John Case and Aristotelianism in Renaissance England

This perceptive study of John Case, teacher of philosophy at Oxford from the mid-1560s until his death in 1600 and author of expositions of Aristotle which became standard textbooks of the time, focuses on his intellectual and cultural milieu and reveals

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Dr. Schmitt shows that Case was heir to both the traditions of scholastic interpretation of Aristotle and the new humanistic currents, that his Aristotelianism was strongly eclectic, and that he drew heavily upon Renaissance Neoplatonic and other intellectual traditions in compiling well-rounded philosophical manuals adapted to his age. Schmitt argues that, even though Case was the prime representative of peripatetic thought during Elizabeth's reign, he forged strong links with leading figures in such areas of English culture as drama, literature, art, and music, as well as with important ecclesiastical and political figures. He also contends that Aristotelian philosophy had a much more central position in England than has been previously admitted. Case's position in the scholastic revival which marked late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century English intellectual life is charted, and the historical reality of this revival is firmly established.