Marsilio Ficino: The "Philebus" Commentary.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Schutzumschlag besto�n und mit Randl�ren und Einrissen, au�rdem berieben und verschmutzt, Kopfschnitt stockfleckig, Vorderschnitt weist Flecken und Verf�ungen auf, innen sauber / dust jacket scuffed, with edgewear and tears, also rubbed and soiled, head edge foxed, fore-edge has stains and discoloration, inside is clean. - The Philebus commentary is one of the most significant works of the great scholarphilosopher of fifteenth-century Florence, Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499). Plato�s Philebus seems to have held a special fascination both for Ficino and for the circle of artists and intellectuals gathered around Cosimo de� Medici and then Lorenzo de� Medici. Ficino deliberately put his Philebus translation in the climactic position of the first decade of Platonic dialogues he prepared for the aging Cosimo, who anxiously awaited the arrival of the Philebus and had it read to him eventually on his deathbed. Soon afterward Ficino chose the Philebus as the basis of a series of speculative and highly influential lectures which served in effect to inaugurate his public campaign for the revival of Plato studies. Since the written commentary was the direct outcome of these lectures, it is one of the chief witnesses to a signal moment in European intellectual and cultural history: the birth of Florentine Platonism. Apart from its historical interest, the commentary played a crucial role in the development of Ficino�s own philosophical system; for, inter alia, it argues with conviction for the primacy of the intellect over the will and for the overriding importance of metaphysics in dealing with ethical problems. It adopts positions, Mr. Allen suggests, which Ficino never really abandoned in his subsequent writings. The various sections of Mr. Allen�s Introduction deal with the genesis and composition of the commentary, the reasons for Ficino�s early preoccupation with the Philebus, the commentary�s particular characteristics and main ideas, the controversy over Ficino�s approach to voluntarism, and with the vexed question of the dating. The Latin text and translation are based on the editio princeps of 1496, but they utilize and include the variant readings of the three extant manuscripts. The whole constitutes the first modem presentation and study of Ficino�s commentary and, by extension, of the initial impact of the Philebus itself on the Renaissance. / Contents Introduction Synopsis The Philebus Commentary, Book I The Philebus Commentary, Book II Four Unattached Chapters Appendices I Additions and Omissions II The Ten Excerpts III Three Texts IV The Pesaro Fragments V The Chapter Summaries Footnotes to the Introduction References in the Texts Select Bibliography Index of Names. ISBN 9780520025035