History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps HoP 342 - Denis Robichaud on Plato in the Renaissance
Feb 9, 2020
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Rediscovery Changed How Plato Was Read
- The 15th-century recovery of Plato gave Renaissance readers access to the complete corpus for the first time.
- Marcello Ficino's printed Latin translations made Plato widely available and shifted focus from isolated doctrines to dialogue, rhetoric, and fragments.
Ficino's Manuscripts Enabled a Revival
- Ficino owned two of the three surviving complete manuscripts of Plato and corresponded with Cardinal Bessarion.
- His access and printing made the full corpus broadly reachable in the 15th century.
Philology Served Philosophy Differently
- Renaissance humanists combined philology with philosophical aims in different ways.
- Ficino kept technical manuscript work private while using commentaries for hermeneutical and exegetical purposes.