Doubt and Skepticism in Antiquity and the Renaissance
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Description
This book is an interdisciplinary study of the forms and uses of doubt in works by Homer, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Cicero, Machiavelli, Shakespeare and Montaigne. Based on close analysis of literary and philosophical texts by these important authors, Michelle Zerba argues that doubt is a defining experience in antiquity and the Renaissance, one that constantly challenges the limits of thought and representation. The wide-ranging discussion considers issues that run the gamut from tragic loss to comic bombast, from psychological collapse to skeptical dexterity and from solitary reflection to political improvisation in civic contexts and puts Greek and Roman treatments of doubt into dialogue not only with sixteenth-century texts but with contemporary works as well. Using the past to engage questions of vital concern to our time, Zerba demonstrates that although doubt sometimes has destructive consequences, it can also be conducive to tolerance, discovery and conversation across sociopolitical boundaries.
Link to Catalog
LOC Call Number
BD215 .Z47 2012
ISBN
9781107024656
Publication Date
2012
Department
Department of English
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
City
New York
Recommended Citation
Zerba, Michelle, "Doubt and Skepticism in Antiquity and the Renaissance" (2012).