The Individual and the Cosmos in Renaissance Philosophy

by Ernst Cassirer, Mario Domandi (Translator)

This thought-provoking classic investigates how the Renaissance spirit fundamentally questioned and undermined medieval thought. Of value to students of literature, political theory, history of religious and Reformation thought, and the history of science.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Renaissance, Nonfiction, History Of Science, Science, Religion

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Ernst Cassirer was one of the major figures in the development of philosophical idealism in the first half of the twentieth century, a German Jewish philosopher. Coming out of the Marburg tradition of neo-Kantianism, he developed a philosophy of culture as a theory of symbols founded in a phenomenology of knowledge.

Reviews

[Maica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ernst Cassirer provides a nuanced analysis and historical account on the development of Renaissance thought on the individual's relation to the Cosmos. Focus is especially dedicated to the Italian mystic, Nicholas Cusanus. The two final topics dealt with Freedom & Necessity, and the Subject-Object Problem.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cassirer argues the Renaissance replaced hierarchy with homogeneity, thus inaugurating modern individualism and science. That’s clever if too systematic and teleological.

[N Perrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the work of other historians of his time (e.g. Lovejoy or Hazard), Cassirer's scholarship has aged remarkably well. Cassirer's project in this book is to baptize Bruckhardt's narrative in Hegelianism and create a more robust intellectual history of Renaissance thought. And while such ambitious big-picture narratives should always be treated with some degree of skepticism, Cassirer presents a substantive account. I only give it four stars because of the historiographical teleology which he (unfortunately) inherits from his Hegelian bent.

Cassirer repeatedly demonstrates that he is incredibly well-read in both primary and secondary texts, carefully quoting and referencing particular writers and vaulting between them with ease and finesse as he describes the evolution of Renaissance ideas with the birth of the individual and the epistemological and ontological consequences for understanding the cosmos.

There's innumerable fascinating details in this text such as the influence of German mystics like Meister Eckhart on Nicholas of Cusa and subsequent nominalism, the centrality of the doctrine of Eros in Floretine psychology, the birth of the modern conceptions of experience and infinity, how magic and the occult arose out of the modern understanding of causation, the construction of the modern notion of space out of the fracturing of Aristotelian ontology, the introduction of the subject-object problem, and so much more.

This is a great text for anyone interested in learning about the major trends and changes of Renaissance philosophy explained with acute clarity. Cassirer renders abstract concepts and arguments surprisingly accessible. Even if some corrections have been made to his text over time, it still holds up as an impressive overview of a critical period in intellectual history.

[Jesse Whyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite text on the philosophy of the Renaissance (and the preceding Middle Ages). Cassirer rewards over and over again. I've been through this text three times and I keep finding more treasure.

[Random · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the changes and permutations in man's place in the world and in relation to god from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Definitely recommend it.

[Ergun Kocabıyık · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ernst Cassirer'in Türkçeye çevrilmiş tüm kitapları kütüphaneme girmiştir ve büyük bir kısmını da okumuşumdur. Hatta Devlet Efsanesi ve İnsan Üstüne Bir Deneme'yi ilk satın aldığım tarihten 15 yıl kadar sonra bir kez daha okudum: Kütüphanemdeki veya kütüphanemden geçmiş Cassirer kitapları şunlar: Dil ve Mit, çev. Onur Kuzgun, Pindah, 2018; Dil, çev. Milay Köktürk, Hece, 2005; Mitik Düşünme, çev. Milay Köktürk, Hece, 2005; İnsan Üstüne Bir Deneme, çev. Necla Arat, Remzi, 1980; Devlet Efsanesi, çev. Necla Arat, 1984; Kant'ın Yaşamı ve Öğretisi, çev. Doğan Özlem, Notos Kitap, 2017; Rousseau, Kant, Goethe, çev. Mustafa Tüzel, İş Kültür, 2007; Kültür Bilimlerinin Mantığı Üzerine, çev. Milay Köktürk, Hece, 2005.
"Rönesans Felsefesinde Birey ve Evren" Türkçeye en son çevrilen kitaplarından. Tam da benim Rönesans, Hümanizm ve Reformasyon konusuyla ilgilenmeye başladığım bir dönemde yayımlandı. Bu alanlarda birçok okuma yapmıştım ama Cassirer'in kitabına yeni sıra geldi. En çok Üçüncü Bölüm, Rönesans Felsefesinde Özgürlük ve Zorunluluk başlıklı bölüm ilgimi çekti. Bu bölümde özellikle özgür irade ve kader konusundaki tartışmalarla ilgili bilgiler var. Bu konularda okuma yapanlar için vazgeçilmez kaynaklardan birisi. Ayrıca hümanizmin önemli şahsiyetleriye (Colluccio Salutati, Nicolaus Cusanus, Ficino, Petrarca, Pico della Mirandola) ve düşünceleriyle ilgili birçok bilgiye ulaşabilirsiniz.

[Bernard Convert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Encore un livre magnifique de Ernst Cassirer. Sur la philosophie de la Renaissance. Ou plutôt son absence de philosophie propre tant, alors que tout change autour d’eux, les auteurs peinent à se dégager de la philosophie scholastique. Néanmoins les bouleversements historiques, les voyages, la redécouverte de l’Antiquité, et ce que Burckhart a appelé « la naissance de l’individu » trouvent un écho dans la pensée. Très précocement chez Nicolas de Cues. On comprend ici admirablement l’itinéraire intellectuel qui amène Nicolas de Cues à rompre avec le système cosmologique d’Aristote, ce monde clos, hétérogène et hiérarchisé, pour y substituer un cosmos complètement isotrope, homogène, démuni de centre, partant indéfini. Autre morceau de choix, le chapitre sur liberté et nécessité. Il commence par l’évocation d’un spectacle au mariage de Lucrèce Borgia et Alphonse d’Este, qui met en scène le combat de Fortune (le destin sur lequel on ne peut rien) et Hercule (l’homme libre de son action). Il se termine par l’évocation du retour en force, comme expression de la nécessité, du destin astrologique et de ses différents avatars, sur lesquelles s’opposent Pomponazzi, Marcile Ficin et Pic de la Mirandole.
Le livre se termine par deux textes de l’époque, « De la pensée » par Nicolas de Cues et « Le Sage » par Charles de Bovelles (du Hegel bien avant l’heure).

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

[Matt McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much too dense and technical for my meagre brain. I couldn't get beyond page 50.