Work Project 2

Intellect and Geist from the Renaissance to the Modern Era

Zornitsa Radeva

The project examines how modern historiography attempted to translate medieval and Renaissance theories of intellectus in its own terms as theories of Verstand, Vernunft, Geist, entendement, raison, esprit, etc., and represented them as stages in the development of modern reason. It explores the motives behind such representations, the strategies employed to construct them, and the uses to which they were put. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which prevailing representations of medieval or Renaissance “culture”, of Indo-Germanic or Semitic “race”, of German or French “nation”, on the one hand, and theoretical preoccupations of modern philosophy, on the other, converged to color the ancient concept of intellectus and thus warrant it a prominent position in the various historiographical scenarios by means of which modern reason sought its own comprehension and legitimation.