From Paradise to Paradigm: A Study of Twelfth-Century Humanism (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History)

Author: Otten, Professor of the Theology and History of Christianity Willemien

Brand: Brill

Number Of Pages: 348

EAN: 9789004140615

Release Date: 30-09-2004

Package Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches

Languages: English

Binding: hardcover

Details: 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.