Heloise, the twelfth-century French abbess and reformer, emerges from this book as one of history’s most extraordinary women, a thinker-writer of profound insight and skill. Her learned mind attracted the most radical philosopher of her time, Peter Abelard. He became her teacher, lover, husband, and finally monastic ally. That relationship has made her fame until now. But Heloise is far more important in her own right. Seventeen experts of international standing collaborate here to reveal and analyze how Heloise’s daring achievements shaped normative issues of theology, rhetoric, rational argument, gender, and emotional authenticity. At last we are able to see her for herself, in her moment of history and human awareness.

The letters of Heloise and Abelard remain some of the great romantic and intellectual documents of human civilization while the writers themselves are probably second only to Romeo and Juliet in the fame accrued by tragic lovers. Living in the abbey of the Paraclete in twelfth-century France, the two poured their hearts and minds out to each other in a series of letters. The letters are notable for their intelligence, insight, and philosophy and make clear the reason Heloise and Abelard's story has resounded for centuries. Here, for the first time, is the collected correspondence with accessible commentary from two of our foremost medieval scholars. This book will be a necessity for anyone interested in the medieval period or in these two touchingly unforgettable figures from the distant past.

The Medieval period was one of the richest eras for the philosophical study of religion. Covering the period from the 6th to the 16th century, reaching into the Renaissance, "The History of Western Philosophy of Religion 2" shows how Christian, Islamic and Jewish thinkers explicated and defended their religious faith in light of the philosophical traditions they inherited from the ancient Greeks and Romans. The enterprise of 'faith seeking understanding', as it was dubbed by the medievals themselves, emerges as a vibrant encounter between - and a complex synthesis of - the Platonic, Aristotelian and Hellenistic traditions of antiquity on the one hand, and the scholastic and monastic religious schools of the medieval West, on the other. "Medieval Philosophy of Religion" will be of interest to scholars and students of Philosophy, Medieval Studies, the History of Ideas, and Religion, while remaining accessible to any interested in the rich cultural heritage of medieval religious thought.

A beautifully illustrated history of the Renaissance told through the lives of its most important and influential patrons. 'Exceptionally sumptuous... This vivid history brings to life the vices and virtues of the feuding ruling families of Italy.' Michael Prodger, The Times 'Full of treasures to be uncovered... A chance to visit a glittering, at times rather gory, world that is different and yet dreamily familiar to our own.' BBC History Revealed From the late Middle Ages, the independent Italian city-states were taken over by powerful families who installed themselves as dynastic rulers. Inspired by the humanists, the princes of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy immersed themselves in the culture of antiquity, commissioning palaces, villas and churches inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome, and offering patronage to artists and writers. Many of these princes were related by blood or marriage, creating a web of alliances that held society together but whose tensions sometimes threatened to tear it apart; thus were their lives dominated as much by the waging of war as the nurture of artistic talent. In a narrative that is as rigorous and closely researched as it is accessible and informative, Mary Hollingsworth sets the princes' aesthetic achievements in the context of the volatile, ever-shifting politics of a tumultuous period of history.

This comprehensive book outlines the life and works of an important revolutionary intellectual of the 16th Century. This book follows Bruno's life and the development of his thought in the order in which he declared it. Giordano Bruno was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. He was burned at the stake after the Roman Inquisition found him guilty of heresy but his modern scientific thought and cosmology became very influential. His writings on science also showed interest in magic and alchemy and those are outlined in this book alongside what he is most remembered for - his place in the history of the relationship between science and faith.

This is a brief and accessible introduction to the thought of the great Franciscan theologian St. Bonaventure (c. 1217-74). Cullen focuses on the long-debated relation between philosophy and theology in the work of this important but neglected thinker, revelaing Bonaventure as a great synthesizer. Cullen's exposition also shows in a new and more nuanced way Bonaventure's debt to Augustine, while making clear how he was influenced by Aristotle. The book is organized according to the categories of Bonaventure's own classic text. De reductione artium ad theologiam. Part I is devoted to the definition of Christian Wisdom. In Part II, "The Light of Philosophical Knowledge," individual chapters are devoted to Bonaventure's physics, metaphysics, and moral philosophy. Part III, "The Light of Theological Knowledge," includes chapters on the Trinity, Creation, Sin, the Incarnation, Grace, the Sacraments, and the Last Things.

Abelard is one of the foremost protagonists of the "twelfth-century Renaissance." He 'picks up the baton' from Boethius resuming the activity of commenting on Aristotle's works. The present book focuses on the logical-grammatical analysis of natural language, which for Abelard is a fragment of "scientific Latin." Tools of modern categorial grammar are employed to clarify many of the problems raised by historiography (such as meaning, abstract entities and universals). Among the merits of the volume is the fact that it has enlightened the radical interplay between the traditions of Aristotle's and Priscian's commentators and, in this context, Abelard's peculiar role in exploring a new field of linguistic inquiry. An ample analysis of grammatical sources and critical literature allows to evaluate the progress which is at the basis of the forthcoming terministic logic. The book is aimed at scholars of medieval philosophy as well as historians of logic and linguistics.

Remembering Boethius explores the rich intersection between the reception of Boethius and the literary construction of aristocratic identity, focusing on a body of late-medieval vernacular literature that draws on the Consolation of Philosophy to represent and reimagine contemporary experiences of exile and imprisonment. Elizabeth Elliott presents new interpretations of English, French, and Scottish texts, including Machaut's Confort d'ami, Remede de Fortune, and Fonteinne amoureuse, Jean Froissart's Prison amoureuse, Thomas Usk's Testament of Love, and The Kingis Quair, reading these texts as sources contributing to the development of the reader's moral character. These writers evoke Boethius in order to articulate and shape personal identities for public consumption, and Elliott's careful examination demonstrates that these texts often write not one life, but two, depicting the relationship between poet and aristocratic patron. These works associate the reception of wisdom with the cultivation of memory, and in turn, illuminate the contemporary reception of the Consolation as a text that itself focuses on memory and describes a visionary process of education that takes place within Boethius's own mind. In asking how and why writers remember Boethius in the Middle Ages, this book sheds new light on how medieval people imagined, and reimagined, themselves.

This volume and its companions contain the first English translation of the letters written by the philosopher-priest who helped to shape the changes that we associate with the Renaissance. The letters in this eleventh volume cover the period from autumn 1492 to the spring of 1495, when they appeared in print. A few related or later items are included in an Appendix. A twelfth volume will bring the series to completion with nine distinctive treatises which Ficino gathered into a separate volume in 1476 but later re-included in his Letters as Book II. In the 1490s, Ficino was occupied with the political upheavals in Florence, and much of his effort was concentrated on trying to bring people back into dialogue with one another, in the hope of finding a more constructive outlook. Many of the letters in this book are covering letters to accompany copies of his work On the Sun, which considers the sun in its many aspects, as a heavenly body, a physical life force, a source of inspiration and an allegorical representation of the governing power in the universe. Other important letters include advice on coping with the evils of the time, the responsibilities and privileges of the philosopher, a reiteration of the importance of love, and further reflections on the theme of light. We note the increasing presence of friends in German lands, where several of his works were now being published. He also writes to friends in the French court. One unusual letter tackles a religious question: Ficino was moved to intervene in an argument on the degree to which the Platonic philosophers of old anticipated aspects of the Christian Trinity. While it would be comforting to find such agreement, Ficino says there is none in Plato, though some of the later Platonists offer confirmation of Christian doctrines in their writings. Another controversy relates to the status of astrology, for which Ficino claims only a modest place despite his own writings on the subject. In a related letter on Providence he again returns to the evils the city is experiencing and how these might best be met. Facing one of those evils head on, Ficino composed an address to the French King whose armies were threatening Florence. It is not known whether this address was delivered delivered in the presence of the king during the meeting which Ficino and others attended, but it lies on record as a genuine attempt to resolve hostilities. The illustration on the front of the jacket is from a manuscript of the earliest version of Ficino's work On the Sun, written in 1492 for Count Eberhard of Wurttemberg. It is reproduced with kind permission of the Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart (HB XV 65,fol.7r). A translation of this early version is included in the Appendix.

Thomas Aquinas's interpretation of Aristotle has formed the backbone of Catholic theology and teaching to this day. This book is an original new study of Aquinas's ideas in two key areas of ethical thought: the will and human action, with important new insights on a range of theological topics as well - including love, sin, and the moral virtues.

Advancing research in artificial intelligence is creating reasoning systems that increasingly emulate or surpass the power of human reasoning. This volume presents a critical analysis of current theory and research in psychological and computational sciences addressing reasoning processes. Distinguished from narrowly technical books on the one hand, and from general philosophical books on the other, this work gives a broad, structured, detailed, and critical account of advancing intellectual developments in theories on the nature of reasoning. Of special interest is the conclusion that artificial intelligence reasoning systems are deepening and broadening theories of human reasoning.

A unified theory of intelligent reasoning encompassing natural and computational systems is an important current objective of cognitive science. Reasoning systems such as the CHARADE program, which simulates the course of inductive reasoning leading to medical discoveries, and the CONSYDERR program, which executes the robust theory of common sense reasoning, are important demonstrations of the feasibility of a unified theory of human and artificial intelligence.

This reissue was first published in 1978. Anthony Kenny, one of the most distinguished philosophers in England, explores the notion of responsibility and the precise place of the mental element in criminal actions. Bringing the insights of recent philosophy of mind to bear on contemporary developments in criminal law, he writes with the general reader in mind, no specialist training in philosophy being necessary to appreciate his argument.
Kenny shows that abstract distinctions drawn by analytic philosophers are relevant to decisions in matters of life and death, and illustrates the philosophical argument throughout by reference to actual legal cases. The topics he covers are of wide general interest and include: mens rea and mental health, strict liability, freedom and determinism, duress and necessity, intoxication and irresistible impulse, intention and purpose, murder and rape, punishment and deterrence, witchcraft and supernatural beliefs.

The Consolation of Philosophy was composed when its author was awaiting execution on a charge of treason. It outlines the true good at which we should aim: not wealth, high position, or worldly fame, but the knowledge of God, our end and our beginning. Professor Walsh has included an introduction and explanatory notes which combined with his new translation make the text accessible to general readers and scholars alike.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

The Anglo-Saxon reception of Schopenhauer has a long and valuable tradition. An early reaction to Schopenhauer's thought from outside the German-speaking world was the appearance in the Westminster Review for 1853of "Iconoclasm in German Philosophy", an insightful essay of apprecia- tion written by John Oxenford. A gratified Schopenhauer was able to remark: "my philosophy has just set foot in England" (To Lindner, 27. 4. 1853). It remained there and spread throughout the English-speaking countries. In the following decades Schopenhauer's works were translated into English: carrying on the task of translation begun in the nineteenth century there stands out, particularly, the masterly achievement of Eric F. Payne. No less active, however, has been the philosophical discussion devoted to Schopen- hauer in books and journal-articles. In 1890Wallace published the first biog- raphy of Schopenhauer in English, and the monographs by Caldwell (1894) and Coppleston (1946) are cornerstones of a continuous, if not widespread, concern with Schopenhauer's philosophy in the English language. An in- creased interest in Schopenhauer in the Anglo-Saxon countries has mani- fested itself in the last twenty-five years (Gardener (1963), Hamlyn (1980), Fox (ed. ) (1980), Magee (1983) inter alia). The present study carries on this tradition. Its distinctiveness consists in its explicit connecting of Schopenhauer's work to the philosophy ofKant. The author's intimate knowledge of both thinkers has already been estab- lished in previous studies.

Integralism is the application to the temporal, political order of the full implications of the revelation of man's supernatural end in Christ and of the divinely established means by which it is to be attained. These implications are identified by means of the philosophia perennis exemplified in the fundamental principles of St Thomas Aquinas. Since the first principle in moral philosophy is the last end, and man's last end cannot be known except by revelation, it is only by accepting the role of handmaid of theology that political philosophy can be adequately constituted. Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy is a handbook for those who seek to understand the consequences of this integration of faith and reason for political, economic and individual civic life. It will also serve as a scholastic introduction to political philosophy for those new to the subject. Each chapter finishes with a list of the principal theses proposed.

Originally published in 1968. This volume discusses Francis Bacon 's thought and work in the context of the European cultural environment that influenced Bacon 's philosophy and was in turn influenced by it. It examines the influence of magical and alchemical traditions on Bacon and his opposition to these traditions, as well as illustrating the naturalist, materialist and ethico-political patterns in Bacon 's allegorical interpretations of fables.

This volume features articles which employ source-work research to trace Kierkegaard's understanding and use of authors from the Patristic and Medieval traditions. It covers an extraordinarily long period of time from Cyprian and Tertullian in the second century to Thomas A Kempis in the fifteenth. Despite its heterogeneity and diversity in many aspects, this volume has a clear point of commonality in all its featured sources: Christianity. Kierkegaard's relation to the Patristic and Medieval traditions has been a rather neglected area of research in Kierkegaard studies. This is somewhat surprising given the fact that the young Kierkegaard learned about the Patristic authors during his studies at the University of Copenhagen and was clearly fascinated by many aspects of their writings and the conceptions of Christian religiosity found there. With regard to the medieval tradition, in addition to any number of theological issues, medieval mysticism, medieval art, the medieval church, troubadour poetry and the monastic movement were all themes that exercised Kierkegaard during different periods of his life. Although far from uncritical, he seems at times to idolize both the Patristic tradition and the Middle Ages as contrastive terms to the corrupt and decadent modern world with its complacent Christianity. While he clearly regards the specific forms of this Medieval appropriation of Christianity to be misguided, he is nonetheless positively disposed toward the general understanding of it as something to be lived and realized by each individual.

Beatific Enjoyment in Medieval Scholastic Debates examines the religious concept of enjoyment as discussed by scholastic theologians in the Latin Middle Ages. Severin Kitanov argues that central to the concept of beatific enjoyment (fruitio beatifica) is the distinction between the terms enjoyment and use (frui et uti) found in Saint Augustine's treatise On Christian Learning. Peter Lombard, a twelfth-century Italian theologian, chose the enjoyment of God to serve as an opening topic of his Sentences and thereby set in motion an enduring scholastic discourse. Kitanov examines the nature of volition and the relationship between volition and cognition. He also explores theological debates on the definition of enjoyment: whether there are different kinds and degrees of enjoyment, whether natural reason unassisted by divine revelation can demonstrate that beatific enjoyment is possible, whether beatific enjoyment is the same as pleasure, whether it has an intrinsic cognitive character, and whether the enjoyment of God in heaven is a free or un-free act. Even though the concept of beatific enjoyment is essentially religious and theological, medieval scholastic authors discussed this concept by means of Aristotle's logical and scientific apparatus and through the lens of metaphysics, physics, psychology, and virtue ethics. Bringing together Christian theological and Aristotelian scientific and philosophical approaches to enjoyment, Kitanov exposes the intricacy of the discourse and makes it intelligible for both students and scholars.

The Paget Toynbee lectures on Dante have taken place in Oxford since the mid-1990s. Named after the great medieval scholar of the first half of the twentieth century, they have been delivered by the major Dante experts of our time. This volume gathers together twelve of the most significant lectures, given by internationally renowned scholars such as Zygmunt Baranski, John Barnes, Lino Leonardi, Emilio Pasquini, Michelangelo Picone, Jonathan Usher and the late Peter Armour. The topics range from key questions such as Dante, Ovid and the poetry of exile, to ground-breaking work on obscenity in the Divine Comedy.

Alexander Broadie explains the theories of truth and validity of the great logicians of the fourteenth century. He shows how far they advanced beyond the logic of Aristotle, and reveals that much of what seems characteristically twentieth-century logic was familiar long ago. He has extensively revised his text for this second edition, while preserving the character of the first. There are now fuller accounts of supposition of intentional contexts, and of medieval syllogistics, and the conclusion has been substantially expanded.

Based on the Thomas More Lectures John Dunne delivered at Yale University in 1971, Time and Myth analyzes man's confrontation with the inevitability of death in the cultural, personal, and religious spheres, viewing each as a particular kind of myth shaped by the impact of time. With penetrating simplicity the author poses the timeless dilemma of the human condition and seeks to resolve it through stories of adventures, journeys, and voyages inspired by man's encounter with death; stories of childhood, youth, manhood, and age; and, finally, stories of God and of man wrestling with God and the unknown.

This is an exploration and analysis of Aquinas's contribution to the philosophy of religion. It examines Aquinas's contexts, his views on philosophy and theology, as well as faith and reason. His arguments for God's existence, responses to objections against God's existence and his characterization of the nature of God are examined.