Giordano Bruno : an introduction / Paul Richard Blum ; translated from the German by Peter Henneveld.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blum, Paul Richard.

Contributor:

Henneveld, Peter.

Series:

Value inquiry book series ; v. 254.

Values in Italian philosophy

Value inquiry book series, 0929-8436 ; v. 254

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophers--Italy--Biography.

Philosophers.

Italy.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

viii, 128 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Rodopi, 2012.

Summary:

Volume number 254 in this series on ethics and philosophy describes the life and philosophy of Giordiano Bruno. The author, Paul Richard Blum, wrote in German in an academic style; the translation by Peter Henneveld cleaves to the literal. This is true of sentence structure as well as word choice, so the translation is accurate rather than easy. Bruno was a prodigal and eccentric visionary who became famous for believing in atoms and life on other planets, for confronting the Catholic church as a theologian (he was hardly more popular with Protestants), for defending Copernicus, and ultimately for being burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600. (He could use a popular biographer.) Blum serves a different purpose, creating a scholarly volume whose goal is to help the reader understand Bruno's faith and philosophy. As the author points out, Bruno's ideas are not easy to pigeonhole, and they can be difficult to understand; he made a name for himself by demolishing the neat, scholastic, Aristotelian solutions of his era, and chewing on complexity with prophetic relish. The book also gives an outline of the history of Bruno's travels across Europe. Unlike most working intellectuals of his era, Bruno came from a poor background and never found a lasting home or patron. He had the misfortune to live in an era of conflict between Catholics and Protestants. Unwilling to keep silent, and unable to fit his beliefs to the acceptable party line of either side, he stayed mostly in motion. Blum's book works hard to keep up with him. It will be of most use to students and specialist scholarly readers in the history of philosophy. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Pleasant Campania : education before and in the convent

Fleeing into exile

Northern Italy, Geneva, Tououse : astronomy as a means of earning a living

Paris : the power of memory

Off to London : satire, metaphysics, and ethics in Italian

God is not idle : infinite possibilities and infinite reality

Religion and ethics for the people and the hero

Return to Paris : challenging mathematics and Aristotelianism

"Houses of wisdom" in Germany : history, magic, and atomism

Off to Venice : the trial of the heretic

Afterlife : from heretic to hermeticist.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [119]-121) and index.

ISBN:

9789042035553

9042035552

OCLC:

808421166