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Mystical Theology and Platonism in the Time of Cusanus engages with the history of mystical theology and Neoplatonic philosophy through the lens of the 15th century philosopher and theologian, Nicholas of Cusa. The volume comprises nineteen essays that break down the barriers between medieval and Renaissance studies, reinterpreting Cusanus’ place in the history of thought by exploring the archive that informed his thinking, while also interrogating his works by exploring them from the standpoint of their later reception by modern philosophers and theologians. The volume also offers tribute to the career of Donald F. Duclow, a leading scholar in the field of Cusanus studies in particular and of the history of mystical theology and Neoplatonic philosophy more generally.
In his renowned collection Philosophy as a Way of Life, Pierre Hadot suggests that the original aspect of philosophy as a method by which one exercises oneself to achieve a new way of living and seeing the world fails with the rise of modernity. In that period, philosophy becomes increasingly theoretical, tending toward a system. However, Hadot himself glimpses at the dawn of modernity some instances of the original aspect of philosophy still very much present, and in his wake, Michel Foucault warns that between the late 16th and early 17th centuries the philosophical question of the reform of the mind attests to a still very close link between asceticism and access to truth.

This book aims to develop just such an idea by thoroughly analyzing the most representative works of the reform of the mind in the early modern period: Francis Bacon’s New Organon (1620), René Descartes’ Discourse on the Method (1637), and Baruch Spinoza’s Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect (1677). From this analysis it will emerge that these modern works fully deserve to be counted among the tradition of philosophy as way of life. On closer inspection, the inquiries about method elaborated in these works are fully understandable only when read in the light of a broader and more complex philosophical need: to establish the spiritual conditions for accessing truth and aspiring to full self-realization.
The Quarrel over Swammerdam’s Posthumous Works reconstructs the vicissitudes of Johannes Swammerdam’s Biblia naturae, a pivotal collection of writings in the history of science. Bequeathed to the polymath Melchisédech Thévenot, the manuscripts and drawings of the treatises constituting this collection were instead kept by the editor Hermann Wingendorp after Swammerdam’s death (1680), triggering a quarrel over their publication.

By analysing Swammerdam’s scientific legacy and by offering an edition of the correspondence testifying to the efforts towards such publication, this book sheds light on the editorial history and intellectual context of Swammerdam’s Biblia. This reveals not only an intricate plot of authorized and unauthorized attempts to publish it, but also an exchange of scientific texts and instruments in the late seventeenth century.
In his De peccato originali (1679), Hadriaan Beverland (1650-1716) presented his thesis that sex was the original sin and a vital part of human nature. Building on contemporary insights into the history of the text of the Bible, he criticised the hypocritical attitudes among the religious and social elite of his day concerning the biblical text and sexual morality. The work became notorious in the seventeenth century and led to its author’s banishment. In the eighteenth century, it exerted considerable influence on the way in which many in Europe came to see sexuality.

This annotated edition with English translation also includes a comprehensive introduction that includes a contextualization of the De peccato originali and its impact.
Wie sind die modernen Geistes- und Sozial-, kurz Humanwissenschaften entstanden, was leisten sie und was nicht? Antworten auf diese Frage liefern historisch detaillierte Rekonstruktionen der Weise, wie die Humanwissenschaften Europas in den verschiedenen Stadien ihrer Entwicklung Erkenntnisfortschritte erzielten und aktuell erzielen. Das Buch skizziert hierzu Entwicklungsgeschichten von je vier Schlüsseldisziplinen der Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften: Politikwissenschaft, Wirtschaftswissenschaft, Soziologie, Psychologie; Jurisprudenz, Geschichtswissenschaft, Philologie, Philosophie. Elementare Unterscheidungen des Common Sense dienen dabei als Analyseinstrumente und Wegweiser. Kultur- und wissenschaftshistorisch zweckmäßig verwendet, könnten sie den schwindenden Sinn für die Einheit der Humanwissenschaften in der Vielfalt ihrer Stimmen neu beleben. Das Buch plädiert in diesem Sinne für eine Reform und die Neubelebung allgemeinbildender Klassikerstudien.
Thomas Hobbes and the Theology of the Old Covenant in Early Modern England
Covenant theology was a popular and controversial topic in early modern England. In particular, the biblical old covenant with Moses generated tremendous theological and political debates during the years of the English Civil Wars. And yet, the disciplinary boundaries of historical theology and the history of political thought make it hard to understand why early modern preachers and philosophers wrestled over this topic with such vigour. This interdisciplinary historical theological study explains the development of the covenant theology in the major works of Thomas Hobbes and his contemporaries, including Bishop Robert Sanderson and the puritan and presbyterian circles of the Westminster Assembly.