Pagans and Philosophers: The Problem of Paganism from Augustine to Leibniz

John Marenbon

Published by Princeton University Press 2015

Pagans and Philosophers

The Problem of Paganism from Augustine to Leibniz

John Marenbon

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400866359

Overview
Contents

About this book

From the turn of the fifth century to the beginning of the eighteenth, Christian writers were fascinated and troubled by the "Problem of Paganism," which this book identifies and examines for the first time. How could the wisdom and virtue of the great thinkers of antiquity be reconciled with the fact that they were pagans and, many thought, damned? Related questions were raised by encounters with contemporary pagans in northern Europe, Mongolia, and, later, America and China.

Pagans and Philosophers explores how writers—philosophers and theologians, but also poets such as Dante, Chaucer, and Langland, and travelers such as Las Casas and Ricci—tackled the Problem of Paganism. Augustine and Boethius set its terms, while Peter Abelard and John of Salisbury were important early advocates of pagan wisdom and virtue. University theologians such as Aquinas, Scotus, Ockham, and Bradwardine, and later thinkers such as Ficino, Valla, More, Bayle, and Leibniz, explored the difficulty in depth. Meanwhile, Albert the Great inspired Boethius of Dacia and others to create a relativist conception of scientific knowledge that allowed Christian teachers to remain faithful Aristotelians. At the same time, early anthropologists such as John of Piano Carpini, John Mandeville, and Montaigne developed other sorts of relativism in response to the issue.

A sweeping and original account of an important but neglected chapter in Western intellectual history, Pagans and Philosophers provides a new perspective on nothing less than the entire period between the classical and the modern world.

Author / Editor information

John Marenbon is a senior research fellow at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, honorary professor of medieval philosophy at Cambridge, and a fellow of the British Academy. He is the author and editor of many books, including Abelard in Four Dimensions, The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Philosophy, The Cambridge Companion to Boethius, and Medieval Philosophy: An Historical and Philosophical Introduction.

Reviews

"In this book, John Marenbon exhibits remarkable erudition and a formidable command of the relevant texts, both scholastic and literary. He is adept at setting out complex issues in a clear way, and his book incorporates much little-known and fascinating material in the history of ideas."—Anthony Kenny, author of A New History of Western Philosophy

Fascinating . . . Marenbon constantly cuts across the standard discussions at a fresh angle, bringing new connections to light.---–Noel Malcolm, Standpoint

Overall this is a magnificent study in the history of ideas, executed with great lucidity and exemplary scholarship.---John Cottingham, The Tablet

[An] excellent book. . . . If Marenbon leaves a stone unturned . . . I didn't notice it. . . . [He] builds a powerful case.---Peter Adamson, Times Literary Supplement

"With this book, Marenbon creates rather than contributes to a field, framing the problem of paganism in a new way for medievalists and early modern specialists in particular. It is not a historical study of the gradual development of the notion of paganism in late antiquity, but an overview of the patterns in which medieval and early modern thinkers interpreted and responded to the notion for themselves. Few scholars write with such elegance; the style is uncluttered, clear, and fast-paced, keeping the bigger picture in view throughout."—John Magee, University of Toronto

Beautifully written, highly interesting (never dry or dull), and deserves a wide readership. It is enthusiastically recommended.---Carole M. Cusack, Speculum

This reviewer has been waiting for this book for a long time. . . . [Pagans and Philosophers] is fascinating, exciting, compelling, and well worth the wait.

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2015

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
A Note on References and Citations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Introduction: The Problem of Paganism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: The Problem Takes Shape
CHAPTER 1. Prelude: Before Augustine Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
CHAPTER 2. Augustine Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
CHAPTER 3. Boethius Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Part II: From Alcuin to Langland
CHAPTER 4. The Early Middle Ages and the Christianization of Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
CHAPTER 5. Abelard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
CHAPTER 6. John of Salisbury and the Encyclopaedic Tradition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
CHAPTER 7. Arabi, Mongolia and Beyond: Contemporary Pagans in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
CHAPTER 8. Aristotelian Wisdom: Unity, Rejection or Relativism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
CHAPTER 9. University Theologians on Pagan Virtue and Salvation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
CHAPTER 10. Dante and Boccaccio Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
CHAPTER 11. Langland and Chaucer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
Part III: The Continuity of the Problem of Paganism, 1400–1700
CHAPTER 12. Pagan Knowledge, 1400–1700 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
CHAPTER 13. Pagan Virtue, 1400–1700 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
CHAPTER 14. The Salvation of Pagans, 1400–1700 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
EPILOGUE. Leibniz and China Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
General Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	304
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	339

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