Customer Reviews

Eight Philosophers of the Italian Renaissance

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This was a solid introduction to the thought and philosophy of the Italian Renaissance. We are introduced to each of the following men who all had a significant influence on the era:

Francis Petrarch
Lorenzo Valla
Marsilio Ficino
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Pietro Pomponazzi
Bernardino Telesio
Francesco Patrizi
Giordano Bruno

The book was published in 1964, but seems not to have lost any relevance with age. The book is concise, with each individual garnering around 20 pages of treatment. I must confess to reading in full only the chapters on the first four gentlemen, as was required of me for class. The rest I skimmed through.

Renaissance humanism was not, as sometimes thought, a movement simply inclined towards human values (as opposed to metaphysical values), but it was essentially a study of the humanities. Instead of simply science and theology, the humanists concentrated on things like rhetoric, philosophy, literature and history. Most humanists remained dedicated believers. Many of the men in question spent much time researching and translating ancient Greek and Latin works, a subject that was missing throughout much of the medieval era. This includes the writings of Plato and Arisotle which figured heavily in the thought and debates of the Renaissance era. My personal favorite would have to be Lorenzo Valla, largely because in his debate on Epicureanism versus Stoicism, he comes down on the side of the former.