Homo totus anima est scripta. Scrittura e terapia nel De vita propria di Girolamo Cardano

Cardano’s posthumous reputation heavily depends on his self-portrait depicted in the De vita propria, which was filled with disturbing confessions that supported the popular notion of Cardano as a mad genius. However, Cardano claims that writing has served him as a way to keep his own anxieties and obsessions in check, especially when he writes about himself. Delving deeper into Cardano’s perspective, it becomes clear how his way of writing is closely tied with some of his main philosophical standpoints; from a source of delight to a remedy to overcome grief and despair, from a therapeutic means for self-alienation to a method to test conjectural disciplines, Cardano’s take on writing sheds light on both his works and his intellectual inquiry.