Francesco Petrarca: A self-portrait. The ascent of Mont Ventoux. On his own ignorance and that of many others. A disapproval of an unreasonable use of the discipline of dialectic. An Averroist vists Petrarca. Petrarca's aversion to Arab science. A request to take up the fight against Averroes -- Lorenzo Valla: Dialogue on free will -- Marsilio Ficino: Five questions concerning the mind -- Giovanni Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the dignity of man -- Pietro Pomponazzi: On the immortality of the soul -- Juan Luis Vives: A fable about man -- Selective bibliography (p. 397-400).