Misfortune and virture

Authors

  • Sarissa Carneiro Universidad de Chile

Abstract

This essay aims to analyze the relationship between misfortune and virtue in La Florida del Inca (1605) by the mestizo Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, considering its dialogue with the moral philosophy of the Renaissance, in particular with De remediis utriusque fortunæ (1366) by Francesco Petrarca and Introductio ad sapientiam (1524) by Juan Luis Vives. The analysis emphasizes the importance of the value of misfortune, the consequences of the corruption of judgment, caused by the governance of passions, and the use of Indian wisdom as examples of virtue to Christian readers of the chronicle. Finally, the essay establishes a relationship between the moral positions of the text and its political and philosophical ideals of concord between the Old and New World.

Keywords:

Colonial Latin American Historiography, moral philosophy of the Renaissance, Humanism