De Anima Intelligente: Theories of Cognition in Jesuit Parisian Course Notes (1564-1610)

Long overlooked and often misunderstood, Renaissance philosophy has been described by Dame Frances A. Yates as a "no man's land" between the medieval and the modern. While standard narratives tend to leap from the end of scholasticism to the dawn of modern philosophy, this book pauses to ask: what happened in between? Focusing on Jesuit classrooms in 16th-century Paris, it uncovers the theories of cognition taught to generations of students. In doing so, it brings to light a vital-yet often forgotten-chapter in the history of ideas, revealing how Renaissance scholasticism helped shape the intellectual foundations of the modern age.