{"product_id":"magic-and-the-dignity-of-man-pico-della-mirandola-and-his-oration-in-modern-memory-9780674238268","title":"Magic and the Dignity of Man: Pico Della Mirandola and His Oration in Modern Memory","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"This book is nothing less than the definitive study of a text long considered central to understanding the Renaissance and its place in Western culture.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--James Hankins, Harvard University\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePico della Mirandola died in 1494 at the age of thirty-one. During his brief and extraordinary life, he invented Christian Kabbalah in a book that was banned by the Catholic Church after he offered to debate his ideas on religion and philosophy with anyone who challenged him. Today he is best known for a short speech, the \u003ci\u003eOration on the Dignity of Man, \u003c\/i\u003e written in 1486 but never delivered. Sometimes called a \"Manifesto of the Renaissance,\" this text has been regarded as the foundation of humanism and a triumph of secular rationality over medieval mysticism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBrian Copenhaver upends our understanding of Pico's masterwork by re-examining this key document of modernity. An eminent historian of philosophy, Copenhaver shows that the \u003ci\u003eOration\u003c\/i\u003e is not about human dignity. In fact, Pico never wrote an \u003ci\u003eOration on the Dignity of Man\u003c\/i\u003e and never heard of that title. Instead he promoted ascetic mysticism, insisting that Christians need help from Jews to find the path to heaven--a journey whose final stages are magic and Kabbalah. Through a rigorous philological reading of this much-studied text, Copenhaver transforms the history of the idea of dignity and reveals how Pico came to be misunderstood over the course of five centuries. \u003ci\u003eMagic and the Dignity of Man\u003c\/i\u003e is a seismic shift in the study of one of the most remarkable thinkers of the Renaissance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Brian P. Copenhaver\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Belknap\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 704\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.40h x 6.10w x 2.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780674238268\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCopenhaver, Brian P.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Brian P. Copenhaver is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and History at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he directed the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Belknap","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44185107398771,"sku":"9.78067E+12","price":115.09,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/files\/img_b5825a66-6402-4386-aba1-de38a0f26eb7.jpg?v=1767100511","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/magic-and-the-dignity-of-man-pico-della-mirandola-and-his-oration-in-modern-memory-9780674238268","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}