Platonic Love from Antiquity to the Renaissance
Platonic Love from Antiquity to the Renaissance
John Dillon, Trinity College Dublin
Platonic love is a concept that has profoundly shaped Western literature, philosophy and intellectual history for centuries. First developed in the Symposium and the Phaedrus, it was taken up by subsequent thinkers in antiquity, entered the theological debates of the Middle Ages, and played a key role in the reception of Neoplatonism and the etiquette of romantic relationships during the Italian Renaissance. In this wide-ranging reference work, a leading team of international specialists examines the Platonic distinction between higher and lower forms of eros, the role of the higher form in the ascent of the soul and the concept of Beauty. They also treat the possibilities for friendship and interpersonal love in a Platonic framework, as well as the relationship between love, rhetoric and wisdom. Subsequent developments are explored in Plutarch, Plotinus, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Eriugena, Aquinas, Ficino, della Mirandola, Castiglione and the contra amorem tradition.
- Tracks the development of Platonic love from antiquity via the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance
- Presents an interdisciplinary approach, combining the latest approaches in ancient philosophy, history of theology, Italian literature, gender studies and social history
- Provides translations of all Greek, Latin and Italian texts
Product details
September 2022Hardback
9781108423229
450 pages
235 × 159 × 23 mm
0.64kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction: platonic love Carl O'Brien, John Dillon
- Part I. Love in Plato:
- 1. Plato on love Vasilis Politis
- 2. The selfishness of platonic love? Carl O'Brien
- 3. Love and rhetoric as types of psychagôgia Marina McCoy
- 4. Plato on the love of wisdom Elisabeth S. Belfiore
- Part II. Development of Platonic Love in Antiquity:
- 5. Plutarch: expanding the horizons of platonic love Frederick E. Brenk
- 6. Love in Plotinus' thought Dominic J. O'Meara
- 7. A platonist 'ars amatoria' John Dillon
- 8. Desire and love in Augustine Jan-Ivar Lindén
- Part III. Love and Metaphysics during the Middle Ages:
- 9. Divine love and platonic beauty in Dionysius the Areopagite Andrew Louth
- 10. Love in the thought of John Scotus Eriugena Max Rohstock
- 11. Thomas Aquinas on the connatural, the supernatural, love, and charity Kevin L. Flannery S.J.
- Part IV. Platonic Love during the Renaissance:
- 12. Human and divine love in Marsilio Ficino Paul Richard Blum
- 13. Marsilio Ficino and Leone Ebreo on beauty Maryanne Cline Horowitz
- 14. Pico della Mirandola on platonic love John Dillon
- 15. The Contra-Amorem tradition in the Renaissance W. R. Albury
- 16. Castiglione and platonic love Reinier Leushuis
- 17. Platonic love in Renaissance discussions of friendship Marc D. Schachter.
