From Paradise to Paradigm

A Study of Twelfth-Century Humanism
Erscheinungsjahr 2004
ISBN: 978-90-04-14061-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 127, 336 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 246 mm, Gewicht: 757 g

Reihe: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History

This book presents a study of twelfth-century humanism seen as an all-embracing discourse in which the human and the divine interact on equal terms. The book focuses on a number of twelfth-century intellectuals, especially Thierry of Chartres, Peter Abelard, William of Conches, Bernard Silvestris, and Alan of Lille. Defining characteristic of their texts is the fact that God, nature and humanity enter into a trialogue of sorts involving many disparate subjects and aiming to bring out the archetypal relatedness of all kinds of knowledge with respect to human nature. As the authors studied here engage the divine and the universe in a joint conversation, the book ultimately concentrates on trying both to understand its appeal and to explain its subsequent demise.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Otten, Willemien

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Systematische Theologie Christliche Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Mittelalterliche & Scholastische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements
Preface

Understanding Medieval Humanism

1. From Paradise to Paradigm. An Introduction to the Problem of Twelfth-Century Humanism
2. Nature and Scripture: Tale of a Medieval Analogy and Its Demise
3. Opening the Universe: William of Conches and the Art of Science
4. Opening the Mind: Peter Abelard and the Makeover of Traditional Theology
5. Fortune or Failure: the Problem of Grace, Free Will and Providence in Peter Abelard
6. Tragedy in the Twelfth-Century Rhetorical Imagination: Bernard Silvestris on Suicide
7. Conclusion. From Adam’s Fall to Nature’s Tear and Beyond: Paradise and Its Discontent

List of Abbreviations
Latin Appendix

Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Subjects

Über Autor(innen)

Willemien Otten, Ph.D. (1989) in Theology, University of Amsterdam, is currently Professor of the History of Christianity and Dean of Theology at Utrecht University. Her publications focus on early Christian and medieval theology and intellectual culture, especially on John Scottus Eriugena.