Pagans and Philosophers: The Problem of Paganism from Augustine to Leibniz

From the turn of the fifth century to the beginning of the eighteenth, Chri stian writers were fascinated and troubled by the "Problem of Paganism," wh ich this book identifies and examines for the first time. How could the wis dom and virtue of the great thinkers of antiquity be reconciled with the fa ct that they were pagans and, many thought, damned Related questions were raised by encounters with contemporary pagans in northern Europe, Mongolia, and, later, America and China. Pagans and Philosophers explores how writersphilosophers and theologians , but also poets such as Dante, Chaucer, and Langland, and travelers such a s Las Casas and Riccitackled the Problem of Paganism. Augustine and Boet hius set its terms, while Peter Abelard and John of Salisbury were importan t early advocates of pagan wisdom and virtue. University theologians such a s Aquinas, Scotus, Ockham, and Bradwardine, and later thinkers such as Fici no, Valla, More, Bayle, and Leibniz, explored the difficulty in depth. Mean while, Albert the Great inspired Boethius of Dacia and others to create a r elativist conception of scientific knowledge that allowed Christian teacher s to remain faithful Aristotelians. At the same time, early anthropologists such as John of Piano Carpini, John Mandeville, and Montaigne developed ot her sorts of relativism in response to the issue. A sweeping and original account of an important but neglected chapter in We stern intellectual history, Pagans and Philosophers provides a new perspect ive on nothing less than the entire period between the classical and the mo dern world. Editorial Reviews Review One of Choice's Outstandi.

Product Info

ISBN: 0691142556

ISBN-13: 9780691142555

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Year: 2015

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

Seller Info

InfinityBooksJapan

Address: 1F Komagata Heights Bldg Tokyo,

Website: https://www.infinitybooksjapan.com

Country: Japan