CIRFIM’s general and primary aim is to promote research and studies on medieval philosophy from its late ancient roots until the Renaissance. The approach adopted by CIRFIM is interdisciplinary, in order to study the medieval thought in the different contexts in which it was formed and expressed: not only the philosophical, but also the theological, literary, historical, social, legal, artistic, and musical ones.
The operational lines activated by CIRFIM for its research activities are as follows:
- undertaking research geared mainly to bring to light texts and aspects of the medieval philosophical, theological, and scientific culture that are not sufficiently known and that, because of their importance, can contribute to an ever broader and deeper knowledge and appreciation of medieval thought;
- promoting studies on the transmission of Greek philosophical doctrines, through the Arabic and Jewish learned milieux, to medieval Latin authors;
- analysing, at an interdisciplinary level, the incidence of philosophical concepts in literary production both in Latin and in the national vernacular languages;
- promoting and coordinating research in the political-legal medieval thought, both in relation to the development of doctrines and to the institutional contexts in which doctrines are framed;
- promoting interdisciplinary research on the medieval imagery – both collective and individual – and its evolution.
Details on CIRFIM’s research lines and projects can be found on the respective webpages.