Pico dell Mirandola and the angle of Humanism
The Renaissance was a period of time during which Classical Greek culture was being reintroduced into philosophical circulation. It was also known as a time of “rebirth”. This period began as early as the mid-14th century and lasted into the 18th century, where the age of Enlightenment began. The Enlightenment was noted as a philosophical movement and characterized by theorizing and questioning authority. Through the movement, there was an emphasis on the empirical method used in science. This can be and is often accredited to two individuals; John Locke and Isaac Newton. In short Isaac Newton developed a theory that there is a natural order to all things and by using that through reasoning, one can follow the laws of nature to uncover all truths. As for John Locke, he gave us the “blank slate” concept among other theories. It is in the blank slate theory Locke claims that our minds, the very way we attain knowledge is driven from our experiences within our environments. With this theory Locke claimed that if man were to will a change in his environment, he then could change society, for the better or worse. Although this is a stretch for some people… many fell in love with these apollonian ideas that placed great emphasis on order and the will of man being able to inflict change into his environment. (This information was collected from various classes of Philosophy, Ethics, and brought back into thought in Rebirth to Revolution).
During the age of Enlightenment there was the development of Humanism, which was a movement that had a strong base on the studies of the Greek and Roman classical literature that was now being translated in thanks to the Religious Upheaval. The Humanism movement was a specific study but more like “a method, a style, and a curriculum that various disciplines found useful” in fact there were “medical, legal, and mathematical humanists as well as philosophical humanists” (Copenhaver,
References: Cassirer, E., Kristeller, P. O., & Randall, J. H. (1948). The Renaissance philosophy of man:Selections in translation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Copenhaver, B. P., & Schmitt, C. B. (1992). Renaissance philosophy. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press. Dougherty, M. V. (2002). Two Possible Sources for Pico 's Oratio. Vivarium, 40(2), 219-241.doi:10.1163/156853402320901821 Truglia, C. (2010). AL-GHAZALI AND GIOVANNI PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA ON THE QUESTION OF HUMAN FREEDOM AND THE CHAIN OF BEING. Philosophy East & West, 60(2), 143-166. Soylent Communications. (2014). Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Retrieved from http://www.nndb.com/people/666/000094384/