Pontano’s Virtues

Matthias Roick is Freigeist Fellow for the History of Ethics, University of Göttingen, Germany.

This is a brilliant study of one of the most versatile minds that the humanist culture of Renaissance Italy has produced. Written in a superb style, Roick presents, for the first time, a comprehensive interpretation of Pontano as a political actor, diplomat, and philosopher, whose work can be seen as a creative rewriting of Aristotelian virtue ethics. To understand the world of Pontano, Roick has crossed different fields of inquiry including philosophy, history, literature, poetry, and astrology, and his book is an excellent guide through this neglected but important territory of intellectual history. It is thereby not only the first book on Pontano as a thinker in his own right. It also makes a convincing case for the inclusion of Renaissance humanism in the study of moral and political philosophy in early-modern Europe.

• IntroductionPart I: The ‘Great Pontano’1. The Storms of Life2. The Haven of PhilosophyPart II: Rewriting Moral Philosophy3. Learned Authority4. Latin PhilosophyPart III: The Secrets of Virtue5. The Rule of Reason6. Beyond the VeilConclusionAppendix 1: Chronology of Pontano's WorksAppendix 2: Chronology pf Pontano's Life and Political EventsAppendix 3: Moral Virtues in Aristotle and PontanoNotesBibliographyIndex