10); нерозривний зв’язок пізнання речей і любові (с. 11); релігійне «підложжя» вчення обох мислителів (с.12); подібність теорії пізнання: пізнати світ можна шляхом пізнання себе і навпаки (с. 18); визнання символічності слова (с. 19); однакове розуміння структури слова і образу (с. 21); «нерівна рівність» як універсальний принцип (с. 24); «послідовний націоналізм», предтечею якого Потебня вважав Сковороду, і просвітницький пафос (с. 27). Згадка про «націоналізм» додає провокативності сюжету. А до питання про «просвітницький пафос» ми ще повернемося. Закінчує вступну частину висновок, що народ спить і його треба «розбудити». Очевидно, автор збирається пов’язати цю тему з філософією Сковороди, але не дає чітких пояснень з цього приводу. І претензій не висунеш, адже це не вступ до дисертації, а «prelude». (shrink)

Giordano Bruno e i cacciatori di "bufale". Quello delle fake news, le cosiddette “bufale” per intenderci, non è il solo problema che affligge il web, strumento potentissimo, che dà voce a tutti, ma in maniera incontrollata. C’è un fenomeno ancor più preoccupante: quello delle false citazioni (fake quotes).

On the Law of Nature is at once a traditional and eclectic treatise of moral philosophy by one of the sixteenth century's most widely read Protestant authors. Niels Hemmingsen, the "Teacher of Denmark," was a Danish humanist and theologian who studied with the "Teacher of Germany," Philip Melanchthon, at the University of Wittenberg. Hemmingsen went on to serve as a professor at the University of Copenhagen--first of Greek, then of dialectic, and finally of theology. He wrote voluminously on method, theology, (...) exegesis, homiletics, and ethics.In this treatise Hemmingsen argues that all particular rules of ethical conduct can be derived from immutable axioms or first principles. Though moral philosophy works according to its own rules, Hemmingsen shows that its conclusions, far from being at odds with the divine revelation of the moral law, are identical with the ethical commandments of Scripture. Thus Hemmingsen includes a section on the Decalogue, along with a lengthy account of the traditional cardinal virtues, supported by a myriad of quotations from classical Greek and Roman sources. This important treatise looks both backward to classical and medieval philosophy and forward to developments in the seventeenth century and beyond. (shrink)

У статті проаналізовано значення розуміння власної освіти для побудови ідентичності на прикладі італійських гуманістів першої половини XV ст., які позиціонували себе як автодидакти (самоучки). Автор вважає, що саме в цей час унаслідок дії цілого комплексу причин формуються передумови для виникнення явища автодидактів, яке остаточно виокремилося вже у Новому часі. Гуманісти у такий спосіб ставали в опозицію до тогочасних знання, освіти, пізнання, реалізовуючи самопрезентацію. Гуманістів приваблювали певні особливості статусу автодидакта, які давали їм змогу почуватися незалежними від усталених на той час норм, (...) поглядів, інтелектуальних традицій, водночас використовуючи як підстави для консолідації гуманістів як окремої соціальної групи. (shrink)

This paper highlights the corrective and complementary role that historically informed philosophy can play in contemporary discussions. What it takes for an experience to count as genuinely mystical has been the source of significant controversy; most current philosophical definitions of ‘mystical experience’ exclude embodied, non-unitive states -- but, in so doing, they exclude the majority of reported mystical experiences. I use a re- examination of the full range of reported medieval mystical experiences (both in the apophatic tradition, which excludes or (...) denigrates embodied states, and in the affective tradition, which treats such states as fully mystical) to demonstrate how a better understanding of the historical medieval mystic tradition can serve as a valuable complement to ongoing philosophical discussions of religious and mystical experience. (shrink)

У статті вперше здійснено інтерпретацію поетичних текстів Олега Лишеги шляхом звернення до концепції барокового коду. Проаналізовані таким чином, зокрема, «пісня 822», «Півень», «Шовковиця», «Ворон», «Пацюк» і «пісня 3». Саме крізь призму барокового коду варто розглядати ці поезії, оскільки головні світоглядні риси бароко здатні пояснити ті чи ті образи або ситуації, які читач знаходить у текстах. Варто також наголосити на непересічності образу Григорія Сковороди у творчості Олега Лишеги, адже у поезіях «Великого мосту» можна неодноразово знайти чи то сковородинські образи/символи, чи то (...) його концепти, що були близькі для поета ХХ століття. (shrink)

Cosa spinge l'Abate-bibliofilo Louis Valentin de Vougny ad intraprendere, a metà del XVIII secolo, la traduzione di un libro "maledetto", lo "Spaccio de la bestia trionfante", i cui rari esemplari vengono acquistati a cifre esorbitanti?

(From editorial:) This volume aims to refute the disparaging image of scholastic philosophy as a rather homogeneous tradition of commentaries on Aristotle lacking in originality. Although Aristotelianism was, of course, a very important philosophical paradigm among the scholastics, their works also evince many features and tenets of Platonic or Augustinian origin. Several issues characteristic for Platonism and Augustinianism are discussed in this volume – for example, the role of attention in perception, the extramissionist theory of vision, the metaphysics of light, (...) the illumination theory, the fi rst-person perspective, and self-refl ection. The topics investigated primarily in Aristotelianism include the ontology of sensibles, their causal effi cacy, the role of the medium, and the distinction between the internal senses. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung In early modernity, church historians initially showed little interest in Berthold of Moosburg. They knew him as a commentator of Proclus, but they did not recognise his importance for the history of Neoplatonism. The librarians and bibliographers who came across Berthold’s commentary on Proclus in the Balliol College Library at Oxford showed no interest in the philosophical content of this work. An article on Berthold in the monumental work Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum summarised the available information. It was Johann Albert (...) Fabricius who took notice of it. Fabricius was very interested in Proclus as well as in Neoplatonic theology and its narration in the Elements of Theology; he had started to collect all available information regarding this issue and had also come across Berthold’s commentary. However, he did not ignore him, as many had done before, but properly recognised the importance of Berthold for the history of the reception of Proclus’s philosophy. Fabricius always referred to the Dominican thinker when dealing with Proclus’s Elements of Theology, in particular in his own Bibliotheca graeca. One of the attentive readers of this work was the German philologist Friedrich Creuzer. In 1822, within the framework of publishing Neoplatonic writings, Creuzer reedited Proclus’s Elements of Theology. As a consequence of this new edition, Proclus together with his medieval commentator came into the focus of leading representatives of classical German philosophy. (shrink)

This chapter examines the imagination, its relationship to “common sense,” and its recent development in the notion of the social imaginary in Western philosophy and the contributions Miki Kiyoshi and Nakamura Yūjirō can make in this regard. I trace the historical evolution of the notion of the productive imagination from its seeds in Aristotle through Kant and into the social imagination or imaginary as bearing on our collective being-in-the-world, with semantic and ontological significance, in Paul Ricoeur, Cornelius Castoriadis, and Charles (...) Taylor. The two Japanese philosophers, when brought into dialogue with the above contemporary Western thinkers, can contribute to this recent development of the imagination’s creativity into the collective sphere. Miki shows a connection between the imagination and a certain form-formlessness dynamic he inherits from Nishida. Nakamura in turn points to a connection between imagination and place via his development of the Aristotelian notion of common sense. Both have implications on how we understand the social imaginary. (shrink)

Este artigo pretende descrever algumas características da recepção latina do Corpus Areopagiticum — o conjunto de obras atribuído a Dionísio, o Areopagita —, destacando uma invulgar tradição de leitura, tradução, interpretação e comentário destes escritos. Explicaremos a importância de um único manuscrito (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, gr. 437) no início da cadeira de transmissão desta duradoura difusão, discutindo como é que um documento do século IX influenciou todas as posteriores leituras e traduções em Latim, a fim de esboçar alguns atributos distintivos (...) da disseminação dos textos levada a cabo por autores como sejam Hilduíno, João Escoto Eriúgena, João Sarraceno e Tomás Galo. Os problemas resultantes da tradução de conceitos como sejam " para lá (hyper) " ou " beleza " serão objecto de especial atenção, e iremos inquirir de que modo estas versões são mais ou menos bem-sucedidas na sua tentativa de transmitir, ao mesmo tempo, a filosofia mesma de Dionísio e as interpretações dos autores. -/- This paper aims to describe some features of the Latin reception of the Corpus Areopagiticum — the collection of works attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite — focusing on the unusual tradition of reading, translation, interpretation, and comment of these writings. We will explain the importance of one single manuscript (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, gr. 437) in the beginning of this lasting diffusion's chain of transmission, discussing how a 9 th-century document influenced all posterior readings and translations into Latin, in order to trace out some distinctive attributes within the texts' spreading undertaken by authors such as Hilduin, John Scottus Eriugena, John Sarrazen or Thomas Gallus. Special attention will be paid to problems arising from the translation of concepts such as 'beyond (hyper)' or 'beauty', and we will enquire whether these renderings are more or less succeeded in their attempt to convey, at the same time, the very Dionysius' philosophy and the authors' interpretations. (shrink)

This is a review of the 2015 Princeton edition of The Praise of Folly.

In his short treatise De divinatione per somnum (463b12-15), Aristotle claims that dreams, though not sent by a god, are nonetheless “demonic” because “nature is demonic.” This statement has puzzled Aristotle’s commentators since the Middle Ages, being interpreted in a variety of ways even today. The present article traces interpretations of the passage from the twelfth century, when the work was translated into Latin for the first time, until the seventeenth century, when Aristotle’s works were re-translated by the humanists. The (...) aim of the study is to reconstruct how scholars over the course of 500 years dealt with the meaning of the expression “demonic.” The article takes into account not only commentaries on Aristotle, but also several translations of Aristotle’s work, different manuscripts of the work, and hand-written glosses in incunabula. In this way — taking a longue-durée-perspective — the study aims to reveal hermeneutical currents in dealing with Aristotle’s pagan and naturalist theory of dreams within a Christian context which presupposed God as a possible cause of dreams. (shrink)

Speciale V centenario "Utopia" di Tommaso Moro (1616-2016). Bruno,Moro e il vincolo dello spirito.

Nicholas of Cusa in De staticis experimentis presents his perspective on the human knowledge of the world through the concept of measurement. Cusanus thinks that humans can measure the world, because the world is constituted by the trinitarian structure “pondus”, “numerus” and “mensura”: an ontological perspective that is also seen in the biblical book of Wisdom 11:21. For this reason in De staticis experimentis Cusanus tries to measure the world through numbers and weights and using a balance. Academic research on (...) Cusanus has identified Augustine of Hippo as the source of this epistemology. In this paper, we will try to ask if Augustine of Hippo should indeed be recognized as a correct source. (shrink)

This dissertation focuses on the philosophical psychology of a little-studied author, Dominic of Flanders, as elaborated upon in a work that has received no attention in the scholarly literature thus far—viz., his Expositio super libros de anima. No modern editions of Dominic’s works exist. Born in the County of Flanders during the first half of the fifteenth century, Dominic was first educated at the University of Paris, but then made his intellectual home in Italy, where he entered the Dominican Order, (...) teaching at the studia of his order, as well as at the University of Florence. This study attempts to place Dominic within the broader context of Aristotelianism to which he belongs, recognizing his place within the school of Thomism that was thriving in Italy at the time, especially in Bologna. We have provided an account of his life and works, exhaustively examining available bibliographical literature, and have situated the composition of his Expositio during his period of Bologna following his entrance into the Order. In particular, we have studied the third book of his Expositio, which takes up the philosophical topics related to cognition and intellectual understanding. We have given attention to the themes of the cognition or knowledge of particulars, as well as the theory of abstraction, which is required for universal understanding. Beyond the fact that the theory of the internal senses is taken up at the outset of Dominic’s third book, it is our contention that a treatment of the internal senses is necessary for a proper understanding of particular knowledge. Dominic is firmly rooted in the Aristotelian tradition, and so for him there is no intellectual cognition without phantasms. Further, the role of the agent intellect is both to abstract from phantasms, as well as to turn back towards phantasms. In this study, we have shown the Flemish master’s reliance upon the thought and writings of Thomas Aquinas; we also have uncovered a silent source of Dominic’s Expositio—viz., the De anima commentary of John Versoris. Versoris’ commentary has been equally unstudied in the relevant scholarly literature. This Versoris had been Dominic’s teacher at Paris. The results of this research also include an edition of Latin text of the third book of Dominic’s Expositio super libros de anima. This edition is based on the four surviving manuscripts of the work, as well as three selected early modern editions ; this edition is presented in the dissertation as an appendix. (shrink)

_ Source: _Volume 53, Issue 2-4, pp 372 - 390 This paper investigates a series of Oxford _Obligationes_ texts, all of which can be associated with Richard Billingham. My study is based on eleven of the surviving manuscripts and two early printed texts. I focus on one aspect of their discussion, namely the rule for granting the initial _positum_ of an obligational disputation of the type called _positio_, and the six restrictions that could be placed on that rule. I explain (...) these restrictions with reference to several sophismata that were meant to illustrate the problems that the restrictions were intended to solve, and in particular, I discuss the fifth restriction ‘not inconsistent with the _positum_’. I also shed light on the final restriction, which has not always been well understood, namely the restriction ‘wherever there is no _obligatio_ relevant to the _positum_’. (shrink)

C. S. Peirce introduced the term “icon” for sign-vehicles that signify their objects in virtue of some shared quality. This qualitative kinship, however, threatens to collapse the relata of the sign into one and the same thing. Accordingly, the late medieval philosopher of signs John Poinsot held that, “no matter how perfect, a concept [...] always retains a distinction, therefore, between the thing signified and itself signifying.” Poinsot is touted by his present-day advocates as a realist, but I believe that, (...) judged by realist standards, his requirement of minimal dissimilarity backfires. Poinsot thinks that, in analyzing the sign, we should stop before a full merger between sign-vehicle and object is reached. Peirce, by contrast, saw good reason to push the analysis all the way down to one isolated quality. Because such a qualitative merger can lend support to realism, I favour Peirce’s stance. (shrink)

For those familiar with Machiavelli’s texts, Foucault’s interpretation of Macchiavelli in his 1978 lecture series Sécurité, Territoire, Population1 is surprising. Although Machiavelli figures prominently in five of the thirteen lectures,2 Foucault treats Machiavelli as if he were the author of only one book—The Prince—and his reading treats this complex text as if it covered only one topic: how to guarantee the security of the Prince. Clearly Foucault did not intend his interpretation of Machiavelli as a close exegesis. Other discussions of (...) Foucault’s treatment of Machiavelli have acknowledged the role Machiavelli plays in these lectures and even note the inadequacy of the interpretation given by Foucault, but most commentators do not pursue Foucault’s reading further.3 This investigation is not concerned with whether Foucault got Machiavelli right. Rather, Foucault’s reading of Machiavelli is noteworthy because it is partial and incomplete in a way reminiscent of Foucault’s reading of Hobbes in, Il faut défendre la société. This fragmentary character of Foucault’s inscription of Machiavelli as a forerunner of the history of biopolitique allows an innovative reading of the Florentine that connects Machiavelli’s thinking, however indirectly, on a trajectory that encounters, for instance, Foucault’s analysis of populations, the police state, and even his reading of liberalism during the 1978-­‐ 1979 lectures. My argument here is that the specific way Foucault’s inscribes Machiavelli in the history of gouvernementalité, while seeming to reject him, in fact acts to resuscitate, and thereby relay, a reading of Machiavelli as a thinker who articulates encounters among political practices engaged within a horizon of radical immanence. (shrink)

At Discorsi II.20, Machiavelli defines auxiliary arms as those, “whom a prince or a republic send captained and already paid for, for your aid.” My contention is that Machiavelli’s treatment of auxiliary arms is much more nuanced than it may seem at first glance. Throughout his works, Machiavelli articulates this type of force from the standpoint of the prince but also, surprisingly, from the standpoint of the people. In their princely employment, auxiliary arms act instrumentally as means for the projection (...) of power. However, analyzed from the standpoint of the people, auxiliary force exposes the projects of the state to the radically aleatory. Acknowledging the aspectival function played by the definition of auxiliaries in Machiavelli’s texts offers a new vantage point for re-reading Machiavelli on the nature of authority, power and the conflict of the umori. (shrink)

En 1974, à l'époque de la publication du texte des Auctoritates Aristotelis les chercheurs n'avaient pas encore mesuré l'influence que ce florilège avait pu avoir dans bon nombre d'oeuvres médiévales. Nombreux étaient ceux qui ne connaissaient même pas ce recueil et qui préféraient se référer directement à l'oeuvre même du Stagirite pour identifier des citations. Mais la réalité médiévale était bien différente. En effet, les recherches menées après la parution de l'édition ont modifié considérablement notre conception de l'usage qu'en firent (...) les intellectuels du 13e au 17e siècle. Beaucoup de progrès ont été faits depuis, surtout dans le domaine des éditions critiques de textes philosophiques encore inédits à l'époque. Il suffit de consulter les apparats critiques des sources utilisées par ces auteurs pour constater qu'ils furent nombreux à citer des « auctoritates » d'Aristote, extraites de ce florilège. D'autre part, les recherches réalisées progressivement, montrent que ce recueil a aussi une histoire. -/- Les études réunis dans ce volume se proposent de présenter un nouvel état de la question et de montrer à l'aide d'exemples pertinents l'usage qui fut fait des citations contenues dans le recueil par divers auteurs de l'époque. D'autre part, les informations glanées dans les divers exposés illustrent parfaitement des moments de son histoire. Ils ne rendent pas stériles les recherches ultérieures mais proposent diverses voies d'accès à la reconstitution de son élaboration, sans épuiser pour autant le sujet. Ces études permettent déjà de constater le succès énorme que connut le recueil, non seulement pendant l'époque scolastique, mais aussi jusqu'à la fin du 17e siècle, ce qui peut paraître étrange à première vue. Les différents articles sont dus à J. Hamesse (Louvain-laNeuve), J.F. Silva (Helsinki), M. Toste (Fribourg), J. Meirinhos (Porto), G. Galle (Leuven), P. De Leemans (Leuven), A. Beccarisi (Lecce), W. Duba (Nijmegen), A. Robiglio (Leuven), Ch. Boyer (Lyon), L. Tromboni (Firenze), P. B. Rossi (Torino), G. Guldentops (Köln), M. J. Muñoz Jiménez (Madrid), L. Bianchi (Vercelli). (shrink)

This paper aims to explore the variety of sophistic argumentations that the Paduan philosopher and writer Sperone Speroni (1500-1588) applies in the so-called paradoxical work Dialogo della Discordia (1542), in which style as well as content factor into the author’s interest in ancient sophistic rhetoric. In analyzing the subject, the paper focuses on the influence of Erasmus’ Praise of Folly (1511) in Speroni’s dialogue. In so doing, the paper also intends to contribute to a deeper understanding of the impact of (...) Erasmus’ work in the Venetian area - in particular, the rebirth of ancient sophistic literature in the Italian Renaissance. (shrink)

Francisco Suárez Sometimes called the "Eminent Doctor" after Paul V’s designation of him as doctor eximius et pius, Francisco Suárez was the leading theological and philosophical light of Spain’s Golden Age, alongside such cultural icons as Miguel de Cervantes, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and El Greco. Although initially rejected on grounds of deficient health … Continue reading Suárez, Francisco →.

Special issue of the Journal for Early Modern Studies (4.1., Spring 2005) Guest Editor: Lucian Petrescu. -/- .