The Philosophy of Love

About the Book

Patrizi’s Philosophy of Love is both a remarkably detailed description of one of the most famous woman scholars of the sixteenth century, Tarquinia Molza, and also a strikingly modern elucidation of the origins of love. Nearly one-half of the book is devoted to a detailed description of Molza, her education, her talents as a musician, poet, and philosopher. In the second half of the book, Molza “teaches” Patrizi her philosophy of love: that "all love emanates from the love we have for ourselves.” Readers interested in both the status of women in the Renaissance as well as those interested in the early roots of contemporary “self-psychology” will find this book illuminating.

About the Author

Francesco Patrizi (1529-1597) was one of the great philosophers of the Renaissance and contributed to a wide range of topics, including the nature of history, rhetoric, poetry, music, and, in his final work, a “new universal philosophy” which attempted to bridge ideological chasms among all religions. For one with such wide-ranging views, and hence under the watchful eye of the censors, he was remarkably successful in obtaining the patronage of noblemen, such as Duke Alfonso II, and churchmen such as Pope Clement VIII. He was the most prominent proponent of Plato's philosophy in his time.