The Epistemology of Vernacular Aristotelianism in Renaissance Italy: The Case of Alessandro Piccolomini

Until ten years ago, the existence of vernacular Aristotelianism as a philosophical movement in the Italian Renaissance was virtually ignored by scholarship. After a series of international research projects, we know much more about the Aristotelian vernacular tradition and of its impact on Renaissance and early modern thought, especially regarding its role in disseminating knowledge, in its settling into informal contexts like academies and artisanal workshops, and also in breaking the boundaries between high and low cultures. Vernacular Aristotelianism changed how Aristotle’s works were read, understood and used, leading to a better grasp of specific disciplines usually ignored, like meteorology, biology, and mechanics, which promoted the transition from the old Aristotelian-Scholastic scientia to early modern science. This transition in a changing world reshaped the epistemology of intellectuals of the time. In this paper, I focus on one of the most brilliant exponents of vernacular Aristotelianism, that is Alessandro Piccolomini (1508–1579), examining the role he played in creating a new epistemology, which reflects on the most important issues that will come to dominate the discussion in the emergence of early modern science.