Diálogos de Amor

by Judah Leon Abravanel, Giacinto Manupella (translator)

First published in Rome in 1535, Leone Ebreo's Dialogues of Love is one of the most important texts of the European Renaissance. Well known in the Italian academies of the sixteenth century, its popularity quickly spread throughout Europe, with numerous reprintings and translations into French, Latin, Spanish, and Hebrew. It attracted a diverse audience that included noblemen, courtesans, artists, poets, intellectuals, and philosophers. More than just a bestseller, the work exerted a deep influence over the centuries on figures as diverse as Giordano Bruno, John Donne, Miguel de Cervantes, and Baruch Spinoza.

Leone's Dialogues consists of three conversations - 'On Love and Desire,' 'On the Universality of Love,' and 'On the Origin of Love' - that take place over a period of three subsequent days. They are organized in a dialogic format, much like a theatrical representation, of a conversation between a man, Philo, who plays the role of the lover and teacher, and a woman, Sophia, the beloved and pupil. The discussion covers a wide range of topics that have as their common denominator the idea of Love. Through the dialogue, the author explores many different points of view and complex philosophical ideas. Grounded in a distinctly Jewish tradition, and drawing on Neoplatonic philosophical structures and Arabic sources, the work offers a useful compendium of classical and contemporary thought, yet was not incompatible with Christian doctrine.

Despite the unfinished state and somewhat controversial, enigmatic nature of Ebreo's famous text, it remains one of the most significant and influential works in the history of Western thought.

Genres: Philosophy

422 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1535

About the author

Judah Leon Abravanel (or Abrabanel, otherwise known as: in Latin, Leo Hebraeus; in Portuguese, Leão Hebreu; in Spanish, León Hebreo; in Italian, Leone Ebreo; in English, Leo the Hebrew; and in Hebrew, יהודה בן יצחק אברבנאל [Yehuda ben Yitzhak Abravanel]) was a Portuguese Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. His work Dialoghi d'amore (Dialogues of Love) was one of the most important philosophical works of his time. He was born of Castilian Jewish heritage in Lisbon, and wrote his most important work in Italian.

Reviews

[Gargoris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro es el Renacimiento. Es Europa. Es occidente. No trata del amor en el sentido de "amor romántico" que prevalece en el lenguaje actual, sino del amor como idea filosófica, en buena medida como idea de filosofía natural, como una fuerza que une los átomos (Demócrito) o que ordena el universo, incluyendo las relaciones humanas.
Es un compendio que recurre a ideas de todos los campos del saber de la época, un tratado de metafísica, de ontología, de teología, de física, de medicina o de astrología.
Para desarrollar sus argumentos adopta la forma de un diálogo socrático entre Filón y Sofía y maneja con soltura filósofos griegos (muy especialmente a Platón y Aristóteles, con clara preferencia hacia el primero), la Torá y la cábala judía, autores latinos (Cicerón) y árabes (Avicena, Algazali).
El resultado es un monumento intelectual impensable un siglo antes y esencial un siglo después. Un best seller de su tiempo. Es el triunfo de la razón, la inauguración de un diálogo ilustrado en el que cualquier ciudadano de la República de las Letras puede participar, con independencia de su religión, de su rey, de su origen. Su autor, de hecho, es un humanista judío cuya familia, de muy alta extracción social, emigró a Italia tras huir de España y Portugal y que hablaba latín, griego, hebreo y toscano. Y su traductor, el primer autor americano, el Inca Garcilaso, quien hablaba también español, quechua y latín.

[Nicholas Summerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense and contains some outdated cultural assumptions about gender and sexuality but overall a very profound syncretic work of Renaissance philosophy. Combines Jewish, Greek, Arab and Christian ideas on love, the body and intellect.

[Lis Molina · Rating 3 out of 5]

me parecio repetitivo, pero la forma de ver el amor desde distintas perspectivas filosoficas fue bastante interesante, fuera de ello es un poquito meh.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abravanel är mindre komplicerad än han har rykte om sig att vara. Och, tyvärr, mindre intressant. Han beskriver i princip vänskap, kärlek och gudskärlek och dess olika uttryck.