Socrates or on Human Knowledge: Bilingual Edition (Studies and Texts in Scepticism) (English and Italian Edition) (Studies and Texts in Scepticism, 8)

Open Access __Socrates, Or On Human Knowledge__, published in Venice in 1651, is the only work written by a Jew that contains so far the promise of a genuinely sceptical investigation into the validity of human certainties. Simone Luzzatto masterly developed this book as a pièce of theatre where Socrates, as main actor, has the task to demonstrate the limits and weaknesses of the human capacity to acquire knowledge without being guided by revelation. He achieved this goal by offering an overview of the various and contradictory gnosiological opinions disseminated since ancient times: the divergence of views, to which he addressed the most attention, prevented him from giving a fixed definition of the nature of the cognitive process. This obliged him to come to the audacious conclusion of neither affirming nor denying anything concerning human knowledge, and finally of suspending his judgement altogether. This work unfortunately had little success in Luzzatto’s lifetime, and was subsequently almost forgotten. The absence of substantial evidence from his contemporaries and that of his epistolary have thus increased the difficulty of tracing not only its legacy in the history of philosophical though, but also of understanding the circumstances surrounding the writing of his Socrates. The present edition will be a preliminary study aiming to shed some light on the philosophical and historical value of this work’s translation, indeed it will provide a broader readership with the opportunity to access this immensely complicated work and also to grasp some aspects of the composite intellectual framework and admirable modernity of Venetian Jewish culture in the ghetto.

The series Studies and Texts in Scepticism contains monographs, translations, and collected essays exploring scepticism in its dual manifestation as a purely philosophical tradition and as a set of sceptical strategies, concepts, and attitudes in the cultural field - especially in religions, perhaps most notably in Judaism. In such cultural contexts scepticism manifests as a critical attitude towards different dimensions and systems of secular or revealed knowledge and towards religious and political authorities. It is not merely an intellectual or theoretical worldview, but a critical form of life that expresses itself in such diverse phenomena as religion, literature, and society.

Further book series of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies are Jewish Thought, Philosophy, and Religion and the Yearbook of the Maimonides Centre for Advances Studies.

Contents 5 Preface 7 Introduction 9 Synopsis of Socrates, Or On Human Knowledge 23 Chronology 27 Note on the Text 29 Socrates, Or On Human Knowledge 34 Serenissimo prencipe et eccellentissimo collegio 34 Al benigno lettore 36 Argomento 38 Accusa contra socrate everssore dell’humane dottrine 48 Discolpa di socrate 52 Si propone ciò che si deve deliberare circa socrate 490 The Deceit of the Senses: Sight and the Mirror 528 What Does Philosopher à l’antique Mean to Simone Luzzatto? 538 Bibliography 550 Index of Names and Places 570 Index of Sources 573 Index of Major Topics 578 Socrates, Or On Human Knowledge is the first sceptical treatise of the early modern period to be written by a Jew. This work, written in the vernacular and signed by the author describing himself as a ?Venetian Jew,? must be considered a key work for investigating the intensive transfer of knowledge between Jews and Christians and as a mirror of the contemporary philosophical leanings and social and political changes.