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Zwinger, Theodor

Born: 2 August 1533, Basel

Died: 10 March 1588, Basel

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

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Abstract

Humanist, physician, philosopher, and polymath, Theodor Zwinger first studied under the anti-Aristotelian Petrus Ramus in Paris and later in the bastion of Aristotelianism in Padua. He became one of the most influential late humanists of Basel. He published commentaries on Galen and Hippocrates and commentaries on Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and Politics. He is also the author of books on ethics, history, and travel. Despite his earlier dissent with Paracelsianism, he later accepted certain Paracelsian concepts. His book entitled Theatrum humanae vitae, comprising thousands of pages of “encyclopedical” contemporary knowledge, was extremely influential up until the beginning of the eighteenth century.

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References

Primary Literature

  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1561. In Galeni Librum De Constitutione Artis Medicae, Tabulae et Commentarii. Basileae: Oporinus.

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  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1563. Opera omnia Francisci Catanei Diacetii Patricii Florentini, Philosophi Summi. Basileae: Petri et Perna.

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  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1565. Theatrum vitae humanae, omnium fere eorum, quae in hominem cadere possunt, bonorum atque malorum exempla historica, ethicae philosophiae praeceptis accomodata, et in XIX. libros digesta […]. Basileae: Frobenius.

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  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1566. Aristotelis Stagiritae De Moribus ad Nicomachum Libri Decem. Basileae: Oporinus.

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  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1575. Morum philosophia poetica. Basileae: Episcopius.

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  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1579. Hippocratis Coi Asclepiadeae gentis sacrae coryphaei Viginti duo Commentarii Tabulis illustrate. Basileae: Episcopius.

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  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1586. Theatrum humanae vitae […]. Tertiatione nouem voluminibus locupletatum, interpolatum, renouatum. Basileae: Episcopius.

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  • Zwinger, Theodor. 1610. Physiologia Medica. Basileae: Henricpetri.

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Secondary Literature

  • Blair, Ann. 2005. Historia in Zwinger’s Theatrum Humanae Vitae. In Historia. Empiricism and erudition in early Modern Europe, ed. Gianna Pomata and Nancy G. Siraisi, 269–296. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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  • Portmann, Marie-Luise. 1987. Paracelsus Im Urteil von Theodor Zwinger. Nova Acta Paracelsica. Neue Folge 2: 15–32.

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  • Zedelmaier, Helmut. 2008. Navigieren im Textuniversum. Theodor Zwingers Theatrum vitae humanae. In Dimensionen der Theatrum-Metapher in der Frühen Neuzeit. Ordnung und Representation von Wissen, ed. Flemming Schock, Oswald Bauer, and Ariane Koller, 113–135. Hannover: Wehrhahn.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Renaissance Texts, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Palacky University, Křížkovského 12, 771 81, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    Tomáš Nejeschleba

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  1. Tomáš Nejeschleba
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Correspondence to Tomáš Nejeschleba .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Verona, Mantova, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Philosophy, Loyola University Maryland, 4501 N. Charles Street, MD 21210, Baltimore, USA

    Paul Richard Blum

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Nejeschleba, T. (2017). Zwinger, Theodor. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_574-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_574-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

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