Myths of Renaissance Individualism

Martin (history, Trinity U.) explores how men and women of the Renaissance experienced and understood the relation of inwardness or interiority, to the vast social, political, cultural, and religious worlds outside themselves. He also considers the more abstract assumptions they held about the self. His conclusion is that four or five hundred years ago, European men and women made assumptions about identity that were radically different from modern assumptions, but that were equally varied and dynamic. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR