By Timothy Kircher (NHC Fellow, 2007–08) This study evaluates the way Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) assessed humanist moral philosophy in Renaissance Italy. It helps us understand not only the allure of Renaissance humanism, but also its shortcomings, through the writings of a leading humanist of the time. Alberti’s writings employ irony in order to illustrate … Continued
By Nicholas of CusaTranslated by Jasper Hopkins (NHC Fellow, 1983–84) Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), sometimes misleadingly referred to as the first "modern" philosopher, was born in Kues, Germany (today Bernkastel-Kues). He became a canon lawyer and a cardinal. His two best-known works are De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) and De Visione Dei (On the Vision of God).
By Mihajlo Mihajlov (NHC Fellow, 1980–81)
By Tad M. Schmaltz (NHC Fellow, 1997–98) This is a book-length study of two of Descartes's most innovative successors, Robert Desgabets and Pierre-Sylvain Regis, and of their highly original contributions to Cartesianism. The focus of the book is an analysis of radical doctrines in the work of these thinkers that derive from arguments in Descartes: … Continued
By Larry S. Temkin (NHC Fellow, 1984–85) In choosing between moral alternatives — choosing between various forms of ethical action — we typically make calculations of the following kind: A is better than B; B is better than C; therefore A is better than C. These inferences use the principle of transitivity and are fundamental … Continued
By Gregory Vlastos (Trustee; NHC Fellow, 1980–81; 1981–82) This vivid and compelling study of Socrates’s moral philosophy and, more generally, of his moral outlook and his attitude toward religion and society, reclaims the remarkable originality of his thought. Gregory Vlastos shows us a Socrates who, though he has been long overshadowed by his successors, Plato … Continued
Edited by Norman Kretzmann (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) and Eleonore Stump (NHC Fellow, 1999–00) Among the great philosophers of the Middle Ages Aquinas is unique in pursuing two apparently disparate projects. On the one hand he developed a philosophical understanding of Christian doctrine in a fully integrated system encompassing all natural and supernatural reality. On the … Continued
By Marcia L. Colish (NHC Fellow, 1981–82) Early Christianity faced the problem of the human word versus Christ the Word. Could language accurately describe spiritual reality? The Mirror of Language brilliantly traces the development of one prominent theory of signs from Augustine through Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, and Dante. Their shared epistemology validated human language as … Continued
By Robert A. Segal (NHC Fellow, 1997–98) For two hundred years the subject of myth—its origin, function, and significance—has been addressed again and again, first by theologians and philosophers and then by anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists. From the outset the topic has sparked intense debate, with differing opinions expressed on everything from issues of epistemology … Continued
By Pierre-Joseph ProudhonEdited and translated by Donald R. Kelley (NHC Fellow, 1984–85) and Bonnie G. Smith This is a 1994 translation of one of the classics of the traditions of anarchism and socialism. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a contemporary of Marx and one of the most acute, influential and subversive critics of modern French and European … Continued