The Renaissance Philosophy of Man

Description

The purpose of this volume is to acquaint the student of philosophy with certain major thinkers of the early Italian Renaissance through English translations of some of their more important works. To understand any author, the best way is to read his writings in the original, the second best is to read them in a faithful translation, and the worst is to rely upon short summaries found in reference works or in textbooks. Most of the treatises included in this volume have never before been published in an English version: The only exceptions are certain letters of Petrarca; Pico’s Oration, of which another translation appeared last year in View magazine, long after the present one had been ready for publication; and Pomponazzi’s treatise on immortality, the present translation of which, now out of print, was published privately in 1938 at Haverford, Pennsylvania, and is now republished with the translator’s permission and in a revised version approved by him. It is hoped that these translations will prove useful even to those able to read the original texts, especially since some of the latter are not easily accessible.
While this volume was being prepared for publication, one of the editors who had taken an active part in its planning suddenly passed away. The death of Ernst Cassirer will be a serious loss for the readers of this volume since he had promised to contribute a general introduction from his pen. Conscious that they are not able to supply what he left undone, the remaining editors have tried to fill the gap as well as they could.
PAUL OSKAR KRISTELLER
JOHN HERMAN RANDALL, JR.