Sulla religione nello «Spaccio»

This essay intends to illustrate the meaning and importance of religion in Bruno’s philosophy, and in particular in the Spaccio della bestia trionfante, pointing out the deep influence of Machiavelli on Bruno’s position. Alien to Libertinism, Bruno sees in religion the foundation of civic life and the necessary base for a reform of customs as well as of science and philosophy. Drawing on hermetical motifs Bruno, unlike Machiavelli, advances a conception of religion which is connected to magic (and especially to the Egyptians): this is one of the central points of his thought and it was amply developed in his late works.