Between Utopia and Dystopia (eBook)

Erasmus, Thomas More, and the Humanist Republic of Letters

Hanan Yoran (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2010
264 Seiten
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-0-7391-3649-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Between Utopia and Dystopia offers a new interpretation of Erasmian humanism. It argues that Erasmian humanism created the identity of the universal and critical intellectual, but that this identity undermined the fundamental premises of humanist discourse. It closely reads several works of Erasmus and Thomas More, employing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of intellectual history, and adopting theoretical insights and methodological procedures from various disciplines.

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The figure of the intellectual looms large in modern history, and yet his or her social place has always been full of ambiguity and ironies. Between Utopia and Dystopia is a study of the movement that created the identity of the universal intellectual: Erasmian humanism. Focusing on the writings of Erasmus and Thomas More, Hanan Yoran argues that, in contrast to other groups of humanists, Erasmus and the circle gathered around him generated the social space_the Erasmian Republic of Letters_that allowed them a considerable measure of independence. The identity of the autonomous intellectual enabled the Erasmian humanists to criticize established customs and institutions and to elaborate a reform program for Christendom. At the same time, however, the very notion of the universal intellectual presented a problem for the discourse of Erasmian humanism itself. It distanced the Erasmian humanists from concrete public activity and, as such, clashed with their commitment to the ideal of an active life. Furthermore, citizenship in the Republic of Letters threatened to lock the Erasmian humanists into a disembodied intellectual sphere, thus undermining their convictions concerning intellectual activity and the production of knowledge. Between Utopia and Dystopia will be of interest to scholars and students interested in Renaissance humanism, early modern intellectual and cultural history, and political thought. It also has much to contribute to debates over the identity, social place, and historical role of intellectuals.

Autor

Hanan Yoran is lecturer in the department of history at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

Inhalt

IntroductionPart I. The Erasmian Republic of LettersChapter 1. Humanism as FormChapter 2. The Construction of the Erasmian Republic of LettersChapter 3. Erasmian Humanism: The Reform Program of the Universal IntellectualPart II. The Erasmian Republic and Its DiscontentsChapter 4. The Politics of a Disembodied HumanistChapter 5. More's Richard III: The Fragility of Humanist DiscourseChapter 6. Utopia and the No-place of the Erasmian RepublicConclusion

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.4.2010
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie des Mittelalters
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• Schlagworte: Early modern philosophy • History and Theory of Philosophy • Humanism • Intellectual history • Literary Studies • Political Philosophy • Renaissance History • Renaissance studies • sixteenth century • theory
• ISBN-10: 0-7391-3649-6 / 0739136496
• ISBN-13: 978-0-7391-3649-2 / 9780739136492