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Hegel's lectures have had as great a historical impact as the works he himself published. Important elements of his system are elaborated only in the lectures, especially those given in Berlin during the last decade of his life. The original editors conflated materials from different sources and dates, obscuring the development and logic of Hegel's thought. The Hegel Lectures series is based on a selection of extant and recently discovered transcripts and manuscripts. The original lecture series are reconstructed so that the structure of Hegel's argument can be followed. Each volume presents an accurate new translation accompanied by an editorial introduction and annotations on the text, which make possible the identification of Hegel's many allusions and sources. Hegel's interpretation of the history of philosophy not only played a central role in the shaping of his own thought, but also has had a great influence on the development of historical thinking. In his own view the study of the history of philosophy is the study of philosophy itself. This explains why such a large proportion of his lectures, from 1805 to 1831, the year of his death, were about history of philosophy. The text of these lectures, presented here in the first authoritative English edition, is therefore a document of the greatest importance in the development of Western thought: they constitute the very first comprehensive history of philosophy that treats philosophy itself as undergoing genuine historical development. And they are crucial for understanding Hegel's own systematic works such as the Phenomenology, the Logic, and the Encyclopedia, for central to his thought is the theme of spirit as engaged in self-realization through the processes of historical change. Furthermore, they played a crucial role in one of the determining events of modern intellectual history: the rise of a new consciousness of human life, culture, and intellect as historical in nature. This third volume of the lectures covers the medieval and modern periods, and includes fascinating discussion of scholastic, Renaissance, and Reformation philosophy, and of such great modern thinkers as Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, and especially Kant. ... Read more

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This volume examines the sources, content and fate of the 15th century allegorical fable "Vision Deleytable" from three angles: as a medieval compendium of religious philosophy, a major influence in Spanish literature and a historical resource on Jewish-Christian interactions in medieval Spain. It is divided into three sections. The first part considers "Vision"'s didacticism within the Jewish and Christian frames of education in 15th century Spain. The second part reviews "Vision"'s philosophical content in comprehensive articulation of a rationalist "Weltanschauung". The final section traces its editorial fate and literary influence through the 17th century in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. ... Read more

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Although Islamic philosophy represents one of the most important philosophical traditions in the world, it has only relatively recently begun to receive attention in the non-Islamic world. This is a new edition of a successful introductory book, expanded and updated to take account of recent scholarship. It focuses on what is regarded as Islamic philosophy's golden age, and will appeal to students and to any general reader interested in this philosophical tradition. ... Read more

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Focusing on individuals whose ideas shaped intellectual life between 400 and 1500, Fifty Key Medieval Thinkers is an accessible introduction to those religious, philosophical and political concepts central to the medieval worldview.Including such diverse figures as Bede and Wyclif, each entry presents a biographical outline, a list of works and a summary of their main theories, alongside suggestions for further reading.Chronologically arranged, and with an introductory essay which presents important themes in context, this volume is an invaluable reference tool for all students of Medieval Europe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

immensely helpful
It can be very difficult to get a grasp on the roughly 1,000 years that make up the Medieval period, but this book is a great peek at some of the period's most influential thinkers. These 50 people have all in some way laid the intellectual foundation for the rest of Western Civilization and Evans gives a great primer into their world, their lives, and their minds.

This book should is a reference book and should be read in conjunction with a solid history of the Middle Ages, especially those focusing on the intellectual history of the era. ... Read more

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John Wyclif (d.1384) has too frequently been described as "Morning Star of the Reformation" and only recently begun to be studied as a fourteenth-century English philosopher and theologian. This work draws on recent scholarship situating Wyclif in his fourteenth-century milieu to present a survey of his thought and writings as a coherent theological position arising from Oxford's "Golden Age" of theology.

Lahey argues that many of Wyclif's best known critiques of the fourteenth-century Church arise from his philosophical commitment to an Augustinian realism evocative of the thought of Robert Grosseteste and Anselm of Canterbury. This realism is comprehensible in terms of Wyclif's sustained focus on semantics and the properties of terms and propositions, a "linguistic turn" characterizing post-Ockham philosophical theology. Arising from this propositional realism is a strong emphasis on the place of Scripture in both formal and applied theology, which was the starting point for many of Wyclif's quarrels with the ecclesiastical status quo in late fourteenth-century England.

This survey takes into account both Wyclif's earlier, philosophical works and his later works, including sermons and Scripture commentary. Wyclif's belief that Scripture is the eternal and perfect divine word, the paradigm of human discourse and the definitive embodiment of truth in creation is central to an understanding of the ties he believes relate theoretical and practical philosophy to theology. This connection links Wyclif's interest in the propositional structure of reality to his realism, his hermeneutic program, and to his agenda for reform of the Church. Lahey's survey also highlights Wyclif's rejection of Bradwardine's determinism in favor of a model of human freedom in light of God's perfect foreknowledge, and also explores the relation of Wyclif's spatiotemporal atomism to his rejection of transubstantiation. This is the first book-length, comprehensive survey of Wyclif's thought, and will be of interest to students of later medieval theology, philosophy, history, and literature. ... Read more

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Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), an important figure in her own time, has come increasingly to critical attention in recent years. Cause et Cure, attributed to Hildegard, is both a cosmological text and a medical handbook; it is a densely layered work woven together from diverse threads. It begins with a chapter on cosmology which leads to consideration of the human being as a small-scale copy of the universe. From here the focus shifts to the diseases and disorders which afflict human beings. The sections on treatment which follow provide information on medieval pharmacology and herbal healing. The text discusses the differences between male and female, human sexuality, embryology, sleep and dreams, signs predicting death or survival, astrological influences.The Introduction sketches Hildegard's life and career, and describes the cultural context with emphasis on medieval medicine. The Interpretive Essay discusses the selections presented in translation and alerts the reader to the benefits as well as the limits of medieval health care. ... Read more

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Did god exist a thousand years ago? Atheism in The Medieval Islamic and European World discusses and analyzes the origins of questioning God and Religion in Medieval Middle Eastern and Europe literature and thought.

In the Middle East, two Medieval Texts: A Thousand and One Nights and Gurgani s Vis and Ramin are analyzed in terms of questioning God and His actions. In Europe, Dante; Abelard; Chaucer; the author of Chanson de Roland; and the author of The Pearl Poem ask similar questions. Azinfar argues that the Europeans were influenced by the religious skepticism inherent in Medieval Middle eastern texts.

Azinfar also traces the roots of the ideas of Rationalism, Existentialism, Surrealism, and Feminism from the medieval Islamic world and follows them to the Medieval West. She shows how the period which we believed was steeped in religious dogmatism is actually an analytical period, rooted in rationality, advancement of science and skepticism. Tales about knights on quests rescuing damsels actually unveil theories on questioning traditional views on the stance of religion, the possibility of the existence of a physical world, and nihilism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

failed scholarship
Catchy title, glossy image on the dust jacket, the rest is a huge disappointment. This is a Harvard dissertation, and yet it is shot-through with mistakes, signs of utter ignorance, lack of scholarship, and a complete lack of understanding of the basic concept pursued here,atheism. The author knows nothing about the Middle Ages, and has badly failed in every regard to examine the testimony alluded to. She derives all her knowledge from old, out-dated scholarship and, even worse, mostly misreads that. I have never seen such a jumble of arguments, jumps from Aristotle to Kant, with scant references to actual medieval sources, from Persia to France, from university documents to literary texts, and so forth. The author does not even know the difference between a literary text and a philosophical treatise. She writes a good English, though not particularly sophisticated. This is supposed to come from Harvard!? Oh gosh, the benchmark of serious scholarship has been lowered to the bottom, and this from a Harvard Ph.D.

An enlightening look at the past world as something other than what modern progressives would call ignorant.
The concept of Atheism - the complete denial of the existence of God - is believed to be a modern concept that didn't come along until The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. "Atheism in the Medieval, Islamic, & European World: The Influence of Persian and Arabic Ideas of Doubt and Skepticism on Medieval European Literary Thought" is an examination of the concept and its influences on the old European and Middle Eastern worlds of a thousand years ago. Examining other modern concepts alongside it- such as rationalism and feminism - it's an enlightening look at the past world as something other than what modern progressives would call ignorant. "Atheism in the Medieval, Islamic, & European World: The Influence of Persian and Arabic Ideas of Doubt and Skepticism on Medieval European Literary Thought" is highly recommended for any community library religious studies collection. ... Read more

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Representing one of the great traditions of Western philosophy, philosophy written in Arabic and in the Islamic world was inspired by Greek philosophical works and the indigenous ideas of Islamic theology. This collection of essays, by some of the leading scholars in Arabic philosophy, provides an introduction to the field by way of chapters devoted to individual thinkers (such as al-Farabi, Avicenna and Averroes) or groups, especially during the 'classical' period from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of the great philosophical traditions
It is a little known fact in the history of philosophy and ideas that many of the writings and principles that we have and consider as standard 'Western' products came to us through the Arabic traditions.In some cases, this was preservation of earlier materials (Aristotle is but the most famous example of this), but in others, the original product of the Arabic philosophers influenced mathematics, science, art, theology, and philosophy in the West in ways still being discovered.

This volume, edited by Peter Adamson and Richard Taylor, is an important contribution to re-establishing this connection and recovering lesser known traditions, as well as holding up the history of Arabic philosophy in its own right.The tradition of Arabic philosophy is almost as old as Islam itself, which established in its early days bright centres of learning and international communications that inspired a blossoming of ecumenical philosophical traditions cutting across Christian, Jewish and Muslim lines.

During the formative stage, the figure of Avicenna looms large, with his synthesis of falsafa (philosophy both Aristotelian and Neoplatonic) and kalam (Islamic doctrinal theology).The classical age of Arabic philosophy, in the ninth to twelfth centuries C.E., took advantage of their Aristotelian inheritance, preserved and commented upon by Averroes (Ibn Rushd), an Andalusian philosopher (think Spain).Other strands of thought, both more 'practical' and more mystical, are explored by the authors.Some chapters concentrate on particular time periods or historic figures, and others look more generally at topics in philosophy (logic, ethics, metaphysics, etc.) across the broader range of Islamic history.

There are also chapters on the relationship of Islamic philosophy with Jewish philosophy, with the translation (linguistic, political, theological and philosophical) into Latin, and modern trends in Islamic thought.Contributor Steven Harvey writes, 'It is not a coincidence that philosophy emerges in Islam and Judaism in the same period and in the same lands.'Many of the Jewish communities of the time were in Muslim lands; there was a large Jewish community still in Baghdad, one in Alexandria, and a growing community in Muslim-ruled Spain.Latin rulers in Europe occasionally encouraged multi-cultural connections, and in many places and times Arabic rather than Latin or Greek was the preferred 'intellectual' language, described by Charles Burnett.Finally, Hossein Ziai explores Arabic and Persian trends into philosophical development, avoiding such terms as 'mystical', 'theosophical', and 'Oriental'.He writes, 'From the sixteenth century to the present, Islamic philosophy has been dominated by a scholastic tradition that continues in its interpretation of the ideals of classical Arabic philosophy,a nd leads to the final acceptance of philosophy by religion.'Ziai writes that far from being an exclusively mystical or theologically oriented task, there is much 'genuine philosophy' being done in the tradition today.

As broad a text as this is, it is in fact just a taste of the larger body of work in Arabic philosophy.Generous bibliographic and end-notation information is provided for further research, both generally and topic-specific.There is a useful index, although one might be a bit confused at time until getting accustomed to the transliteration (theirs is a fairly comprehensible style, but still takes some adjustment to those used to other forms - they do make the concession to Western readers and leave the names of Avicenna and Averroes in their more familiar forms).

This is a fascinating text, good for the student or scholar of philosophy and the history of ideas. ... Read more

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The individual volumes of Sir Anthony Kenny's acclaimed History of Western Philosophy have been hailed as "wonderfulauthoritativehugely rewarding" (Times Higher Education Supplement) and "genial and highly accessible" (London Review of Books). Now these four splendid books have been combined into one magnificent volume, providing a continuous sweeping account of the great thought of the Western world. Here readers will find not only an authoritative guide to the history of philosophy, but also a compelling introduction to every major area of philosophical inquiry. Kenny tells the story of philosophy chronologically, his lively narrative bringing the great philosophers to life and filling in the historical and intellectual background to their work. Kenny also looks closely at each of the main areas of philosophical exploration: knowledge and understanding; science; metaphysics; mind and soul; the nature and content of morality; political philosophy; and God. A New History of Western Philosophy is a stimulating chronicle of the intellectual development of Western civilization, allowing readers to trace the birth and growth of philosophy from antiquity to the present day. ... Read more

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In this highly praised new translation of Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy, David R. Slavitt presents a graceful, accessible, and modern version for both longtime admirers of one of the great masterpieces of philosophical literature and those encountering it for the first time. Slavitt preserves the distinction between the alternating verse and prose sections in the Latin original, allowing us to appreciate the Menippian parallels between the discourses of literary and logical inquiry. His prose translations are lively and colloquial, conveying the argumentative, occasionally bantering tone of the original, while his verse translations restore the beauty and power of Boethius’s poetry. The result is a major contribution to the art of translation.

Those less familiar with Consolation may remember it was written under a death sentence. Boethius (c. 480–524), an Imperial official under Theodoric, Ostrogoth ruler of Rome, found himself, in a time of political paranoia, denounced, arrested, and then executed two years later without a trial. Composed while its author was imprisoned, cut off from family and friends, it remains one of Western literature’s most eloquent meditations on the transitory nature of earthly belongings, and the superiority of things of the mind. In an artful combination of verse and prose, Slavitt captures the energy and passion of the original. And in an introduction intended for the general reader, Seth Lerer places Boethius’s life and achievement in context.

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The Franciscan William of Ockham was an English medieval philosopher, theologian, and political theorist. Ockham is important not only in the history of philosophy and theology, but also in the development of early modern science and of modern notions of property rights and church-state relations. This volume offers a full discussion of all significant aspects of Ockham's thought: logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics and natural philosophy, epistemology, ethics, action theory, political thought and theology. It is the first study of Ockham in any language to make full use of the new critical editions of his works, and to consider recent discoveries concerning his life, education, and influences. ... Read more

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Conceived originally as a serious presentation of  the development of philosophy for Catholic  seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volume  A History Of Philosophy has  journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to  universal acclaim as the best history of  philosophy in English.

Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit  of immense erudition who once tangled with A. J.  Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of God  and the possibility of metaphysics, knew that  seminary students were fed a woefully inadequate diet  of theses and proofs, and that their familiarity  with most of history's great thinkers was reduced  to simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out to  redress the wrong by writing a complete history of  Western philosophy, one crackling with incident and  intellectual excitement -- and one that gives full  place to each thinker, presenting his thought in a  beautifully rounded manner and showing his links  to those who went before and to those who came  after him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Detailed and Informative
The basic structure of the book is as follows: Frederick Copleston first gives us background by describing the intellectual life of the philosopher in question before proceeding to systematically analyze the various aspects of his thought, often referring, of course, to their major works. For example, the section on Plato is divided into ten parts: "The Life of Plato," "Plato's Works," "Theory of Knowledge," "The Doctrine of Forms," "The Psychology of Plato," "Moral Theory," "The State," "Physics of Plato," "Art," and "The Old Academy." As expected, most of the focus is on Plato and Aristotle, the sections devoted to them accounting for nearly 50% of this 506-page book. Copleston writes in clear and concise prose, occasionally using diagrams for further clarification.

It should be noted that the late Copleston was a Jesuit priest. In this and the other volumes he often juxtaposes his Roman Catholic Thomist view with the philosophies he examines. However, he treats all of them with fairness, sympathy, respect, and sometimes something approaching reverence, especially in the cases of the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle.

As Copleston had Catholic seminary students in mind when he wrote these histories, they assume a working knowledge of Latin and Greek, which are sprinkled throughout the text, mostly untranslated. However, even without any knowledge of these languages, one can still learn quite a bit from this detailed and informative presentation, though it would undoubtedly help to have a philosophical dictionary on hand while reading.

Simple like this
Copleston's History of Philosophy is a masterpiece. It is complete and simple, made for scholars and lay people. Usually it is very difficult to achieve such deep and academic investigation with no room for intricate and technical language. Sometimes the text turns on more complex, because the subject is complex as well. But this did not keep the fresh air of new and understandable knowledge that exists throughout the work.

An Engaging Introduction to Philosophy
Frederick Copleston wrote his A History of Philosophy with the original intent of instructing Catholic seminarians on the progress of philosophy through the ages.The nine volume work has gone onto wide acclaim and is heralded as one of the best on the topic of philosophical history.

This book is the first of the nine volume work and covers Western philosophy from its early beginnings on the Greek islands and onto the rest of the Mediterranean world, expanding into Egypt, Israel, and the Roman Empire.

Copleston divides the book into five sections: The Pre-Socratics, The Socratic Period, Plato, Aristotle, and the Post-Aristotelians.The vast majority of the book revolves around the three great classical philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.The author excels at noting that none of these philosophers was greater than the other, nor did they effectively cancel out each other, but rather built upon existing philosophy.Aristotle, while different in his philosophy, was both an admirer and critic of Plato.Copleston also succeeds in clarifying the philosophies of the Pre-Socratics, whose past can easily be overlooked by the magnitude of Socrates.In A History of Philosophy, the Pre-Socratics are equally as important as the next, each bearing importance to subsequent philosophy.The book is tied together by the referencing of philosophers back and forth throughout.

Some minor criticisms are in relation to the author's intent.Obviously, he would have changed the approach had he known the work would go onto greater things.The most obvious downfall of the book is that large sections of text are written in Greek and Latin.For the average Catholic seminarian, this would be no problem.For the layman, it is a challenge.The footnotes are in relation to sources and none of them offer translations.What is especially aggravating is that Copleston identifies specific terms that are key to understanding a philosophy, many written in Greek and never translated.Many of Aristotle's points were lost on me, since they were written in Greek.This could easily be fixed by a revised edition, providing footnotes and chapter references at the back of the book.One other criticism is the fact that Copleston inserts his own opinions of modern philosophers within the text.This detracts from the non-biased approach that philosophical history should be approached with.He succeeds in noting the successes and failures in philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, yet criticizes Nietsche and other modernists at the same time.Perhaps the smugness that accompanies his criticisms is due to the fact that many modernists were atheists, and he was writing for a non-atheist audience.

Overall, this book is a great introduction to philosophy and is a good springboard for further investigating the philosophers you find interesting.

The BEST History of Philosophy
I would like to say that Mr.Copleston did a great job writing his masterpiece. I am wondering how many years did it take him to read all the original works and write this set? I would like to emphasize that this history of philosophy does not have any undertone of any bias, and all accusations of the lack of impartiality do not have any basis. Frederick Copleston explicitly states that he is the Jesuit priest and the third volume of the set is his favorite. So what? Other volumes are not affected by this circumstance. Coplestone accurately describes the lives and theories of major philosophers. It should be noted that this set is a rather dry reading and beginners should find some other history of philosophy (like Russel's History of Western Philosophy, but be aware Russel's version is "slightly" biased). Back to Copleston's History: the book examines the history of philosophy from pre-Socratics to Aristotle(with concentrating on Socrates-Plato-Aristotle) to "footnotes":)
I recommend this book and the whole set to serious students of philosophy and other lesser mortals who want to understand the development and evolution of the Western philosophical thinking.

The academic standard, and undefeated champion
I originally picked up this book with the best of intentions: to read all nine (or eleven) volumes, in belated "revenge" for not having majored in philosophy.Those intentions are now being stretched over a longer period of time.

I have no doubt that this is the "academic standard" in the history of philosophy.You can tell, because Father Copleston makes a habit of citing foreign languages without translation.This used to be (and still may be) the distinguishing mark of an academic: just put it down in French, German, Latin, or Greek, and if the unwashed masses don't get it, tough.In particular, I would highly recommend that you learn the Greek alphabet before embarking on this adventure.Not the Greek language, mind you, but just enough of the alphabet to spell out all the Greek words which Copleston throws at you.

The book is a major accomplishment; the fruit of a titanic intellectual effort.Still, there is competition in this rather small niche, most obviously Bertrand Russell's "History of Western Philosophy" (in one volume!) and Anthony Gottlieb's "The Dream of Reason."Quite frankly, for readers who are not professional philosophers (or students of philosophy) I might recommend one of those two books.Bertrand Russell's book gives you a bonus, in including huge swathes of real history to put his philosophical history in context, while Gottlieb is smart, diverting, and original.

Father Copleston (a Jesuit) is smart as a tack, but had no intention of being diverting or original.It is really an advantage that Copleston's bias is openly declared: he is a Catholic who holds that the true philosophy is the Scholastic philosophy of the Middle Ages --- properly modernized, of course.So you won't expect him to dwell on people like Pseudo-Dionysius.And his essay on Plato's "Doctrine of the Forms" is, indeed, a major intellectual undertaking.It is so good that the acute reader can spot Plato's errors all over the place, such as Plato's assumption that the only real knowledge was of things that are eternally true and unchanging.That, if you stop to think about it, is a whale of an assumption. To take a trivial example, we all generalize from the frogs we have seen to an "Ideal Frog" --- it's part of recognizing reality.But it really plays havoc when we try to understand evolution, and must realize that there is no "Ideal Frog," or recognize that the "Ideal Frog" is constantly changing, over a period of time which we may not be able to comprehend.So Plato made it hard for humankind to understand evolution.

And then, later on, in the chapter on "The State," you understand it when Copleston enthusiastically joins Plato's demands for censorship of the arts, and the rule of the Philosopher-King.After all, I am not the first person to have seen the Catholic Index of Prohibited Books --- and the Papacy --- as attempts to bring Plato's ideas about the state to fruition.

I guess, in the end, I would like to describe a choice for the reader who is interested in the history of philosophy.

Choice A would be Lord Bertie, who squeezes it all into one magisterial volume: A History of Western Philosophy.

Choice B would be Anthony Gottlieb:The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance.The drawback here is that Gottlieb is only half-done.

Choice C would be to go whole hog and get the entire set by Copleston.You are not required to read every word, but the whole vast and detailed panorama is at your fingertips.If you're on a budget, you could always buy one volume a month, or something like that.:-)

Good luck, and happy reading! ... Read more

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It is hard to overestimate the importance of the contribution made by Dame Frances Yates to the serious study of esotericism and the occult sciences. The Occult Philosophy of the Elizabethan Age was her last book, and in it she condensed many aspects of her wide learning to present a clear, penetrating, and, above all, accessible survey of the occult movements of the Renaissance, highlighting the work of John Dee, Giordano Bruno, and other key esoteric figures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Historically rich
Frances Yates is an indispensable auther, her work regarding the occult science and its development through the Renaissance to it influence today is a needed view from a clear and historically sound perspective. One of the things that I like about her is that she gives suggestions for further study on the subjects she covers and areas that have not been studied as of yet. This book and "The Rosicrucion Enlightenment" complement each other as I am sure that her other books on a similar topic do. If you are interested in higher learning this book and the auther are well worth your investigation.

Remarkable Insights;Insanity Abounds
Although she probably did not intend the work to serve such a purpose, Dame Frances Yates' book is certainly key to understanding the history of sixteenth and early seventeenth century Western Civilization.For between these covers, we find the essential truth that Elizabethan England represented the joining of forces of Hermetic Western occult traditions with Jewish cabalistic mysticism.These streams of thought resulted in a messianic view of Elizabethan England as a kind of British Israel mystique, to use the author's phrase.With this, we see England shorn of the traditional Faith of her people now allied with the international bankers and tradesmen of the Low Countries and Asia Minor, in defiant opposition to Christian Spain and the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.These insights are remarkable and essential to the understanding of this crucial epic of history.For these insights, we are forever grateful.

However, much of the corpus of this text is filled with complete and utter insanity.For instance, we have Pfefferkorn, who inveighed strongly against the teaching of Reuchlin, identified by the author as an "anti-semite".The problem with this identification is, of course, that Pfefferkorn was a Jewish convert.One wonders in seeing a formulation such as this how a Jewish scholar could be an "anti-semite".But it gets better.Throughout the text, the phrase, "Christian cabala" recurs.The "cabala" here referred to is the black magic canon of Jewish lore, that is the primary basis for much of modern Western occultism.The notion of "Christian cabala" is then pretty much equivalent with the idea of a promiscuous virgin.But then, in a way, it is consistent with an author who could identify a Jewish scholar as an "anti-Semite".

Despite the foregoing, the text is eminently readable and important.As previously mentioned, the insights contained are essential for the student of Renaissance and Reformation Western Civilization.

Compelling and Insightful Work on the Esoteric Tradition
Frances Yates was a scholar of world renown most famous for her text, The Art of Memory, and the biographical study, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. In this work, The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, what has been known as `occult philosophy' in the Renaissance, revived by Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, she explores the "Christianized" version of the Jewish Cabala, and its manifestation and influential affects on religious and philosophical ideas, including the arts, during the Elizabethan Age.

Yates begins with her proposed theses that, in past analyses of occult philosophy, it has focused primarily on the Hermetic tradition. She claims that this occult tradition should be called the "Hermetic-Cabalist", as the ideas are not solely Hermetic in nature, but have a strong Jewish Cabalistic influence, albeit in a Christianized form, as formulated by Marsilio Ficino.

This text is a rich analysis on the history of ideas. Yates adeptly sketches the influences of the hermetic-cabala in the Renaissance, moving forward to one of the more influential texts that affected this tradition more than any other treatise, Henry Cornelius Agrippa's, Three Books of Occult Philosophy. She also focuses her study on three other influential personages, the Cabalist Friar, Francesco Giorgi, and his work, "De harmonia mundi", and the works of Johannes Reuchlin. Yates also looks at the mysterious Elizabethan magus, Dr. John Dee, known as the "Queen's Conjurer" citing the doctor's primary sources of his own work directly to Agrippa. Her claim is that John Dee, was in fact, along with Agrippa, Giorgi and Reuchlin, Christian Cabalists.

The theme of this work is that there was a philosophy of the occult from the Italian Renaissance that operated and was renewed in the Elizabethan Renaissance. To back this thesis, she cites examples from great works of Elizabethan literature that have strikingly blatant examples of this occult philosophy, such as Spenser's The Faerie Queene; Christopher Marlowe's famous play, Doctor Faustus; and Shakespeare's A Mid Summer Night's Dream, Hamlet, King Lear and, of course, The Tempest. What these works of literature have in common are expressed tenets of the Christian Cabalist occult tradition, alluding to the works and lives of Agrippa and John Dee. Yates' arguments are compelling and deserve, as she herself notes, further study by scholars.

This was Yates' last work. She has become one of the most read and respected scholars on the history of the esoteric tradition. This work brings to light an intellectual movement that has been suppressed or dismissed by "serious' scholars as superstitious or irrelevant at best. It is because of her research that these once suppressed intellectual movements have regained legitimacy in the history of ideas and their relevance to the development of Western thought.

The text's style is not only written for the scholar or academic, but fortunately can also be read by the laymen interested in the history of the Western occult tradition.

Tip of the iceberg
Frances Yates was first recommended to me more than a decade ago and I'm sorry that I waited so long to read her. THE OCCULT PHILOSOPHY IN THE ELIZABETHAN AGE challenged many things I thought I knew about the Renaissance and Reformation, and it more than whetted my appetite for Yates's biography of Giordano Bruno.

Beginning with the strange figure of Raymond Lull, a 13th-century Spanish mystical philosopher who could read both Arabic and Hebrew (an unusual accomplishment for a Christian of his or any other time), Yates traces the influence of the "occult philosophy" on Western Christendom through the Italian and continental Renaissance to Elizabethan England. "Occult philosophy" seems to me be the wrong terminology for the Hermetic/Cabalistic spiritual science that inspired some of the greatest minds of the age, if for no other reason than that it rather discredits the whole enterprise from the outset. Part of Yates's design, after all, is to remind us that there was a time when science and religion were not at loggerheads with one another, a time before "the connections of the psyche with the cosmos" were cut off at their roots.

In the first part of the book, Yates sets the stage with brief discussions of the thought of Lull, Pico della Mirandola, Johannes Reuchlin, Francesco Giorgi, and Henry Cornelius Agrippa, and she offers a new interpretation of an engraving by Albrecht Durer. At the heart of what Yates calls Christian Cabala were two central ideas: that the name of Jesus is the Tetragrammaton, the "ineffable name" of God; and that there is a unity of truth behind the appearance of things accessible to those afflicted (or blessed) by "inspired melancholy".

In the second part of the book, Yates examines the influence of Christian Cabala on English philosphers and poets, including John Dee, Edmund Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton. The backlash against the occult philosophy -- signalling the end of the Renaissance -- is also examined.

You will walk away from this book with a profound sense of the largely unrecognized contribution made by Jewish culture to the development of modern Western philosophy and science. The expulsion of the Jews (and the Moors) from Spain after 1492 (not to mention the unintended consequences of forced conversions) takes on new meaning in the light of Yates's researches.

One weakness of this book, however, is its failure to consider the possible Islamic influence on the development of the occult philosophy in Western Europe. Lull, after all, studied not only Cabala but also the great Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes). While one cannot discount the enormous influence of the exiled Sephardic Jews, one should also remember that medieval Spain was home to a most fruitful cross-fertilization of Jewish and Islamic thought. Yates admits that she's no Hebrew scholar, but a knowledge of Arabic might also have been of benefit here.

Another weakness is Yates's rather prosaic and unengaged approach to her subject matter. This is understandable perhaps in a scholar, but her reluctance to let slip her passion is our loss.

Important synthesis of Renaissance history
As the title states this book sets out to find the philosophical roots of Elizabethan culture of the late XVI and early XVII century. The question posited by Dame Frances Yates is : What was the underlying Philosophy of the Elizabethan age and she points unmistakably to the occult philosophy i.e. Hermeticismtempered by Christian Neoplatonism and Qabbalah. Origins of the Elizabethan culture are traced straight to the Medici court, Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola. Yates being no believer of the operative work of magic, still provides enough food for thought for the student of Renaissance humanism, history of ideas or budding hermeticist. Although this book grew out from a series of lectures on "Inspired Melancholy" it still manages to tie in such diverse subjects as historical background of Ben Johnson's The Alchemist and Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (Henry Cornelius Agrippa seen as the inspiration for the character), philosophico/magical/religious meaning of Elizabethan poetry (Spencer, Raleigh), the dramas of Shakespear (specially the Tempest and King Lear) and content of Durer's famous print Melencolia. The strengths of Frances Yates writing is precisely the ability to show the unifying idea behind these seemingly diverse works of art and philosophy. An important part of this book is connected to the destiny of the exiled Spanish Sephardim jews who spread the medical writings of Avicenna and rich literature of Iberian Qabbalism.

Yates history provides an alternative view of English history at the time of Tudor and Stewart dynasties most importantly in their relation to Ecclesiastical powers and politics of continental Europe.

This is a wonderful book that will stimulate a fundamental rethinking of the view of European Political and intellectual history.

Writer of this review is the translator of the book into Serbian . ... Read more

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The Middle Ages span a period of well over a millennium: from the emperor Constantine's Christian conversion in 312 to the early sixteenth century. David Luscombe's clear and accessible history of medieval thought steers a clear path through this long period, beginning with the three greatest influences on medieval philosophy: Augustine, Boethius, and Pseudo-Denis, and focusing on Abelard, Anselm, Aquinas, Ockham, Duns Scotus, and Eckhart among others in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. ... Read more

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This book is an extensive review and analysis of Aristotelian thought as received and adapted by such medieval commentators as Ammonius, Philoponus, Boethius, al-Farabi, Yahya ibn 'Adi, Avicenna, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Martin of Dacia, Simon of Faversham, John Duns Scotus, Peter of Spain, Robert Kilwardby, William of Ockham, and Giles of Rome. The discussions range from metaphysics to logic, linguistics, and epistemology, encompassing such topics as being, god, causation, actuality, potentiality, universals, individuation, signification, cognition, certainty, infallibility, error, ignorance, analogy, grammar, interpretation, foundationalism, and the eucharist and transubstantiation. ... Read more

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Boethius composed De Consolation Philosophiae in the sixth century A.D. while awaiting death by torture, condemned on a charge of plotting against Gothic rule, which he protested as manifestly unjust. Though a Christian, Boethius details the true end of life as the soul's knowledge of God, and consoles himself with the tenets of Greek philosophy, not with Christian precepts.Written in a form called Meippean Satire that alternates between prose and verse, Boethius' work often consists of a story told by Ovid or Horace to illustrate the philosophy being expounded.The Consolation of Philosophy dominated the intellectual world of the Middle Ages; it inspired writers as diverse Thomas Aquinas, Jean de Meun, and Dante.In England it was rendered into Old English by Alfred the Great, into Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer, and later Queen Elizabeth I made her own translation. The circumstances of composition, the heroic demeanor of the author, and the Meippean texture of part prose, part verse have been a fascination for students of philosophy, literature, and religion ever since. ... Read more

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The One and the Good
_Here you find the unequivocal declaration that not riches, not high position, not fame, not physical pleasure are worth pursuing in-and-of themselves. Such things are of value only if they are obtained in the pursuit of the highest Good. This highest Good is demonstrated to be God. Moreover, Boethius points out that when evil men succeed in obtaining such goals over the righteous, then they cease to truly be men- they are beasts and subhuman. This is a refreshing reminder in the modern world, a world not unlike that of late Roman times.

_All happiness, all worth, all reason for being, lies in the One and the Good. Even when we commit immoral acts, it is a result of ignorance on our part in seeking this ultimate goal. Indeed, to turn from the quest of finding the One is to cease to exist at any meaningful level. There is no "fire and brimstone", or talk of eternal torment in hell here. There doesn't need to be. As long as you willfully or ignorantly stray from the Path then you are in hell. And to not find reconnection with the One and the Good is to cease to exist. All of our earthly existence is for the purpose of reawakening to our true nature. This truth lies within all of us and it is only reached by personal introspection (Know thyself.) Only in this way will we return to the eternal Source that lies beyond time itself.

_The consolation of the Consolatio lies in the fact that suffering serves a purpose if it puts us back on the true Path. Moreover, earthly recognition of virtue is irrelevent. God always recognises the man of virtue if the masses do not.

The Consolation of Philosophy
A classic 6th century philosophical argument between a man sentenced to death and the female spirit Philosophy.It was standard reading during the Middle Ages. ... Read more

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For courses in Medieval Philosophy.Designed to be accessible to today's students, this anthology of readings in Western Medieval philosophy represents the towering medieval thinkers-- Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and William of Ockham--as well as other medieval figures. The readings consider ethics and politics, but the focus is on metaphysics and epistemology--questions on the nature of universals, the nature and essence of God, the relationship of God to time and creation, and the ability of humans to know God and creation. The text features the best available translations of texts--complete works or complete selections of works--which are both central to each philosopher's thought and are widely accepted as part of the "canon." The selections are readable and accessible, while still being faithful to the original. Introductions to each philosopher, an abundance of drawings, diagrams, photographs, and a timeline keep students focused throughout. ... Read more

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Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy is a volume of original articles on all aspects of ancient philosophy. The articles may be of substantial length, and include critical notices of major books. OSAP is now published twice yearly, in both hardback and paperback. In this volume, articles range from Heraclitus to Proclus, with several on each of Aristotle and Plato. Editor: David Sedley, Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge. "Standard reading among specialists in ancient philosophy."--Brad Inwood, Bryn Mawr Classical Review ... Read more