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5 - Pursuing a Love of Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2021

Christopher S. Celenza
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
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Summary

This chapter focuses on an important work of Angelo Poliziano, called Lamia. In it, Poliziano does two things relevant to the humanities today: he offers a new way of thinking about the enterprise of philosophy as it was understood since antiquity – the search for human wisdom and a wise style of life. In doing so, he suggests that academic philosophy as practiced in universities is not enough in the project of gaining wisdom and living wisely. Second, he suggests that philology – the deep, borderless reading of texts – represents a master discipline and one that is in fact more in line with philosophy’s authentic mission. Poliziano makes his most trenchant points by using narratives and fables, rather than syllogistic argumentation. In so doing, he makes a case for philology as an overarching discipline of disciplines and sets forth a new way of looking at philosophy

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The Italian Renaissance and the Origins of the Modern Humanities
An Intellectual History, 1400–1800
, pp. 108 - 127
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Pursuing a Love of Knowledge
  • Christopher S. Celenza, The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
  • Book: The Italian Renaissance and the Origins of the Modern Humanities
  • Online publication: 09 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108980623.006
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Pursuing a Love of Knowledge
  • Christopher S. Celenza, The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
  • Book: The Italian Renaissance and the Origins of the Modern Humanities
  • Online publication: 09 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108980623.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Pursuing a Love of Knowledge
  • Christopher S. Celenza, The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
  • Book: The Italian Renaissance and the Origins of the Modern Humanities
  • Online publication: 09 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108980623.006
Available formats
×