Rethinking Virtue, Reforming Society: New Directions in Renaissance Ethics, c.1350-c.1650 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9782503525242)

Moral philosophy, and particularly ethics, was among the most contested disciplines in the Renaissance, as philosophers, theologians, and literary scholars all laid claim to it, while an expanding canon of sources made the ground shift under their feet. In this volume, eleven specialists drawn from literature, intellectual history, philosophy, and religious studies examine the configuration of ethics and how it changed in the period from Petrarch to Descartes. They show that the contexts in which ethics was explored, the approaches taken to it, and the conclusions it reached make Renaissance ethics something worthy of exploration in its own right, in distinction to both medieval and early modern ethics. Particular attention is given to the development of new audiences, settings, genres (essays, dialogues, commonplace books, biographies, short fiction), and mediums (especially the vernacular) in ethical discussions, as well as the continuities with the formal exploration of ethics through commentaries. Renaissance ethics emerges as a highly eclectic product, which combined Christian insights with the Aristotelian and Platonic traditions while increasingly incorporating elements from Stoicism and Epicureanism. This volume will be of particular interest to students and researchers who wish to gain an overall view of how ethics developed throughout Europe in response to the cultural, historical, and religious changes between 1350 and 1650.

Author: David A. Lines
ISBN-10: 2503525245
ISBN-13: 9782503525242
Publisher: Brepols Publishers
Language: English
Published: 05/28/2013
Pages: 364
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.65lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.30w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2014