Tommaso Campanella : Ethica : Quaestiones super ethicam [Book Review]

Abstract

The growing body of historical and philosophical scholarship on Renaissance philosophers owes much to the greater availability of primary sources. Some philosophers have been pulled out of oblivion thanks to first or modern editions of their works, rare exemplars of which languished in archives for centuries. Such was the fate of Tommaso Campanella, whose works have a history almost as singular and tragic as their author. Constant censorship and an imprisonment that lasted for most of his adult life had seriously hampered the publication and circulation of the Calabrian philosopher’s works. The conditions under which some of these texts saw the light of day during his lifetime (not without great effort and admirable stubbornness) made it almost inevitable that the result would be a fragmented collection of writings that failed to expose their unitary character. With good reason, in his last years spent peacefully in Paris, Campanella’s most urgent concern was to tend to the publication of his opera omnia. This project was interrupted by his sudden death in 1639 and remained only very partially completed. [Excerpt]