The Self in Premodern Thought

From Antiquity to the Renaissance in Europe
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-009-56838-8
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Gewicht: 500 g

The Self in Premodern Thought reconfigures the historical study of the self, which has typically been treated in disciplinary silos. Bringing multiple disciplinary perspectives into conversation with each other, it broadens the discussion to include texts and forms of writing outside the standard philosophical/theological canon. A distinguished group of contributors, from philosophy, classics, theology, history, and comparative literature, explores a wide range of texts that greatly expand our understanding of how selfhood was conceived in the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods. The essays in this groundbreaking collection range from challenging new perspectives on well-known authors and texts, such as Plato and Augustine, to innovative explorations of forms of writing that have rarely been discussed in this context, such as drama, sermons, autobiographical writing, and liturgy.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bermúdez, José Luis

Conybeare, Catherine

Inhaltsverzeichnis

The self in premodern thought: from antiquity to the renaissance in Europe José Luis Bermúdez and Catherine Conybeare (eds.); 1. Introduction José Luis Bermúdez and Catherine Conybeare; 2. Framing (some) self in the Platonic dialogues M. M. McCabe; 3. Aristotle's multiple selves José Luis Bermúdez; 4. Self-harm and the death drive Simon Goldhill; 5. Augustine and the origins of the self Catherine Conybeare; 6. The Sinful self: formation and transformation Abigail Firey; 7. Turning inward and outward: two medieval approaches to the self Dominik Perler; 8. The Hesychast self: interiority and embodied perfection in the anthropology of Gregory Palamas Alexis Torrance; 9. Renaissance individualism revisited: Petrarch, Boccaccio, and the emergence of the humanist relational self Gur Zak; 10. Free will a fortress: the self in Spanish renaissance drama Hilaire Kallendorf; 11. Beyond consciousness: Locke's sources for the self Patrick J. Connolly; 12. A Decaying Carcass? Mary Astell on the body Colin Chamberlain.

Über Autor(innen)

Conybeare, Catherine
Catherine Conybeare is Leslie Clark Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies at Bryn Mawr College. She has received numerous awards and fellowships, including from the Guggenheim Foundation. Her interest in interiority and the self led to a Guidebook to Augustine's Confessions (2016), while her most recent book is Augustine the African (2025).

Bermúdez, José Luis
José Luis Bermúdez is Professor of Philosophy and Charles H. Gregory '64 Chair in Arts and Sciences at Texas A & M University. His many books include The Paradox of Self-Consciousness (2000), Understanding 'I': Language and Thought (2017), and The Bodily Self (2018). He has a longstanding interest in the history of philosophy, particularly classical, and his most recent book is Aristotle's De Anima: A Guide (2025).