Rhetoric, theory of soul, and Suárez in the 17th-century Hungarian Kingdom

Investigation on the possible philosophical context of a literary phenomenon

Abstract

Since the research of Debora K. Shuger, American literary historian, it is a well-known fact that the so-called stylus grande played an enormous role in the homiletics of the 16^thand 17^thcenturies. Shuger identifies the survival of the Aristotelian theory of soul and the changes in the scheme of inner senses as a philosophical background of this intensely affective rhetorical style, and emphasises the significance of Francisco Suárez.

In the early modern Hungarian literature, especially in Catholic devotional prose, stylus grande also played a key role. My paper aims to examine those school books of philosophy written in the Hungarian Kingdom, which can inform us of the probable knowledge of Catholic devotional authors. I focus on the theory of the inner senses, also taking Suárez's possible impact into account.