The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy

Front Cover
James Hankins
Cambridge University Press, Oct 25, 2007 - Philosophy
The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy, published in 2007, provides an introduction to a complex period of change in the subject matter and practice of philosophy. The philosophy of the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries is often seen as transitional between the scholastic philosophy of the Middle Ages and modern philosophy, but the essays collected here, by a distinguished international team of contributors, call these assumptions into question, emphasizing both the continuity with scholastic philosophy and the role of Renaissance philosophy in the emergence of modernity. They explore the ways in which the science, religion and politics of the period reflect and are reflected in its philosophical life, and they emphasize the dynamism and pluralism of a period which saw both new perspectives and enduring contributions to the history of philosophy. This will be an invaluable guide for students of philosophy, intellectual historians, and all who are interested in Renaissance thought.
 

Contents

List of figures
The philosopher and Renaissance culture
Humanism scholasticism and Renaissance philosophy
Continuity and change in the Aristotelian tradition
The revival of Platonic philosophy
The revival of Hellenistic philosophies
Arabic philosophy and Averroism
philosophical prescriptions
The immortality of the soul
Philosophy and the crisis of religion
Hispanic scholastic philosophy
New visions of the cosmos
Organizations of knowledge
Humanistic and scholastic ethics
The problem of the prince
The significance of Renaissance philosophy

Nicholas of Cusa and modern philosophy
Lorenzo Valla and the rise of humanist dialectic
Bibliography
Index

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About the author (2007)

James Hankins is Professor of History at Harvard University and editor of Renaissance Civic Humanism: Reappraisals and Reflections (2000, 2004).

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