Man, with all his flaws, is a brilliant specimen. The most advanced lifeform known, yet his existence was condemned to squabble as a petty flicker in the eyes of the most high. That was until the advent of the Renaissance; which lifted man from the squalor of the dark ages and lead to enlightenment, bringing forth the idea that man was not the insignificant speck he was thought to be, but " a magnificent miracle and a wondrous creation." as said by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (Oration On the Dignity Of Man). This is what Humanism is built on, humans as entities of limitless potential to be praised and adorned. Man should be celebrated and he is the closest thing to god on earth. The brilliance of people and their closeness to heaven shaped the English Renaissance and lead to new morals based on these seeds of thought. …show more content…
Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola and his “Oration on the Dignity of Man” being a notable exemplar of this ideal. “To man it is allowed to be whatever he chooses to be!” Mirandola will tell you that man isn’t limited by anything but his own ambition. “You, with no limit or no bound, may choose for yourself the limits and bounds of your nature.” There is top to man’s potential and as such he must grow. Pico embodied this sentiment himself. He was an avid learner, who studied every source of knowledge he found whether it was Christian, Jewish, or Islamic. To Pico, truth was the goal (pg.126, 127 Ernst Cassirer) He needed to grow as much as possible, he needed to be an exemplar of human potential. In doing so he refuses to take one answer as the penultimate which gains him an infamy with the Church, who have given people the only truth they need, The
The Protestant Reformation and the Renaissance were both influenced greatly by individualism, specifically through the works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Martin Luther. These men aired their grievances with the Catholic Church through their written works. The exposure of these disagreements led to a revolt against the church which, in turn, ultimately led people breaking off from the Catholic Church in the fifteenth century, resulting in the formation of new religions.
The most empowering change of this era was the dominance of a secular attitude and the decline of church absolutism. This secular viewpoint altered man’s reason for existence from an otherworldly quest to an intimate, immediate appreciation for that which exists on earth. Humanism is a primary source of individualism. Pico della Mirandola’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” captures the essence of the humanist movement. He writes that God gave man the ability to make of himself what he wills. Although man is capable of depraved acts, he also possesses the profundity to distinguish him as a holy being. Pico praises the goodness of mankind when he writes, “man is rightly called and judged a great miracle ...
Montaigne's essay "Man's presumption and Littleness" belittles the greatness of man so much that he becomes no more than another beast among beasts, possibly even lower than some of God's other creatures.
with is that no man is a great man- the only great man encountered in
The.
society. He believed one should dare to become who they are. In order to ascertain one's full potential as a human being, the ethic system of which by society runs, must be changed as it only hampers one's will to power.
People should be recognized and respected by their skills; this way they are encouraged to produce better works in return. Leonardo and the Renaissance Age he lived in is a solid proof.