Self in Premodern Thought
From Antiquity to the Renaissance in Europe
Self in Premodern Thought
From Antiquity to the Renaissance in Europe
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Hardback
£95.00
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781009568388
Number of Pages: 320
Published: 30/04/2026
The Self in Premodern Thought reconfigures the historical study of the self, which has typically been treated in disciplinary silos. Bringing multiple disciplinary perspectives into conversation with each other, it broadens the discussion to include texts and forms of writing outside the standard philosophical/theological canon. A distinguished group of contributors, from philosophy, classics, theology, history, and comparative literature, explores a wide range of texts that greatly expand our understanding of how selfhood was conceived in the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods. The essays in this groundbreaking collection range from challenging new perspectives on well-known authors and texts, such as Plato and Augustine, to innovative explorations of forms of writing that have rarely been discussed in this context, such as drama, sermons, autobiographical writing, and liturgy.
The self in premodern thought: from antiquity to the renaissance in Europe José Luis Bermúdez and Catherine Conybeare (eds.); 1. Introduction José Luis Bermúdez and Catherine Conybeare; 2. Framing (some) self in the Platonic dialogues M. M. McCabe; 3. Aristotle's multiple selves José Luis Bermúdez; 4. Self-harm and the death drive Simon Goldhill; 5. Augustine and the origins of the self Catherine Conybeare; 6. The Sinful self: formation and transformation Abigail Firey; 7. Turning inward and outward: two medieval approaches to the self Dominik Perler; 8. The Hesychast self: interiority and embodied perfection in the anthropology of Gregory Palamas Alexis Torrance; 9. Renaissance individualism revisited: Petrarch, Boccaccio, and the emergence of the humanist relational self Gur Zak; 10. Free will a fortress: the self in Spanish renaissance drama Hilaire Kallendorf; 11. Beyond consciousness: Locke's sources for the self Patrick J. Connolly; 12. A Decaying Carcass? Mary Astell on the body Colin Chamberlain.
