The Paradox of Christian Epicureanism in Dialogue
In light of the troubled reputation of Epicureanism in Northern Renaissance humanism, Erasmus’ reception of this major school of ancient philosophy in works such as On Disdaining the World (De contemptu mundi), the Praise of Folly (Moriae encomium), and in particular his very last colloquy The Epicu...
| Published in: | Erasmus studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2015
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| In: |
Erasmus studies
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| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance TB Antiquity VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Erasmus
Colloquies
Christian Epicureanism
The Epicurean
(Stoic) paradox
dialogue
Cicero
On Disdaining the World
Praise of Folly
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | In light of the troubled reputation of Epicureanism in Northern Renaissance humanism, Erasmus’ reception of this major school of ancient philosophy in works such as On Disdaining the World (De contemptu mundi), the Praise of Folly (Moriae encomium), and in particular his very last colloquy The Epicurean (Epicureus) is unique for exploring the potential compatibility of Epicurean ethics with Christian humanism and Erasmian Philosophia Christi. However, as one of the speakers in The Epicurean exclaims, given Epicureanism’s main tenet of pleasure as the greatest good, its association with a pious life free of sin is “a paradox topping all the paradoxes of the Stoics”. This article argues that in The Epicurean Erasmus associates the paradoxical nature of Christian Epicureanism with the Stoic strategy of expressing moral philosophy in perplexing paradoxes in order to exploit the capacity of the dialogue, in particular its ludic potential, to rearticulate the duality of paradox in opposing dialogical voices. Erasmus’ mimetic colloquy allows the individual reader to deconstruct and reprocess paradoxical wisdom at an inner level in order to persuasively integrate a mentality of pleasure (based on the tenets of Epicureanism) at the core of a pious life (based on the tenets of Philosophia Christi). |
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| Contains: | In: Erasmus studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/18749275-03502003 |