Danijela Kambaskovic, a Research Associate with the ARC Centre for the History of Emotions (CHE), recently completed editing Conjunctions of Mind, Soul and Body from Plato to the Enlightenment, now published in the Springer History of the Philosophy of Mind series.
Kambaskovic describes the book as a place of ‘enjoyment and enlightenment’, where eighteen authors from Australia, Belgium, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore could transcend their borders to address a complex subject together.
The book examines connections between the corporeal, emotional, spiritual and intellectual aspects of human life as represented in the writing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
“This was essentially a blue sky project which brought together an incredible team of academic researchers working in a number of different disciplines – pure philosophy, theology, history, literature, history of science, art history. We were honoured that they were intrigued and agreed to come on board.
“Every author saw the answer to the question of where the body, mind and soul meet from within their own discipline and time period. As each essay fulfills its own philosophical concerns, the reader is exposed to different perspectives that create a unique, enriching experience.”
“As our research nowadays is characterised by relentless narrowing of topics, I think it was important to find a subject which allowed academic examination of broader frameworks of pure philosophy and theology within the contexts of gender in society, morality, sexuality and medical knowledge, and over a period spanning more than twenty centuries,” Kambaskovic said.
Completed over four years, the book is dedicated to the memory of the beloved late Director of CHE, Winthrop Professor Philippa Maddern, who contributed to a poignant essay on late-medieval English doctrines on the relationship of the body and soul on Earth and in the afterlife.
Kambaskovic, formerly an Assistant Professor and award-winning poet, taught Shakespeare and Renaissance Studies at The University of Western Australia. Currently, she is working on a book about the cultural history of love and its pre-modern literary genres titles, The New Life: Love Written in the First Person and the European Renaissance.
Conjunctions of Mind, Soul and Body from Plato to the Enlightenment is available for order here.