This book is the first systematic study of Descartes' relationship to Augustine. It offers a complete reevaluation of Descartes' thought and as such will be of major importance to all historians of medieval, neo-Platonic, or early modern philosophy. Special features include a reading of the Meditations, a comprehensive historical and philosophical introduction to Augustine's thought, a detailed account of Plotinus, and a contextualization of Descartes' mature philosophical project.

The three ancient commentaries on Aristotle's On the Soul (De anima) are interesting because the commentators, as neo-Platonists, understand the soul completely differently than Aristotle. For them, the soul is the inseperable life principle of the body, a spiritual entity. In response to this challenge, the commentator Priscian (ca. 530 AD) develops the most detailed antique theory of human self-consciousness, which is reconstructed here for the first time.

Adam Smith's major work of 1759 develops the foundation for a general system of morals, and is a text of central importance in the history of moral and political thought. Through the idea of sympathy and the mental construct of an impartial spectator, Smith formulated highly original theories of conscience, moral judgment and the virtues. This volume offers a new edition of the text with helpful notes for the student reader, and a substantial introduction that establishes the work in its philosophical and historical context.

This book of fifteen essays is presented in honor of one of the premier historians of medieval philosophy, Armand Maurer of the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies and the University of Toronto. The authors, internationally recognized scholars in the field of medieval philosophy and theology, are friends, colleagues, and students of Fr. Maurer. They are united in a common love of medieval thought and a common appreciation of philosophizing through the study of the history of philosophy. Their interests and methodologies, however, are diverse, and cover a range from Justin Marytr, who died during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, to Bartholomew Mastrius, a contemporary of Descartes. The contributions are arranged chronologically, beginning with John Rist's essay on Christian philosophy during the patristic era. Richard Taylor demonstrates the importance of Arabic philosophical thought for the Latin West during the scholastic era, which began in the thirteenth century. R. James Long treats the early scholastics Richard Fishacre and Richard Rufus. Following Maurer's central interest, the majority of the essays (by R. E. Houser, Leo Elders, Lawrence Dewan, David B. Twetten, Mary C. Sommers, and James P. Reilly) treat aspects of the thought of Thomas Aquinas. But just as Maurer did not confine himself to Aquinas, this volume reaches out to other thirteenth-century figures and topics. John Wippel looks at Godfrey of Fontaines, Timothy B. Noone studies the Franciscans Matthew of Aquasparta and Peter John Olivi, and Stephen Brown adds the Franciscan Peter of Candia. Reflecting Maurer's own interests in fourteenth-century philosophy are the contributions of Calvin Normore on logic and Girard Etzkorn on the Franciscan Francis of Mayronis. The essay by Norman Wells focuses on the Franciscan Batholomew Mastrius. The volume concludes with a wonderful autobiography of his education by Maurer himself and a biliography of Maurer's writings.

This monograph is a critical and historical account of Aristotelian essentialism and modal logic. In Chapter One, ancient and contemporary interpretations and claims of inconsistency in Aristotle's modal syllogistic are examined. A more consistent model is developed through attention to Aristotle's comments on negation. In Chapter Two, proofs for each of the mixed apodictic syllogisms are analyzed and diagrammed. Chapter Three explores how Aristotle's modal metaphysics fits within the context of the Posterior Analytics. Chapter Four contrasts Aristotelian modal logic to contemporary modal metaphysics and argues for ways in which a return to Aristotle may spark intriguing thought in contemporary discussions of the philosophy of science and in debate over the metaphysics of identity.

Biomedical ethics raises a host of humanistic issues. Among these are human dignity, personal autonomy, quality of life, and access to care for all. Now, more than ever, scientific discoveries and medical technologies prompt us to rethink older perspectives. Humanists have an unprecedented opportunity to shape the moral agenda of the future. In this collection of thoughtful articles from the Humanist Institute, humanist scholars from various fields explore a number of critical issues in bioethics. The moral status of the human embryo, scientific medicine versus Eastern concepts of caregiving, the human genome project, eugenics, contraception, and the economics of healthcare are just some of the topics considered in this enlightening volume. The contributors include: Berit Brogaard, Vern Bullough, Carmela Epright, Faith Lagay, Mason Olds, Howard B. Radest, Philip Regal, Andreas S. Rosenberg, Harvey Sarles, David Schafer, Robert B. Tapp, Stephen P. Weldon, and Michael Werner. For students of ethics, healthcare practitioners and policy makers, and everyone who wishes to participate intelligently in decisions involving cure and care, this work is of great value.

The long-awaited second volume of The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts offers first-time English translations of major texts in ethics and political thought from one of the most fruitful periods of speculation and analysis in the history of Western thought. The seventeen texts in this anthology offer late medieval treatments of fundamental issues in human conduct that are both conceptually subtle and of direct practical import. This is an important resource for scholars and students of medieval philosophy, history, political science, theology and literature.

Francesco Filelfo's philosophical dialogue On Exile (ca. 1440) depicts a prominent group of Florentine noblemen and humanists, driven from their city by Cosimo de' Medici, discussing the sufferings imposed by exile such as poverty and loss of reputation, and the best way to endure and even profit from them. This volume contains the first complete edition of the Latin text and the first complete translation into any modern language.

Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), humanist and colleague of Martin Luther, is best known for his educational reforms, for which he earned the title Praeceptor Germaniae (the Teacher of Germany). His most influential form of philosophical writing was the academic oration, and this volume, first published in 1999, presents a large and wide-ranging selection of his orations and textbook prefaces translated into English. They set out his views on the distinction between faith and reason, the role of philosophy in education, moral philosophy, natural philosophy, astronomy and astrology, and the importance of philosophy to a true Christian, as well as his views on Classical philosophical authorities such as Plato and Aristotle and on contemporaries such as Erasmus and Luther. Powerfully influential in their time, inspiring many Protestant students to study philosophy, mathematics and natural philosophy, they illuminate the relationship between Renaissance and Reformation thought.

Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), humanist and colleague of Martin Luther, is best known for his educational reforms, for which he earned the title Praeceptor Germaniae (the Teacher of Germany). His most influential form of philosophical writing was the academic oration, and this volume presents a large and wide-ranging selection of his orations and textbook prefaces, many of which are here translated into English for the first time. They set out his views on the distinction between faith and reason, the role of philosophy in education, moral philosophy, natural philosophy, astronomy and astrology, and the importance of philosophy to a true Christian, as well as his views on Classical philosophical authorities such as Plato and Aristotle and on contemporaries such as Erasmus and Luther. Powerfully influential in their time, inspiring many Protestant students to study philosophy, mathematics and natural philosophy, they illuminate the relationship between Renaissance and Reformation thought.

Adelard of Bath was one of the most colourful personalities of the Middle Ages. He travelled to the Crusader kingdoms, to Sicily and south Italy, and translated texts on astronomy, astrology and magic from Arabic into Latin. He acquired a lasting reputation as a pioneering mathematician, and he was a gifted teacher. He addressed one of these works, on cosmology and the astrolabe, to the future King Henry II, and it is in the context of the education of the nobility that the three works edited in this book are to be viewed. Adelard meant them to be both entertaining and instructive. They deal with all kinds of topics, from the nature of the soul to the cause of earthquakes, from the effects of music to how to train a hawk. A preface provides the results of research on Adelard's life and work.

Medieval Considerations of Incest, Marriage, and Penance focuses on the incest motif as used in numerous medieval narratives. Explaining the weakness of great rulers, such as Charlemagne, or the fall of legendary heroes, such as Arthur, incest stories also reflect on changes to the sacramental regulations and practices related to marriage and penance. Such changes demonstrate the Church's increasing authority over the daily lives and relationships of the laity. Treated here are a wide variety of medieval texts, using as a central reference point Philippe de Remi's thirteenth-century La Manekine, which presents one lay author's reflections on the role of consent in marriage, the nature of contrition and forgiveness, and even the meaning of relics. Studying a variety of genres including medieval romance, epic, miracles, and drama along with modern memoirs, films, and novels, Linda Rouillard emphasizes connections between medieval and modern social concerns. Rouillard concludes with a consideration of the legacy of the incest motif for the twenty-first century, including survivor narratives, and new incest anxieties associated with assisted reproductive technology.

Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), the Florentine scholar-philosopher-magus, was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato. The publication of his Latin translations of the dialogues in 1484 was an intellectual event of the first magnitude, making the Platonic canon accessible to western Europe after the passing of a millennium and establishing Plato as an authority for Renaissance thought. This volume contains Ficino's extended analysis and commentary on the "Phaedrus," which he explicates as a meditation on "beauty in all its forms" and a sublime work of theology. In the commentary on the "Ion," Ficino explores a poetics of divine inspiration that leads to the Neoplatonist portrayal of the soul as a rhapsode whose song is an ascent into the mind of God. Both works bear witness to Ficino's attempt to revive a Christian Platonism and what might be called an Orphic Christianity.

The Middle Ages saw a great flourishing of philosophy. Now, to help students and researchers make sense of the gargantuan-and, often, dauntingly complex-body of literature on the main traditions of thinking that stem from the Greek heritage of late antiquity, this new four-volume collection is the latest addition to Routledge's acclaimed Critical Concepts in Philosophy series. Christina Van Dyke of Calvin College, USA, and an editor of the Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy, has carefully assembled classic contributions, as well as more recent work, to create a one-stop 'mini library' of the best and most influential scholarship. With a comprehensive index and a useful synoptic introduction newly written by the editor, Medieval Philosophy will be welcomed as an indispensable resource for reference and research.

The Renaissance, known primarily for the art and literature that it produced, was also a period in which philosophical thought flourished. This two-volume anthology contains forty new translations of important works on moral and political philosophy written during the Renaissance and hitherto unavailable in English. The works, originally written in Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, and Greek, cover such topics as concepts of man; Aristotelian, Platonic, Stoic, and Epicurean ethics; scholastic political philosophy; theories of princely and republican government in Italy; and northern European political thought.

The Renaissance, known primarily for the art and literature that it produced, was also a period in which philosophical thought flourished. This two-volume anthology contains forty new translations of important works on moral and political philosophy written during the Renaissance and hitherto unavailable in English. The works, originally written in Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, and Greek, cover such topics as concepts of man; Aristotelian, Platonic, Stoic, and Epicurean ethics; scholastic political philosophy; theories of princely and republican government in Italy; and northern European political thought.

This book is a major contribution to the history of philosophy in the later medieval period (1250-1350). It focuses on cognitive theory, a subject of intense investigation during those years. In fact many of the issues that dominate philosophy of mind and epistemology today--intentionality, mental representation, skepticism, realism--were hotly debated in the later medieval period. This book offers a careful analysis of these debates, primarily through the work of Thomas Aquinas, Peter John Olivi, and Willam Ockham.

Henry of Ghent's Summa, art. 1-5, composed probably before 1276, are the opening articles of Henry's grand masterpiece, his Quaestiones ordinariae or Summa. This Summa was, from what Henry himself indicated, to be in two sections: a section De Deo and a section De creaturis, but the second part was never composed, probably due to Henry's death in 1293. What has survived is an "unfinished cathedral," as Bayerschmidt has described.

These opening articles are part of the "prolog" and they treat epistemological issues such as skepticism and the very possibility of human knowledge, divine "illustration," teaching, certitude, knowledge of non entities, the desire for knowledge, and the nature of study. This "epistemological" concern marked deeply the development of thought in the High Middle Ages and influenced the Franciscan, John Duns Scotus, and through Scotus, William of Ockham.

The text of the critical edition is reconstructed based upon a manuscript of Godfrey of Fontaines containing these articles which was willed to the Sorbonne when Godfrey died. This manuscript seems to have been composed in the very school of Henry. Other manuscripts which were used were two that may have been copied from the apograph, three copied from the first Parisian exemplar divided into pieces (peciae), and two copied from a second exemplar.

The first two decades of the twenty-first century witnessed a rapid change in Western societal acceptance of homosexual activity. This change, however, remains fundamentally unstable unless founded upon an adequate moral theory. Today many within the Western world assume that any argument against homosexual activity must be founded upon religious premises. This book questions that narrative; for the history of philosophical thought manifests a strong non-religious consensus against such practices. This book bridges the gap within current philosophical scholarship by painstakingly examining the non-religious argument as found within the great philosopher Thomas Aquinas. In the process the author advances a novel claim: the traditional account against homosexual activity also applies to untruthful assertive speech acts. Lying and homosexual activity are both wrong for mutually illuminating reasons.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is one of the most important figures of the early modern era. His plan for scientific reform played a central role in the birth of the new science. The essays in this volume offer a comprehensive survey of his writings on science, including his classifications of sciences, his theory of knowledge and of forms, his speculative philosophy, his idea of cooperative scientific research, and the providential aspects of Baconian science. There are also essays on Bacon's theory of rhetoric and history as well as on his moral and political philosophy and on his legacy.