Università Roma Tre

TITLE OF THE COURSE: The pseudo-Augustinian treatise De spiritu et anima (late 12th-early 13th century).

DESCRIPTION: First of all, the course intends to outline, in broad terms, the developments of a theme - that of the soul - dear to the tradition of Western thought since its beginnings, and capable, in addition to incessantly nourishing high-level philosophical and religious reflection, also to have a singular impact on mentalities, on the imaginary, on life conduct, on the self-perception and representation of man in Western culture, and in particular in the Latin Middle Ages. A work will then be analyzed - the De spiritu et anima - of uncertain attribution, datable between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, which enjoyed great success in the Middle Ages, and which - due to its eclectic character, but not lacking of originality - is well suited to provide a complex and problematic status quaestionis on the subject, before the most complete elaborations of Scholasticism. - As part of the module will also be activated exercises designed to guide the knowledge and use of the main electronic resources for the study and research on the Latin authors of the Middle Ages.

Alcherus Claraeuallensis (dubium) [= ps. Augustinus], De spiritu et anima, PL 40, coll. 779-832.

- Anima e corpo nella cultura medievale, C. Casagrande & S. Vecchio (eds.), Ed. SISMEL, Firenze 1999 (Millennio medievale, 15).

Optional readings:

- Studi su anima e corpo. Lessico, idee, figurazioni letterarie e iconografiche nell'Antichità e nell'alto Medioevo, a cura di A. M. Luiselli Fadda e P. Vaciago, Ed. Herder, Roma 2011 (Romanobarbarica, 20).