Constant minds : political virtue and the Lipsian paradigm in England, 1584-1650 / Adriana McCrea.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCrea, Adriana Alice Norma, 1951- author.

Series:

Mental and cultural world of Tudor and Stuart England.

Mental and Cultural World of Tudor and Stuart England

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lipsius, Justus, 1547-1606--Influence.

Lipsius, Justus.

Philosophy, English--16th century.

Philosophy, English.

Philosophy, English--17th century.

Stoics.

Constancy.

Virtue.

Political science--Philosophy.

Political science.

England--Intellectual life--16th century.

England.

England--Intellectual life--17th century.

Genre:

Livres numeriques.

History.

e-books.

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (375 p.)

Place of Publication:

Toronto, [Ontario] ; Buffalo, [New York] ; London, [England] : University of Toronto Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In response to the crisis provoked by the Wars of Religion in Europe in the sixteenth century, the Flemish philosopher Lipsius developed a synthesis of stoic morality and Tacitean political analysis called 'the Lipsian paradigm,' or neostoicism. The paradigm espoused the adaptation to prevailing political circumstances, the practice of 'mixed prudence,' (knowing the circumstances in which to apply deceit) and the use of historical example as a guide to contemporary action as political virtues.Constant Minds investigates the reception and use of Lipsian ideas in the moral, political, and literary culture of late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century England through examination of the writings and activities of Walter Ralegh, Francis Bacon, Fulke Greville, Ben Jonson, and Joseph Hall. Adriana McCrea demonstrates how this continental school of thought permeated the political ideas of these English writers, and places her study in the contexts of the literary conventions of the humanist tradition, the political events of the time, and the activities and circles of the authors themselves. McCrea's study fuses intellectual history with political history and literary analysis, prompting new questions about the nature of English Renaissance humanism and political perception in England during the early modern period.

Contents:

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A NOTE ON TEXTS, SOURCES, TRANSLATIONS, AND CONVENTIONS

PROLOGUE: RECOVERING THE LIPSIAN PARADIGM

Introduction: Justus Lipsius and the Doctrine of Constancy

Seneca, Tacitus, and the Moral Universe of Neostoicism

The Linguistic Universe of Neostoicism

The Politics of Neostoicism

Doctrine: The Method of Constancy

Neostoicism in France

Lipsius and English Humanism

Chapter 1 The Constant Courtier: Sir Walter Ralegh in Jacobean England

Ralegh and the vita activa

Ralegh on Seneca and TacitusRalegh and Political Prudence

Ralegh's Legacy

Chapter 2 Francis Bacon and the Advancement of Constancy

Bacon and the Crisis in Learning

Bacon and the Crisis in Humanism

The Advancement of Learning as Apologia for Tacitism

Bacon and the Stoics

Bacon on Fortune, Virtue, and Prudence

Bacon and the vita contemplativa

Chapter 3 The Constant Friend: Fulke Greville's Life after Sidney

Greville and the vita activa

Right Reason and Grevillean Constancy

Greville, Knowledge, and Prudence

Greville, Virtue, and CounselGreville, Authority, and Obedience

Chapter 4 A Neostoic Scout: Ben Jonson and the Poetics of Constancy

Life and Circle

Learning, Humanism, and Religion: Jonson's Road to Constancy

Politics and the Poetry of Constancy

Chapter 5 Joseph Hall and 'That Proud Inconstant Lipsius': The English Face of Neostoicism?

The Making of 'our English Seneca'

Competing Moral Paradigms: Hall versus Bacon

Hall and Theophrastus versus Tacitus

Hall, Obedience, and Authority

EPILOGUE: CONSTANCY IN THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION

Notesbibliography

index

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Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-282-00313-5

9786612003134

1-4426-7328-1

OCLC:

944178277