Primitivism and Related Ideas in the Middle Ages by George Boas

Primitivism and Related Ideas in the Middle Ages by George Boas

"All of us men were born in the first man without vice, and all of us lost the innocence of our nature by the sin of the same man. Thence our inherited mortality, thence the manifold corruptions of body and mind, thence ignorance, distress, useless cares, illicit lusts, sacrilegious errors, empty fear, harmful love, unwarranted joys, punishable counsels, and a number of miseries no smaller than that of our crimes."-St. Prosper of Aquitania, quoted in Primitivism and Related Ideas in the Middle Ages This volume of essays, written by George Boas in collaboration with Arthur O. Lovejoy, was originally intended to be the second in a series of four documenting the history of primitivism and related ideas about goodness in the world. Covering the Middle Ages, these essays underscore the continuity between pagan and Christian cultures with respect to concepts of primitivism and examine the latter period's modifications of a group of favorite classical themes. They demonstrate the growth of primitivism and anti-primitivism from the first through the thirteenth centuries and include a discussion of such subjects as the Noble Savage, earthly paradise, the original condition of human beings, and cynicism and Christianity. They also, as Boas suggests in his preface, "drive the piles for a bridge between the Renaissance and Classical Antiquity, although the superstructure itself remains to be constructed."

[Boas's] discussion of the way in which the Fathers used and modified ancient ideas about the original condition of man or the Golden Age gives a new illustration of the interaction of Christian and classical thoughtTranslations of key passages, often of little-known works, are especially valuable in this respect. American Historical Review One wonders... whether these essays are not more comprehensive-at least in presentation of significant ideas, if not in citation of deservedly obscure writers who may have used them-than Boas' modest and melancholy preface would suggest. Classical Journal

Born in 1891 in Providence, Rhode Island, George Boas taught for many years at Johns Hopkins and was editor of the Journal of the History of Ideas from 1945 until his death in 1980. He authored 24 books, including The Major Traditions of English Philosophy, The Greek Tradition: A Symposium, Rationalism in Greek Philosophy, The Limits of Reason, and The History of Ideas: An Introduction.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780801856105
ISBN 10	0801856108
Title	Primitivism and Related Ideas in the Middle Ages
Author	George Boas
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Johns Hopkins University Press
Year published	1997-09-18
Number of pages	240
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.