The Italian Mind: Vernacular Logic in Renaissance Italy (1540-1551)

Description

From the twelfth to the seventeenth century, Aristotle’s writings lay at the foundation of Western culture, providing a body of knowledge and a set of analytical tools applicable to all areas of human investigation. Scholars of the Renaissance have emphasized the remarkable longevity and versatility of Aristotelianism, but they have mainly focused on the Latin tradition. Scarce, if any, attention has gone to vernacular works. Nonetheless, several important Renaissance figures wished to make Aristotle’s works accessible and available outside the narrow circle of professional philosophers and university professors to a broad set of readers. The thesis underpinning this book is that Italian vernacular Aristotelianism, especially in the field of logic, made fundamental contributions to the thought of the period, anticipating many of the features of early modern philosophy and contributing to a new conception of knowledge. Acknowledgments vii Sources and Abbreviations ix 1. Introduction 1 Logic in Context 1 Vernacular in Context 10 Prospectus 19 2. Language, Vernacular and Philosophy 23 'Res' vs. 'Verba' 23 The Shadow of Pomponazzi 31 The Accademia degli Infiammati 41 3. Sperone Speroni between Language and Logic 45 Wisdom and Eloquence 45 Speroni’s Pomponazzi 58 Speroni’s Most Loyal Disciple: Bernardino Tomitano 65 4. Benedetto Varchi and the Idea of a Vernacular Logic (1540) 71 Aristotelian Anthropology 71 Varchi’s Logical Library 79 Varchi’s Logic at the Accademia degli Infiammati 81 The Universals 106 Method and Order 111 An Anonymous Dialogue 120 5. Antonio Tridapale and the First Vernacular Logic (1547) 127 Antonio Tridapale and Knowledge as Power 127 The Elements of Logic 133 The Operations of Logic 142 6. Nicolò Massa’s Logic for Natural Philosophy (1549) 154 Nicolò Massa between Philosophy and Medicine 154 The Elements of Argumentation 158 Scientific Demonstration 168 7. Alessandro Piccolomini’s Instrument of Philosophy (1551) 175 Piccolomini in Padua 175 A New Instrument 186 The Structure of Logic 195 Logic for Natural Philosophy 205 8. Conclusion 213 Vernacular and Logic 213 The Logician in the Printing Presses 219 Bibliography 229 Index 241