Aristotle's On the Soul

Aristotle's On the Soul aims to uncover the principle of life, what Aristotle calls psuchē (soul). For Aristotle, soul is the form which gives life to a body and causes all its living activities, from breathing to thinking. Aristotle develops a general account of all types of living through examining soul's causal powers. The thirteen new essays in this Critical Guide demonstrate the profound influence of Aristotle's inquiry on biology, psychology and philosophy of mind from antiquity to the present. They deepen our understanding of his key concepts, including form, reason, capacity, and activity. This volume situates Aristotle in his intellectual context and draws judiciously from his other works as well as the history of interpretation to shed light on his intricate views. It also highlights ongoing interpretive debates and Aristotle's continuing relevance. It will prove invaluable for researchers in ancient philosophy and the history of science and ideas.

Intellectual Ambitions and Interests

Highly educated seventeenth-century noblemen and gentlemen frequently studied theology, history, and philosophy privately for pleasure; wrote verse; and acquired libraries, but rarely wrote books and treatises. Chapter 9 builds upon the literary, philosophical, and theological interests identified in earlier chapters and provides the intellectual context for Herbert’s emergence as a respected gentleman scholar and published academic writer. It introduces the scholarly circles with which he was associated in London and Paris, his membership of the European Republic of Letters, and his links with scholarly irenicism. It establishes his scholarly connections with John Selden, William Camden, Sir Robert Cotton, Hugo Grotius, Marin Mersenne, René Descartes, Pierre Gassendi, Thomas Hobbes, Tommaso Campanella, Fortunio Liceti, Gerard Vossius, John Comenius, and others. It examines Herbert’s scholarly practices and rebuffs claims that he was a dilettante. It browses the collection of books he accumulated in his substantial libraries in London and Montgomery, which ranged across the academic spectrum from theology, history, politics, literature, and philology through the various philosophical and mathematical disciplines to the natural and physical sciences, jurisprudence, and medicine, but also included works on architecture, warfare, manners, music, and sorcery and anthologies of poetry and books of romance literature. It suggests that Herbert’s scholarship was motivated as much by intellectual curiosity and the need to reduce religious conflict as by a desire to secure personal recognition and approval.

Philosopher and Theologian

The seventeenth century witnessed significant changes in the content and method of philosophical enquiry in the years between the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Chapter 10 examines Herbert’s principal philosophical and theological works, De veritate, De causis errorum, Religio laici, and De religione gentilium. It examines their purpose, key arguments, and characteristics, the extent of their originality, and their historical and intellectual context and reception. It briefly considers the authorship issues surrounding A dialogue between a tutor and his pupil. It presents Herbert as a serious and respected but controversial philosopher who sought to challenge the revival of scepticism by developing a methodology for assessing true knowledge, subjected both Christian and pagan religions to rational intellectual examination, and advocated the reduction of religion to essential tenets in order to combat religious confusion and conflict. It acknowledges his dependence upon earlier authors but also highlights ways in which he anticipated elements of Enlightenment thinking. It explores Herbert’s religious beliefs during the final two decades of his life, building upon his correspondence with Sir Robert Harley in Chapter 6 and drawing a comparison with George Herbert’s distinctly Elizabethan via media in religion. It emphasizes his commitment to the Church of England and examines his interest in Arminianism and Socinianism and the extent of his religious heterodoxy. It presents Herbert as an independent and liberal religious thinker but rejects claims that he was an early deist or atheist.

The Problem of Integrity of the Integral Democracy Project

The topic of this paper is the most important principles of the concept of integral democracy created by Stasys Šalkauskis, Antanas Maceina and other Lithuanian interwar and post-war exodus intellectuals. The genesis and development of the ideas of integral democracy in interwar Lithuania are analyzed, also the influence of the experiences of World War II, occupations, totalitarian regimes and living in exodus on this concept. The projects of integral democracy, organic state and non-worldview politics are reviewed in their historical and intellectual context of Lithuania and the Lithuanian diaspora in exodus, starting from the origins of the idea and the concept of the organic state, also the most important criticism of it. The second part of the paper reviews the most important assumptions and ideas that unite the whole project from the 1936 concept of the organic state to the 1954–1955 ideas of integral democracy. Finally, looking at the fundamental differences between the two concepts the essence and key features of the project of full democracy are highlighted.

Royal Historian

The turn of the seventeenth century saw a growing interest in political history and a rising appreciation of its propagandist value. Chapter 11 examines Herbert’s acceptance of a commission from the duke of Buckingham to produce an apologia for his disastrous military command when waging war against France in The Expedition to the Isle of Rhé, and from Charles I to write a history of his controversial Tudor predecessor in The Life and Raigne of King Henry the Eighth. It explores the purpose, key arguments, and historical and intellectual context of the two works and compares the different approaches Herbert adopts to defend Buckingham and Henry VIII while preserving his integrity and objectivity as a historian. It highlights his careful and ground-breaking historical methodology based upon critical evaluation of a wide range of primary and secondary sources; his extensive coverage of people, policy, and events; and his use of the Life and Raigne to discreetly influence royal and public opinion and to publicize his irenic solution to religious division and conflict. It suggests that Herbert became a historian by invitation rather than design but that his detailed, wide-ranging, and authoritative account of Henry VIII’s kingship has informed and influenced studies of the reign over succeeding centuries and that he merits acknowledgement alongside William Camden for transforming the writing of British political history.

Court Ethnographies

This chapter provides an introduction to ethnographic research on criminal courts, focusing on the scientific and policy objectives in this diverse field. A central theme is that court ethnographers in observing hearings and interviewing practitioners have a choice in employing analytic strategies that focus on “micro” and “macro” level of analysis. Landmark studies conducted in the United States and United Kingdom are summarized, locating these in their political and intellectual context. Practical issues are reviewed including obtaining access, ethics approvals, and data analysis. The chapter also considers future trends and issues: internationalization of this field, practical contributions to understanding criminal justice, and policy implications for debates about social justice. Ethnographers can assist in evaluating emerging philosophies and court-based practices, and new types of specialist courts.

The Grammatica da Lingua Italiana para os Portuguezes by Antonio Prefumo: between the traditional and the conversational method

Within the Italian FL grammatical tradition, the 19th century is a very fruitful period. In other contributions, we have highlighted how several Portuguese and Italian figures connected to the circle of the S. Carlos Theatre in Lisbon act as preceptors and compose some grammars, which contain a strong normative part and, at the same time, connect themselves to the conversational tradition: among these works, the Grammatica da Lingua Italiana para os Portuguezes by Antonio Prefumo (Lisbon, 1829) plays a central role, as it goes through four editions over almost forty years. The paper analyses the social and intellectual context of production of this text, besides outlining the author’s profile and providing a philological reconstruction of the sources and models adopted. Furthermore, the paper attempts an analysis of the Grammatica that, on the one hand, highlights both the heritage of the vernacular and Enlightenment grammatical traditions and its innovative aspects and, on the other hand, compares the various editions through the study of their macro-textual areas. The methodology underlying our description follows that proposed by Swiggers (2006, 168) being based on four aspects: the analysis of the author, the audience, the subject described and its form. This approach places the author at the centre of a historical conjuncture in which the traditional grammatical method was associated with that of conversation, responding to the demand of an audience that increasingly approached the study of FL for practical reasons, rather than to meet the traditional educational demands of the upper classes.

The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

<p>This thesis examines the alchemical patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598), Principal Secretary and later Lord Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I. Through an examination of Cecil's surviving papers, along with other primary manuscript and printed works, it places Cecil's patronage of alchemy within the context of both his previous examined patronage and the intellectual context of sixteenth century England. This thesis analyses why Cecil, a key member of government for over fifty years and Elizabeth's most trusted councillor, believed in the legitimacy of alchemical solutions to both national and personal problems. To explain Cecil's trust in alchemy, the thesis focuses first on his understanding of nature. It argues that a belief in alchemical transmutation was an essential consequence of an education that emphasised an Aristotelian understanding of the universe. Cecil was therefore receptive of demonstrations of theoretical as well as practical alchemical knowledge. Through an assessment of Cecil's neglected medical patronage, the thesis also argues that he was amongst the first in England to utilise new alchemically based medical treatments. In his role as Elizabeth's chief minister, Cecil administered a number of alchemical projects intended to support both Crown finances and England's industrial competitiveness. In light of Cecil's integral role in these projects, the thesis contends that he saw alchemy as a legitimate method of addressing both his short and long term policy aims. This thesis therefore both provides a more complete understanding of Cecil's patronage and adds to the limited historiography of alchemy in Elizabethan England.</p>

The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

<p>This thesis examines the alchemical patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598), Principal Secretary and later Lord Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I. Through an examination of Cecil's surviving papers, along with other primary manuscript and printed works, it places Cecil's patronage of alchemy within the context of both his previous examined patronage and the intellectual context of sixteenth century England. This thesis analyses why Cecil, a key member of government for over fifty years and Elizabeth's most trusted councillor, believed in the legitimacy of alchemical solutions to both national and personal problems. To explain Cecil's trust in alchemy, the thesis focuses first on his understanding of nature. It argues that a belief in alchemical transmutation was an essential consequence of an education that emphasised an Aristotelian understanding of the universe. Cecil was therefore receptive of demonstrations of theoretical as well as practical alchemical knowledge. Through an assessment of Cecil's neglected medical patronage, the thesis also argues that he was amongst the first in England to utilise new alchemically based medical treatments. In his role as Elizabeth's chief minister, Cecil administered a number of alchemical projects intended to support both Crown finances and England's industrial competitiveness. In light of Cecil's integral role in these projects, the thesis contends that he saw alchemy as a legitimate method of addressing both his short and long term policy aims. This thesis therefore both provides a more complete understanding of Cecil's patronage and adds to the limited historiography of alchemy in Elizabethan England.</p>