The Transformations of ‘Renaissance Aristotelianisms’: The Case of Johannes Eck’s Commentary on the Corpus Aristotelicum

Abstract

ABSTRACT Interdisciplinary research into the history of philosophy and theology has shown that ‘Renaissance Aristotelianism’ is a complex, variegated, and contradictory phenomenon. One should rather speak of ‘Renaissance Aristotelianisms.’ In this article, I analyze Johannes Eck’s commentaries to the Corpus Aristotelicum. I show how Eck absorbs and reinterprets the transformations, which occurred in the Peripatetic tradition throughout the fifteenth century. The harmonization of Platonism and Aristotelianism and the belief that central aspects of Christian doctrine such as the immortality of the soul and creation ex nihilo can be demonstrated through philosophy emerge as distinctive features of these texts.