Gasparo Contarini was the first to write a critique of the treatise On the Immortality of the
Soul by his teacher Pietro Pomponazzi. The future Cardinal claims that the human soul can be
perfected during life with the body and that it is philosophically sound - and not only an
article of faith - that the soul is immortal. Gasparo Contarini (1483-1542) was a member of a
patrician family in Venice. He studied in Padua among others with Pietro Pomponazzi before
engaging in the duties of a diplomat for his city. Due to his merits in negotiating with the
Protestants he was created Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. In his scarce leisure time he
kept writing philosophical and scientific studies. The editors are a group of scholars
connected with Palacký University in Olomouc (Czech Republic).
