Rethinking Virtue, Reforming Society: New Directions in Renaissance Ethics, c.1350 - c.1650

Description

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. Front Matter ("Contents", "Illustration", "Preface"), p. i Free Access Introduction, p. 1 David A. Lines https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00037 Part I. Contexts Sources for Ethics in the Renaissance: The Expanding Canon, p. 29 David A. Lines, Jill Kraye https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00038 From Schools to Courts: Renaissance Ethics in Context, p. 57 David A. Lines https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00039 Renaissance Ethics and the European Reformations, p. 81 Risto Saarinen https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00040 Part II. Approaches and Genres The Method of Moral Philosophy in Renaissance Humanism, p. 107 Eckhard Kessler https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00041 Renaissance Readings of the Nicomachean Ethics, p. 131 Luca Bianchi https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00042 Morals Stored and Ready for Use, p. 169 Ann Moss https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00043 Informal Ethics in the Renaissance, p. 189 Peter Mack https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00044 Biography as a Genre of Moral Philosophy, p. 215 Alison K. Frazier https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00045 Part III. Themes Happiness, p. 243 Antonino Poppi https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00046 Passions for this Life, p. 277 Sabrina Ebbersmeyer https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00047 Virtue of the Prince, Virtue of the Subject, p. 305 Ullrich Langer https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00048 Epilogue: After Renaissance Ethics, p. 327 Sabrina Ebbersmeyer https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.4.00049 Back Matter ("Index"), p. 337