The Italian Mind: Vernacular Logic in Renaissance Italy (1540-1551)

Acknowledgments vii
Sources and Abbreviations ix
1. Introduction 1
Logic in Context 1
Vernacular in Context 10
Prospectus 19
2. Language, Vernacular and Philosophy 23
\'Res\' vs. \'Verba\' 23
The Shadow of Pomponazzi 31
The Accademia degli Infiammati 41
3. Sperone Speroni between Language and Logic 45
Wisdom and Eloquence 45
Speroni’s Pomponazzi 58
Speroni’s Most Loyal Disciple: Bernardino Tomitano 65
4. Benedetto Varchi and the Idea of a Vernacular Logic (1540) 71
Aristotelian Anthropology 71
Varchi’s Logical Library 79
Varchi’s Logic at the Accademia degli Infiammati 81
The Universals 106
Method and Order 111
An Anonymous Dialogue 120
5. Antonio Tridapale and the First Vernacular Logic (1547) 127
Antonio Tridapale and Knowledge as Power 127
The Elements of Logic 133
The Operations of Logic 142
6. Nicolò Massa’s Logic for Natural Philosophy (1549) 154
Nicolò Massa between Philosophy and Medicine 154
The Elements of Argumentation 158
Scientific Demonstration 168
7. Alessandro Piccolomini’s Instrument of Philosophy (1551) 175
Piccolomini in Padua 175
A New Instrument 186
The Structure of Logic 195
Logic for Natural Philosophy 205
8. Conclusion 213
Vernacular and Logic 213
The Logician in the Printing Presses 219
Bibliography 229
Index 241