Subjectivity and Selfhood in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy

This book is a collection of studies on subjectivity and agency in medieval and early modern philosophy. The individual chapters address the topic from the point of view of cognitive psychology and moral psychology. Each of the chapters consists of new, cutting-edge research in the field closely connected to the guiding theme. Thus, instead of a complete overview on the historical period, the book provides detailed glimpses into some of the most important figures and developments. Some examples of the main philosophers discussed are: Augustine, Avicenna, Aquinas, Martin Luther, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz and Hume. Topics covered include perspectives from Islamic intellectual history on losing and finding oneself, subjective experience and self-knowledge, human subjectivity, desires and passions.

Jari Kaukua is an Academy of Finland research fellow at the University of Jyvaskyla. An expert in classical and post-classical Arabic philosophy, he is the author of Self-Awareness in Islamic Philosophy (Cambridge University Press), and has published a number of articles in leading journals of medieval philosophy, including Vivarium and Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica medievale. Tomas Ekenberg is a docent of theoretical philosophy at Uppsala University, Sweden. He specializes in early medieval metaphysics, theories of action and philosophical psychology and their origins in late ancient thought. He has published several articles about Anselm of Canterbury and Augustine of Hippo. Among his recent publications is a contribution to the anthology Augustine's Confessions: Philosophy in Autobiography, edited by William Mann (OUP 2014).