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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Western philosophy, c 500 to c 1600
The old humanistic model, aiming at universalism, ecumenism, and
the globalization of various Western systems of values and beliefs,
is no longer adequate - even if it pleads for an ever-wider
inclusion of other cultural perspectives and for intercultural
dialogue. In contrast, it would be wise to retain a number of its
assumptions and practices - which it incidentally shares with
humanistic models outside the Western world. We must now reconsider
and remap it in terms of a larger, global reference frame. This
anthology does just that, thus contributing to a new field of study
and practice that could be called intercultural humanism.
In The Metaphysics of the Material World, Tad M. Schmaltz traces a
particular development of the metaphysics of the material world in
early modern thought. The route Schmaltz follows derives from a
critique of Spinoza in the work of Pierre Bayle. Bayle charged in
particular that Spinoza's monistic conception of the material world
founders on the account of extension and its "modes" and parts that
he inherited from Descartes, and that Descartes in turn inherited
from late scholasticism, and ultimately from Aristotle. After an
initial discussion of Bayle's critique of Spinoza and its relation
to Aristotle's distinction between substance and accident, this
study starts with the original re-conceptualization of Aristotle's
metaphysics of the material world that we find in the work of the
early modern scholastic Suarez. What receives particular attention
is Suarez's introduction of the "modal distinction" and his
distinctive account of the Aristotelian accident of "continuous
quantity." This examination of Suarez is followed by a treatment of
the connections of his particular version of the scholastic
conception of the material world to the very different conception
that Descartes offered. Especially important is Descartes's view of
the relation of extended substance both to its modes and to the
parts that compose it. Finally, there is a consideration of what
these developments in Suarez and Descartes have to teach us about
Spinoza's monistic conception of the material world. Of special
concern here is to draw on this historical narrative to provide a
re-assessment of Bayle's critique of Spinoza.
Etienne Gilson (1884-1978) was a French philosopher and historian
of philosophy, as well as a scholar of medieval philosophy. In 1946
he attained the distinction of being elected an ""Immortal""
(member) of the Academie francaise. He was nominated for the Nobel
Prize in Literature in 1959 and 1964. The appearance of Gilson's
Metamorphosis of the City of God, which were originally delivered
as lectures at the University of Louvain, Belgium, in the Spring of
1952, coincided with the first steps toward what would become the
European Union. The appearance of this English translation
coincides with the upheaval of Brexit. Gilson traces the various
attempts of thinkers through the centuries to describe Europe's
soul and delimit its parts. The Scots, Catalonians, Flemings, and
probably others may nod in agreement in Gilson's observation on how
odd would be a Europe composed of the political entities that
existed two and a half centuries ago. Those who think the European
Union has lost its soul may not be comforted by the difficulty
thinkers have had over the centuries in defining that soul. Indeed
the difficulties that have thus far prevented integrating Turkey
into the EU confirm Gilson's description of the conundrum involved
even in distinguishing Europe's material components. And yet, the
endeavor has succeeded, so that the problem of shared ideals remain
inescapable. One wonders which of the thinkers in the succession
studied by Gilson might grasp assent and illuminate the EU's path.
Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy showcases the best scholarly
research in this flourishing field. The series covers all aspects
of medieval philosophy, including the Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew
traditions, and runs from the end of antiquity into the
Renaissance. It publishes new work by leading scholars in the
field, and combines historical scholarship with philosophical
acuteness. The papers will address a wide range of topics, from
political philosophy to ethics, and logic to metaphysics. OSMP is
an essential resource for anyone working in the area.
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.
Five hundred years before “Jabberwocky” and Tender Buttons,
writers were already preoccupied with the question of nonsense. But
even as the prevalence in medieval texts of gibberish, babble,
birdsong, and allusions to bare voice has come into view in recent
years, an impression persists that these phenomena are exceptions
that prove the rule of the period’s theologically motivated
commitment to the kernel of meaning over and against the shell of
the mere letter. This book shows that, to the contrary, the
foundational object of study of medieval linguistic thought was vox
non-significativa, the utterance insofar as it means nothing
whatsoever, and that this fact was not lost on medieval writers of
various kinds. In a series of close and unorthodox readings of
works by Priscian, Boethius, Augustine, Walter Burley, Geoffrey
Chaucer, and the anonymous authors of the Cloud of Unknowing and
St. Erkenwald, it inquires into the way that a number of
fourteenth-century writers recognized possibilities inherent in the
accounts of language transmitted to them from antiquity and
transformed those accounts into new ideas, forms, and practices of
non-signification. Retrieving a premodern hermeneutics of obscurity
in order to provide materials for an archeology of the category of
the literary, Medieval Nonsense shows how these medieval linguistic
textbooks, mystical treatises, and poems were engineered in such a
way as to arrest the faculty of interpretation and force it to
focus on the extinguishing of sense that occurs in the encounter
with language itself.
Leo Bersani, known for his provocative interrogations of
psychoanalysis, sexuality, and the human body, centers his latest
book on a surprisingly simple image: a newborn baby simultaneously
crying out and drawing its first breath. These twin
ideas--absorption and expulsion, the intake of physical and
emotional nourishment and the exhalation of breath--form the
backbone of Receptive Bodies, a thoughtful new essay collection.
These titular bodies range from fetuses in utero to fully
eroticized adults, all the way to celestial giants floating in
space. Bersani illustrates his exploration of the body's capacities
to receive and resist what is ostensibly alien using a typically
eclectic set of sources, from literary icons like Marquis de Sade
to cinematic provocateurs such as Bruno Dumont and Lars von Trier.
This sharp and wide-ranging book will excite scholars of Freud,
Foucault, and film studies, or anyone who has ever stopped to
ponder the give and take of human corporeality.
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.
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.
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.
John Perry revisits the cast of characters of his classic A
Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality in this absorbing
dialogue on consciousness. Cartesian dualism, property dualism,
materialism, the problem of other minds . . . Gretchen Weirob and
her friends tackle these topics and more in a dialogue that
exemplifies the subtleties and intricacies of philosophical
reflection. Once again, Perry's ability to use straightforward
language to discuss complex issues combines with his mastery of the
dialogue form. A Bibliography lists relevant further readings keyed
to topics discussed in the dialogue. A helpful Glossary provides a
handy reference to terms used in the dialogue and an array of
clarifying examples.
The first comprehensive one-volume collection of St.Thomas More's
writing "[A] tremendous scholarly undertaking. . . . Accessible and
transparent to both scholars and the general audience."-Renaissance
and Reformation In this book, Wegemer and Smith assemble More's
most important English and Latin works for the first time in a
single volume. This volume reveals the breadth of More's writing
and includes a rich selection of illustrations and artwork. The
book provides the most complete picture of More's work available,
serving as a major resource for early modern scholars, teachers,
students, and the general reader.
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