The Concept of Contraction in Giordano Bruno's Philosophy

ISBN-13: 9781138264823 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 220 str.

Leo Catana

Opis

Through the concept of contraction, Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) endeavoured to explain the relationship of God to his Creation in a way that conformed with his pantheistic view of nature as well as his heterodox view of man’s relationship to God. Bruno denied the efficacy of the several psychical, psychological and medical states traditionally thought to aid contemplation and noetic ascent towards God. In his view the only means was philosophical contemplation, the use of memory being one important form. Philosophical contemplation elevated the mind from the fragmented multiplicity of sense impressions to an understanding of the principles governing the sensible world. This publication is the first book-length study dedicated to concept of contraction in Bruno’s philosophy. Moreover, it explores his sources for this concept.

Recenzje

'... a highly erudite, specialized work of scholarship that is well conceived and constructed... Catana does an excellent job making sense of the complexity inherent in many aspects of Bruno's metaphysics: for this readers of Bruno should be most appreciative.' Renaissance Quarterly

Spis treści

Contents: Introduction. Part 1 Bruno's Concept of Contraction: Methods facilitating noetic ascent; Contraction as an ontological concept; Contraction and noesis; Contraction and memory. Part 2 Sources of Bruno's Concept of Contraction: Physiologically induced contraction; The scholastic tradition of contraction; Cusanus and the scholastic tradition of contraction. Conclusion; Bibliography; Indexes.

O autorze

Leo Catana is from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.