Abstract

PERINO, Alejo. El problema de la vida activa y la vida contemplativa en los inicios del Renacimiento. Prismas [online]. 2023, vol.27, n.1, pp.31-48.  Epub Dec 06, 2023. ISSN 1852-0499.  http://dx.doi.org/10.48160/18520499prismas27.1357.

The question of the active life and the contemplative life in the early Renaissance

The intention of this article is to examine an overview of the concepts of “active life” and “contemplative life” in the first humanists of the Renaissance. For this purpose, we first concentrate on some important antecedents from Antiquity, such as are found in the work of Cicero and Macrobius. In the following section, we analyze the transformations that occurred during the Middle Ages, in particular the increasing tension between a conception of ways of life or genera vivendi, and a hierarchical conception of spiritual steps. Finally, we study some of Francesco Petrarch’s and Leonardo Bruni’s works, two important authors who founded the principles of Renaissance humanism in order to compare their opinions about the problem of the active and contemplative life. On the basis of the analysis of the De vita solitaria and other texts, we attempt to demonstrate that Petrarch intended to build a synthesis between the conceptions of ways of life and the spiritual steps. Although Leonardo Bruni shared the ideal of balance, he did not adhere to the hierarchical conception. To demonstrate this, we will analyze his Vite di Dante e Petrarca and his Epistle ix, 2 (to Lauro Quirino).

Keywords : Active life; Contemplative life; Petrarch; Leonardo Bruni.

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