Byzantine and Renaissance Philosophy

This magisterial volume is the sixth part of the history of philosophy ‘without any gaps’ – it is an extraordinary achievement comprising 54 chapters that fills in many details omitted from books focusing exclusively on major figures. A principal strand of the argument reveals a much stronger degree of continuity between Byzantium and Renaissance Italy as ‘a single story of humanist achievement’ culminating in the work of Ficino in the late 15th century. The author shows that there is not in fact a sharp divide between philosophy written in the Greek East and the Latin West, but an extensive overlap between their values, interests and preoccupations. Major historical themes include ‘the humanist engagement with ancient literature, the emergence of women humanists, the flowering of republican government in Renaissance Italy, the continuation of Aristotelian and scholastic philosophy alongside humanism, and breakthroughs in science.’ The text is highly readable and engaging, structured as it is in short chapters that bring the lives and times of the subjects to life.