ABSTRACT

Renaissance discussions of philosophical psychology contributed substantially to the development frommedieval to earlymodern conceptions of the humanmind. One of the most inuential issues in this respect was the question of the immortality of the soul, which was perhaps the most hotly debated philosophical issue of the later eenth and early sixteenth century.e debate involved bitter struggles over the interpretation of Aristotle’s account of the intellect, and reached its peak in  when Pietro Pomponazzi (–), one of the leading Aristotelian philosophers of the early sixteenth century, published hisDe immortalitate animae. In this treatise a number of di erent alternatives that can be adopted in order to explain human nature are systematically outlined. From Pomponazzi’s approach, it seems as if he thought that his taxonomy provided a comprehensive overview of the philosophical positions, which he and his contemporaries had to take into account. e treatise thus provides an interesting approach to Renais-

* Earlier dras of this chapter were presented to audiences in Uppsala and Helsinki, and beneted from numerous helpful comments and criticisms. I am particularly grateful to Lilli Alanen and Jill Kraye for their valuable suggestions.