SOPHIE DE CONDORCET (1764-1822) THEMES ON THIS PAGE:  1. CAUSES OF SYMPATHY 2. FRIENDSHIP 3. THE PLEASURES OF MORALITY Sophie de Condorcet (1764-1822), born Marie-Louise-Sophie de Grouchy, was a French writer, translator, and hostess of an intellectual salon in Paris, where she was well-connected with important thinkers of the day. Her husband was the Marquis Nicolas de Condorcet, a mathematician and philosopher, and the couple shared many political and intellectual interests. During the “Reign of Terror” he was arrested and was found dead...

MARSILIO FICINO Beauty is the harmony which love desires Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) was a major Italian Neo-Platonist philosopher of the Renaissance. He was born near Florence, spent most of his career under the patronage of the Medici family, and was also the tutor of Lorenzo the Magnificent. For Ficino, the task of the philosopher is to interpret and develop historical treasures of wisdom, since wisdom gradually manifests itself through history. He saw himself as a Platonist, although he went far beyond...

   TULLIA d'ARAGONA The impossible desire to merge with the beloved Tullia d'Aragona (1510–1556) was an Italian poet and philosopher. Like her mother, she was a courtesan (a court lady, companion of powerful persons), and was lucky to be born during a limited period of time when courtesans were given relative economic and social freedom. (Later in her life, Italian society became more conservative.) As a child, she was educated in the classical humanities by a Cardinal who was probably her...