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Invention

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

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Abstract

The recovery of ancient rhetorical sources which took place in fifteenth-century Italy went hand in hand with humanists’ concern for social and political issues. Consequently, humanists’ reappropriation of such authors as Cicero and Quintilian came to broaden Aristotle’s main achievements on rhetoric. Similarly to other practical-oriented disciplines (such as law, medicine, and moral philosophy), rhetoric provided a model for teaching and discussing. Humanists dealt with the most appropriate use of inventio as a tool for building up persuasive discourses. In doing so, they could not eschew from challenging the traditional rhetorical scheme put forward by the leading lights of classical oratory.

Later on, the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century reflection on method emphasized the eminently epistemological nature of inventio, by connecting it to the inductive type of knowledge.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Scienze Umane e Sociali IRPhil, Scuola Normale Superiore, Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento, Florence, Italy

    Nicoletta Gini

  2. Universuté Jean Moulin, Lyon, France

    Nicoletta Gini

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  1. Nicoletta Gini
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Correspondence to Nicoletta Gini .

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  1. University of Verona, Mantova, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

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Gini, N. (2016). Invention. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_1057-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_1057-1

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Invention, Renaissance Idea of
    Published:
    17 October 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_1057-2

  2. Original

    Invention
    Published:
    28 July 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_1057-1

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