Der Mensch der Renaissance

by Ágnes Heller

Considering such witnesses of the time as Shakespeare, Dante, Petrarch, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Montaigne, More and Bacon, Agnes Heller looks at both the concept and the image of a Renaissance man. The concept was generalised and accepted by all; its characteristic features were man as a dynamic being, creating and re-creating himself throughout his life. The images of man, however, were very different, having been formed through the ideas and imagination of artists, politicians, philosophers, scientists and theologians and viewed from the different aspects of work, love, fate, death, friendship, devotion and the concepts of space and time. Renaissance Man thus stood as both as a leading protagonist of his time, one who led and formulated the substantial attitudes of his time, and as one who stood as a witness on the sidelines of the discussion. This book, first published in English in 1978, is based on the diverse but equally important sources of autobiographies, works of art and literature, and the writings of philosophers. Although she uses Florence as a starting point, Agnes Heller points out that the Renaissance was a social and cultural phenomenon common to all of Western Europe; her Renaissance Man is thus a figure to be found throughout Europe.

Genres: History, Philosophy

522 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Ágnes Heller was a Hungarian philosopher and lecturer. She was a core member of the Budapest School philosophical forum in the 1960s and later taught political theory for 25 years at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She lived, wrote and lectured in Budapest.

Reviews

[Steve Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the best introduction to what I guess one could call the attitude of the renaissance. Heller's method was an eye-opener for me in that she managed to work out a way of looking at thinkers and doers who were not contemporaries as if they were. She made Shakespeare come alive for me in a new way too, and given that I am a Shakespeare fan, this was an achievement in its own right. A truly searching, courageous and intelligent book, it outstrips any general account of the renaissance I have read by a large margin.

[David Withun · Rating 4 out of 5]

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