UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY 592R: RENAISSANCE PHILOSOPHY

Vere Chappell                                                                       Spring 2000

SYLLABUS

TEXTS

Renaissance Philosophy of Man, ed. E. Cassirer et al. (Chicago 1956).
Machiavelli, Nicolo. The Prince, ed. Q. Skinner and R. Price (Cambridge 1988).
Bruno, Giordano. Cause, Principle and Unity, ed. R. de Lucca et al. (Cambridge 1998).
Erasmus, Desiderius. Praise of Folly, ed. R.M. Adams (Norton 1989).
More, Thomas. Utopia, ed. G.M. Logan and R.M. Adams (Cambridge 1989).
Montaigne, Michel de. Apology for Raymond Sebond, ed. M.A. Screech (Penguin 1993).
Handouts containing works by Pomponazzi and Lipsius

The books are at the Jeffery Amherst College Store, South Pleasant Street, Amherst.

SCHEDULE

Date   Author(s)       Title                             Source                     Pages   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1-26   ---------       ----------                        ---                        ------- 
2-02   Valla           Free Will                         RPM                        147-182
2-09   Ficino          Mind                              RPM                        185-212
2-16   Pico            Dignity of Man                    RPM                        215-254
2-23   No class        ----------                        ---                        -------
3-01   Pomponazzi      Fate: Book IV                     HO                         231-280
3-08   Machiavelli     Prince                            Skinner-Price                3- 91
3-22   Bruno           Cause, Principle, and Unity       de Lucca                     3-101
3-29   Bruno           Essays on Magic                   de Lucca                   105-176
4-05   Erasmus         Praise of Folly                   Adams                        3- 87
4-12   Erasmus         Selections TBA                    Adams                      TBA 
4-19   More            Utopia                            Logan-Adams                  3-111
4-26   Montaigne       Apology for Raymond Sebond        Screech                      1- 95
5-03   Montaigne       Apology for Raymond Sebond        Screech                     95-190
5-10   Lipsius         Constancy: Selections             HO                          96-148
5-15   --------        --------          Paper Due

REQUIREMENTS

1. Class attendance and participation.
2. Reading assignments.
3. Short papers.
4. Reports and/or projects.
5. Term paper.