The Grammar of Angels - A Search for the Magical Powers of Language

Does there exist a form of speech so powerful as to allow the speaker to control the listener, taking over their thoughts and even their will? The Grammar of Angels tells the story of Renaissance prodigy and polymath Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, the uncontested marvel of an age of true wonders. Pico dedicated his life to a quest to find the sublime; to reconcile all existing thought into a philosophy that would settle the most important questions about human existence. This philosophy would also provide tools by which man could transcend his mortal limitations and join the ranks of the angels. At the heart of Pico''s ideas were questions that he traced through the depth and breadth of human thought, from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to the medieval Arabs and Jews. He made use of everything at his disposal from Europe''s broadening horizons and asked primal questions of himself and the world. Why is it that we can be astonished by beauty? That the hairs on the backs of our necks can be made to stand by intoxicating rhythms and harmonies? That we can be provoked to ecstatic experiences by the simple means of an incantation? In Catholic Italy, the implications of this line of thought were dangerous and provoked violent reactions, suggesting as they did that the notion of the individual might be just as much of an illusion as a flat earth or a geocentric universe. That there may well be notions of the divine other than the Christian God. During a tempestuous life at the exquisite heart of the Italian Renaissance, Pico''s life is a testament to intellectual daring, to a human dignity founded in the willingness to think the unthinkable and to peer over the edge of the abyss in search of answers.

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Edward Wilson-Lee, Wilson-Lee Edward
• Editore: William Collins
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 30.01.2025
• EAN: 9780008621797
• ISBN: 978-0-00-862179-7
• Dimensioni: 128 mm x 240 mm x 26 mm
• Categorie: Saggistica > Filosofia, religione > Biografie, autobiografie; Scienze umane, arte, musica > Storia > Età moderna fino al 1918; NON-CLASSIFIABLE, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General, BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Occultism, florence, PHILOSOPHY / History & Surveys / Renaissance, c 1000 CE to c 1500, Biography: religious and spiritual, Magic, spells and alchemy, Magic, spells & alchemy, Biography: philosophy and social sciences, HISTORY / Europe / Renaissance, Stationery and miscellaneous items, Miscellaneous items, c 1400 to c 1499 (period of the Italian Renaissance), Medieval Western philosophy