<論説>ロレンツォ・ヴァッラの人文主義と『快楽論』 : キリスト教と異教文化の統合

Abstract

イタリア・ルネサンス人文主義における代表的存在であったロレンツォ・ヴァッラの『快楽論』は、問題の書である。それは、しばしば快楽と官能を賛美する古代の「エピクロス主義」の復活と解釈されているが、本稿は、人文主義の歴史背景の認識と、その著作そのものの内容・形式の分析を通じて、むしろ逆にそれが極めて宗教的な書であること、かつまたキリスト教世界において極めて高次の人文主義的水準に達した著作であることを主張する。同時代の人文主義に対決したヴァッラの真摯な姿勢においてこそ、はじめて、キリスト教と古典文化の矛盾のない調和と統合が可能になったと見るべきなのである。一般的な認識とは逆に、我々は同書の中に、怜悧な知性と敬虔な宗教心を認めるべきであると考える。

Lorenzo Valla, one of the most controversial Humanists in the fifteenth century, wrote On Pleasure, or De voluptate, a dialogue written in the style of Humanism. There has been much controversy as to the interpretation of this book since it was published. Some scholars interpreted it as an epicurian book, where sensual pleasure was thought to be pursued by Valla as the most worthwhile of virtues. We must re-examine this dialogue, however, from two standpoints. One is the standpoint based on a history of Humanism from Petrarch and other Humanists in the fourteenth century to Civic Humanists in the early fifteenth century. The other is the standpoint based on analyses of the book per se : the dialogue On Pleasure is, in reality, a produt of rhetoric and oratory. It is of great significance for us to grasp, without losing our intellectual balance, the various views insisted upon in this dialogue, without being partial to the lustful, radical viewpoints of the epicurian interlocutor of the Dialogue. Far from being against Christianity, Valla is, in my opinion, the most pious of all the Renaissance Humanists. Not only as a pursuer of Chiristianity, but also as a pursuer of Humanistic Arts such as rhetoric and oratory, he was the most outstanding Humanist in the world of fifteenth century Humanism.