Varieties of the Self

Peter Abelard and the Mental Architecture of the Paraclete
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-90-04-54083-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 348, 210 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 491 g

Reihe: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History

The Paraclete was founded in 1129. Out of necessity to find a new place to shelter a group of nuns, this female community was created by Peter Abelard (1079–1142) for Heloise of Argenteuil (1090–1164). Varieties of the Self shows how this community was dependent on a network of monasteries, while also representing a formative driving force in the twelfth-century reform, the period of flourishing to which it clearly belonged. The anthropological approach connects different works written by Peter Abelard (hymns, life-rules, letters, biblical commentaries) to views on the female self. What is the perspective on identity, sacrifice, and intentionality within these sources, and how do views on pollution, purity, and sacredness reflect on ethics of body and soul?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hellemans, Babette S

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Mittelalterliche & Scholastische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Praktische Theologie Christliches Leben & Praxis
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 Introduction

2 Anthropology and the Idea of the Paraclete

1 About Rules and Individual Life

2 The Foundation of the Paraclete and the Beginning of Faith

3 The Myth of Institutions: About Systems and Collections

4 Exemplum’s Perplexity

3 Diptych I: Bringing Abelard Home

1 Living Together, or the Creation of the Monastic Myth

2 When Earth and Heaven Meet

3 Is Contempt for the World Possible?

4 Peter the Venerable’s Compassion

5 The Anthropology of Grace

6 Abelard’s Last Years

7 The Illusion of Permanence

8 The Mental Architecture of the Paraclete

9 Is Religion a Category?

4 Diptych II: Architecture of Songs

1 Time, Space, and the Self in the Paraclete

2 God hors jeu

3 Collection and Chaos: The Paraclete Hymns

4 A Changing Light

5 Mary Magdalene’s Stones

6 Jephthah’s Daughter

7 The Child and the Stick, or Mirroring Measures

8 Epilogue

5 Conclusion

Appendix

Peter the Venerable, Letter 115

Heloise of Argenteuil, Letter 167

Selected Hymns from the Hymnarius Paraclitensis, Composed by Peter Abelard

Bibiliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Babette S. Hellemans, Ph.D. (2006), University of Utrecht and EHESS Paris, is lecturer in Medieval and Cultural History at the University of Groningen. She has published monographs, collected volumes, and articles on intellectual history, cultural history, and the history of religion.