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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Western philosophy, c 500 to c 1600 > General
Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) was arguably the single most important
Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, with an impact on the later
Jewish tradition that was unparalleled by any of his
contemporaries. In this volume of new essays, world-leading
scholars address themes relevant to his philosophical outlook,
including his relationship with his Islamicate surroundings and the
impact of his work on subsequent Jewish and Christian writings, as
well as his reception in twentieth-century scholarship. The essays
also address the nature and aim of Maimonides' philosophical
writing, including its connection with biblical exegesis, and the
philosophical and theological arguments that are central to his
work, such as revelation, ritual, divine providence, and teleology.
Wide-ranging and fully up-to-date, the volume will be highly
valuable for those interested in Jewish history and thought,
medieval philosophy, and religious studies.
Born near Einsiedeln in 1493, Philip Theophrastus von Hohenheim,
who later called himself Paracelsus, was the son of a physician.
His thirst for knowledge led him to study arts in Vienna, then
medicine in Italy, but the instruction left him disillusioned. He
had learned to see nature with his own eyes, undiluted by the
teachings of books. He was a rebellious spirit, hard-headed and
stubborn, who travelled all over Europe and the British Isles to
practice medicine, study local diseases, and learn from any source
he could, humble as it might be. In these years of wanderings,
Paracelsus developed his own system of medicine and a philosophy of
theology all his own. Though he wrote a great many books that
covered a wide range of subjects, only a few of his works were ever
published in his lifetime. When he died in Salzburg in 1541, one of
the most forceful personalities of the Renaissance died with
him.
Here are collected four treatises which illustrate four
different aspects of Paracelsus' work. The first gives a passionate
justification of his character, activities, and views, and gives a
picture of the man and his basic ideas. The second treatise is a
study of the diseases of miners, with whom Paracelsus had spent a
great deal of time. Then follows a treatise on the psychology and
psychiatry of Paracelsus. Written at a time when mental diseases
were beginning to be studied and treated by physicians, this
pioneering essay anticipates a number of modern views. The last
essay, entitled "A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and
Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits," is a fanciful and poetic
treatment of paganism and Greek mythology, as well as a good sample
of Paracelsus' philosophy and theology. Together these essays show
one of the most original minds of the Renaissance at the height of
his powers.
In her never-finished My Life's Travels and Adventures, the
eighteenth-century Polish doctor Regina Salomea Pilsztynowa plays a
myriad of roles, including child bride, wife, mother, lover,
adventuress, slave trader, writer, and home-taught physician. She
successfully carved out a viable niche for herself, navigating the
multicultural, multiethnic, and varied religious environment of
Europe's eastern periphery. Despite limited expectations for female
professionals, she became a highly sought after and well-respected
practitioner of the medical arts and rose to the position of court
physician to Turkish pashas and Hungarian princes, and even to
Sultan Mustafa III. My Life's Travels and Adventures-part memoir,
part autobiography, and part travelogue-provides a view into
eighteenth-century social, professional, and gender interactions
and weaves a rich narrative replete with vignettes of love, travel,
and popular superstitions important to our historical,
ethnographic, and religious understanding of the era. This edition
brings the entirety of this personal and idiosyncratic memoir to
English for the first time.
"In one fashion or another, the question with which this
introduction begins is a question for every serious reader of
Plato's Republic Of what use is this philosophy to me? Averroes
clearly finds that the Republic speaks to his own time and to his
own situation. . . . Perhaps the greatest use he makes of the
Republic is to understand better the shari'a itself. . . . It is
fair to say that in deciding to paraphrase the Republic, Averroes
is asserting that his world the world defined and governed by the
Koran can profit from Plato's instruction." from Ralph Lerner s
Introduction
An indispensable primary source in medieval political philosophy
is presented here in a fully annotated translation of the
celebrated discussion of the Republic by the twelfth-century
Andalusian Muslim philosopher, Abu'l-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn
Rushd, also know by his his Latinized name, Averroes. This work
played a major role in both the transmission and the adaptation of
the Platonic tradition in the West. In a closely argued critical
introduction, Ralph Lerner addresses several of the most important
problems raised by the work."
Machiavelli has been among the most commented upon, criticized and
feared thinkers of the modern world. Infamous for his support of
brutality and repression as valid political instruments, he is
often portrayed as the pantomime villain of political theorists. In
this whirlwind tour of Machiavelli's writings and eventful life,
Nederman highlights the complexities in his thought, showing that
he actually advocated democracy as much as dictatorship, debate as
much as violence, depending upon prevailing political conditions.
A provocative work that explores the evolution of emotions and personal relationships through diverse cultures and time. "An intellectually dazzling view of our past and future."--Time magazine
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Utopia
(Hardcover)
Thomas More; Translated by Dominic Baker-Smith
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In Utopia, Thomas More gives us a traveller's account of a newly
discovered island where the inhabitants enjoy a social order based
on natural reason and justice, and human fulfilment is open to all.
As the traveller, Raphael, describes the island to More, a bitter
contrast is drawn between this rational society and the
custom-driven practices of Europe. So how can the philosopher try
to reform his society? In his fictional discussion, More takes up a
question first raised by Plato and which is still a challenge in
the contemporary world. In the history of political thought few
works have been more influential than Utopia, and few more
misunderstood.
William of Ockham (d. 1347) was among the most influential and the
most notorious thinkers of the late Middle Ages. In the
twenty-seven questions translated in this volume, most never before
published in English, he considers a host of theological and
philosophical issues, including the nature of virtue and vice, the
relationship between the intellect and the will, the scope of human
freedom, the possibility of God's creating a better world, the role
of love and hatred in practical reasoning, whether God could
command someone to do wrong, and more. In answering these
questions, Ockham critically engages with the ethical thought of
such predecessors as Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and John
Duns Scotus. Students and scholars of both philosophy and
historical theology will appreciate the accessible translations and
ample explanatory notes on the text.
Giordano Bruno’s Cabala del cavallo pegaseo (The Cabala of
Pegasus) grew out of the great Italian philosopher’s experiences
lecturing and debating at Oxford in early 1584. Having received a
cold reception there because of his viewpoints, Bruno went on in
the Cabala to attack the narrow-mindedness of the university--and
by extension, all universities that resisted his advocacy of
intellectual freethinking. The Cabala of Pegasus consists of
vernacular dialogues that turn on the identification of the noble
Pegasus (the spirit of poetry) and the humble ass (the vehicle of
divine revelation). In the interplay of these ideas, Bruno explores
the nature of poetry, divine authority, secular learning, and
Pythagorean metempsychosis, which had great influence on James
Joyce and many other writers and artists from the Renaissance to
the modern period. This book, the first English translation of The
Cabala of Pegasus, contains both the English and Italian versions
as well as helpful annotations. It will have particular appeal to
all Renaissance scholars and those interested in the Renaissance
cabalistic underpinnings of modern literature.
The new Companion to Erasmus in the Renaissance Society of
America’s Texts and Studies Series draws on the insights of an
international team of distinguished experts whose contributions are
arrayed in eleven chapters followed by a detailed chronological
catalogue of Erasmus’ works and an up-to-date bibliography of
secondary sources. The ambition of this companion is to illuminate
every aspect of Erasmus’ life, work, and legacy while providing
an expert synthesis of the most inspiring research in the field.
This volume will be of invaluable assistance to students and
teachers working in any of the numerous disciplines to which
Erasmus devoted his tireless efforts, including philosophy,
religion, history, rhetoric, education, and the history of the
book.
In contemporary discussions of abortion, both sides argue well-worn
positions, particularly concerning the question, When does human
life begin? Though often invoked by the Catholic Church for
support, Thomas Aquinas in fact held that human life begins after
conception, not at the moment of union. But his overall thinking on
questions of how humans come into being, and cease to be, is more
subtle than either side in this polarized debate imagines. Fabrizio
Amerini--an internationally renowned scholar of medieval
philosophy--does justice to Aquinas's views on these controversial
issues. Some pro-life proponents hold that Aquinas's position is
simply due to faulty biological knowledge, and if he knew what we
know today about embryology, he would agree that human life begins
at conception. Others argue that nothing Aquinas could learn from
modern biology would have changed his mind. Amerini follows the
twists and turns of Aquinas's thinking to reach a nuanced and
detailed solution in the final chapters that will unsettle familiar
assumptions and arguments. Systematically examining all the
pertinent texts and placing each in historical context, Amerini
provides an accurate reconstruction of Aquinas's account of the
beginning and end of human life and assesses its bioethical
implications for today. This major contribution is available to an
English-speaking audience through translation by Mark Henninger,
himself a noted scholar of medieval philosophy.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), the great Renaissance skeptic and
pioneer of the essay form, is known for his innovative method of
philosophical inquiry which mixes the anecdotal and the personal
with serious critiques of human knowledge, politics and the law. He
is the first European writer to be intensely interested in the
representations of his own intimate life, including not just his
reflections and emotions but also the state of his body. His
rejection of fanaticism and cruelty and his admiration for the
civilizations of the New World mark him out as a predecessor of
modern notions of tolerance and acceptance of otherness. In this
volume an international team of contributors explores the range of
his philosophy and also examines the social and intellectual
contexts in which his thought was expressed.
The Late Scholastics, writing in Europe in the Baroque and Early
Modern periods, discussed a wide variety of moral questions
relating to political life in times of both peace and war. Is it
ever permissible to bribe voters? Can tax evasion be morally
justified? What are the moral duties of artists? Is it acceptable
to fight in a war one believes to be unjust? May we surrender
innocents to the enemy if it is necessary to save the state? These
questions are no less relevant for philosophers and politicians
today than they were for late scholastic thinkers. By bringing into
play the opinions and arguments of numerous authors, many of them
little known or entirely forgotten, this book is the first to
provide an in-depth treatment of the dynamic and controversial
nature of late scholastic applied moral thinking which demonstrates
its richness and diversity.
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