Dissident Renaissance: Rewriting the History of Early Modern Philosophy as Political Practice

The Renaissance has a peculiar status in philosophical historiography: it tends to disappear from the dominant narrative—as Charles Schmitt famously noticed—but it also resurfaces unexpectedly in marginal reception histories. This book casts light on intellectual constellations or geographical areas, which have traditionally been considered peripheral to the emergence of the Renaissance. The case studies presented in the book explore philosophical historiography as a political practice, showing how, in times of cultural crisis or change, the scholarly rediscovery of the Renaissance often served to develop or legitimise an ideal of social, religious or moral reform. Driven by personal concerns and political choices, historiography is revealed as an act of dissent against mainstream reconstructions.

Mario Meliadò is Professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Siegen (Germany). His research focuses on fifteenth-century schools of thought, and the history of modern philosophical historiography. He published a monograph on Heymeric of Campo and late medieval Albertism in 2018, as well as studies on Nicholas of Cusa and Victor Cousin.Cecilia Muratori is Assistant Professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Pavia (Italy). She has published on the role of mysticism for philosophical speculation (The First German Philosopher: The Mysticism of Jakob Böhme as Interpreted by Hegel, 2016), and on the ethical implications of the distinction between humans and animals (Renaissance Vegetarianism: The Philosophical Afterlives of Porphyry’s 'On Abstinence', 2020).