This book offers a re-evaluation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, the prominent Italian Renaissance philosopher and prince of Concord. It argues that Pico is part of a history of attempted concordance between philosophy and theology, reason and faith. His contribution is a syncretist theological philosophy based on Christianity, Platonism, Aristotelianism and Jewish Kabbalism. After an introduction, Chapter 2 discusses Pico's career, his power-relations and his work, Chapters 3 and 4 place his three pillars of Platonism, Aristotelianism and Kabbalism in their historical context, examines shared histories, and introduces the scholars around Pico who contributed so much in each of these traditions (introducing, for example, Christian Kabbalism), including exploring Pico's complex relationship with Marsilio Ficino. Chapter 5 examines the problems of concordance within Pico's cosmology and metaphysics, including the question of God and the role of the Intellect. Chapter 6 describes Pico's'exceptionalist' version of the mystical ascent as an individualized ascetic experience. Pico eschews the contemporary desire to use a renewed christian thinking or christian-classical metaphysics to change the world (towards a Golden Age or a 'second coming') to present a personal path to God, with no return to the world.

Dr Sophia Howlett is President of School for International Training (SIT), USA, and the author of Marsilio Ficino and His World (2016).

Autorentext

Dr Sophia Howlett is President of School for International Training (SIT), USA, and the author of Marsilio Ficino and His World (2016).

Inhalt
Preface
IntroductionA Contested SitePico's Contribution
Chapter 1: Life and WorksFamily and educationThe rise and fall of a public lifeA private life?Pico's deathBuilding the mythWorks
Chapter 2: Pico's Intellectual Context Aristotle, Plato and Pico's SyncretismThe question of allegianceAristotelianismPlatonismHumanismSyncretismThe prisca theologia and mathematical philosophical-mysticism
Chapter 3: The Third Pillar Pico and KabbalismIntroduction to KabbalismThe History of KabbalismKey TextsPico and Kabbalism
Chapter 4: Pico's UniverseGod as the Ein-SofGod's LoveThe Angelic MindThe Active IntellectPopulating the Angelic MindCelestial and natural worlds
Chapter 5: The way homeMutability and self-fashioningOur anatomyImmortality of the soulAscentLove and beautyJacob's Ladder
Conclusion