The editors invite submissions of abstracts on the theme of "Renaissance Dualisms and Distinctions," to be included as 5,000-word chapters in an edited volume.

Dualism is a philosophical term which attempts to explain facts by reference to two coexistent principles, and is commonly characterized as man's inclination to perceive the world by maintaining unbridgeable contradictions between binaries that cannot be reduced to, and do not necessarily need, each other. Subsequently, dualism sets up a theory of two distinct things that are independent of each other. The term plays an important part in metaphysical, ethical and theological speculation during the Renaissance. Understandings of early modern history, culture, and subjectivity can be, and often have been, viewed dualistically.

This collection will examine the ways in which Renaissance thought interrogates dualistic categories, with particular attention to the implications of this philosophical inclination on the early modern subject. We invite proposed contributions for 5,000-word chapters treating aspects of this theme, to be interpreted as widely as possible. The following list of examples may be used as a starting point but feel free to elaborate:

Material / Immaterial
Self / Other
Word / Image
Subject / Object
Interior / Exterior
Divine / Human
Thought / Action
Good / Evil
Science / Religion
Christ / Church
Secular / Spiritual
Man / Woman
King / Kingdom
Flesh / Spirit

Please send abstracts (in Microsoft Word format) of approx. 250-300 words to the editors, Dr. Mary-Ellen Lynn & Dr. Evan Labuzetta, at the following address: dualismsbook@googlemail.com The deadline for abstract submissions is 30 November 2009.