Humanism And The Renaissance Essay Research Paper

Humanitarianism And The Renaissance Essay, Research PaperHumanitarianism and the RenaissanceThe Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines humanitarianism as & # 8220 ; 1.

Any system or manner of idea or action in which human involvements, values, and self-respect are taken to be of primary importance, as in moral judgements. 2. Devotion to or survey of the humanistic disciplines. 3. The surveies, rules, or civilization of the Humanists. & # 8221 ; But the true definition of humanitarianism can non be relegated to dictionary text entirely ; it must be expanded upon to include its beginnings and historical significance. The ancient Greeks and Romans foremost developed the thought of humanitarianism as a really simplistic idea- to accomplish excellence in life through one & # 8217 ; s ain achievements and enterprises.

For 100s of old ages, this was the primary definition of humanitarianism. That all changed during the 14th century. A metempsychosis in an involvement in things classical or ancient Grecian and Roman encompassed geographic countries crossing from Italy to northern Europe.

This motion became known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance incorporated thoughts from the past with renewed passions in scientific discipline, history, poesy, linguistic communications, and, most significantly, faith. Mirroring the thoughts and theories of this epoch, new definitions of humanitarianism were formulated during the Renaissance.Giovanni Pico della Mirandola typified the mentality of the 15th century humanist. As one of the most superb bookmans of his clip, Pico della Mirandola was proficient in Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, and Chaldee. This cognition of linguistic communications enabled him to be highly good read in original versions of ancient Greek and Arabic texts every bit good as the Holy Bible. Pico della Mirandola practiced both Renaissance and Classical humanitarianism. He focused on the relation of the human to the Godhead, seeing in human existences the acme and intent of God & # 8217 ; s creative activity.

Renaissance humanists were concerned about specifying the human & # 8217 ; s topographic point in God & # 8217 ; s program and the relation of the human to the Godhead. Pico della Mirandola & # 8217 ; s Oration on the Dignity of Man epitomizes his humanist rational. In Oration, he cites beginnings runing from Plato to Aristotle: & # 8221 ; There I read the same things which we read every twenty-four hours in the pages of Paul and of Dionysius, Jerome and Augustine. In philosophical affairs, it were as though one were listening to Pythagoras and Plato & # 8221 ; Adapting Greek thoughts, thought, and achievements to one & # 8217 ; s ain Christian life was a characteristic of Classical humanitarianism.

Throughout Oration, Pico della Mirandola emphasized adult male & # 8217 ; s free will and his right to pick. Before the Renaissance, it had been held that adult male occupied a definite topographic point in the Great Chain of Being. Pico della Mirandola, nevertheless, challenged the place of adult male in the universe. He asserted that God had foremost created all signifiers of being except adult male and giving them each a topographic point in the concatenation. Man He created last- with no topographic point in the great concatenation of being- free to happen his ain topographic point:I have placed you at the really centre of the universe, so that from that vantage point you may with greater easiness glimpse unit of ammunition about you on all the universe contains. We have made you a animal neither of heaven nor of Earth, neither mortal nor immortal, in order that you may, as the free and proud maker of your ain being, manner yourself in the signifier you may prefer. It will be in your power to fall to the lower, beastly signifiers of life ; you will be able, through your ain determination, to lift once more to the superior orders whose life is godly.No thirster was a adult male & # 8217 ; s fate predetermined.

This new impression of adult male & # 8217 ; s ability to take his fate in life embodied Renaissance humanitarianism believing. Pico della Mirandola believed that through righteous Acts of the Apostless and proper worship, adult male may non merely attain redemption, but become God Himself, because He had given adult male that power: & # 8221 ; and at that place, if, like Moses, we shall turn out wholly faithful, most sacred divinity will supervene to animate us with redoubled rapture And at last, stricken by the indefinable love as by a sting, and, like the Seraphim, born outside ourselves, filled with the Godhead, we shall be, no longer ourselves, but the really One who made us.”Bartolome de las Casas was a member of the Dominican Preaching Order during the Renaissance. He, like Pico della Mirandola, besides preached humanitarianism.

But the type of humanitarianism de las Casas practiced varied in accent. De las Casas was a Christian humanist. To a certain extent, Christian humanists were farther removed from classical humanitarianism than the Renaissance humanists. Although all humanistic patterns were derived from the same basic rules, Christian humanitarianism stressed the importance of the usage of religion to better their lives as Christians. Christian humanists spent less clip analysing ancient texts and more clip lauding God and Christianity.

& # 8220 ; Sickened by the eternal warfare among princes and outraged by the maltreatment of power Christian humanists dreamed of ideal societies based on peace and morality. & # 8221 ; Bartolome de las Casas was one such humanist. Appalled by the unethical intervention and slaughter of the Indians in the New World by the Spanish conquistadors, he composed The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account. In it, he testifies on the nature of the autochthonal people:And of all the infinite existences of humanity, these people are the most transparent, the most barren of evil and fraudulence, the most obedient and faithful to their native Masterss and to the Spanish Christians whom they serve. They are by nature the most low, patient, and peace-loving, keeping no scores, free from imbroglios, neither excitable nor quarrelsome. These people are the most barren of resentments, hates, or desire for retribution of any people in the universe.Throughout the text, de las Casas refers to the Indians as & # 8220 ; lambs & # 8221 ; and the Spaniards as & # 8220 ; wolves & # 8221 ; or other carnivorous animate beings: & # 8220 ; And those king of beastss and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelams attacked the helpless sheep. & # 8221 ; This symbolism can be traced back scriptural texts that depict sheep stand foring good and wolves bodying evil.

De las Casas believed that the Spaniards, instead than advancing Christianity, were giving their religion a bad name:Pause now to see what advancement in faith can be huffy with such illustrations of Christians as Spaniards who go out to the Indies. What award do they secure for the true God? What attempt do they do to convey the cognition of God to the Indians and convey them to idolize Him?As a Christian Humanism, de las Casas wanted to stop this devastation and convey Christianity to the Indies in a peaceable mode. His intent was non merely to salvage the Indians, but besides salvage his fellow Spaniards from the wrath of God:I, Fray Bartolome de las Casas, a Dominican Friar, through the clemency of God, was induced to come to this tribunal of Spain to convey about the stoping of that hell in the Indies and the irremediable devastation of psyches that were redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ ; and to put up a work that would convey those psyches to cognize their Creator and Savior. I am besides here because of the compassion I have for my native land, Castile, that it non be destroyed by God as penalty for the great wickednesss committed by Spaniards devoid of religion.The ends of a humanist in the Renaissance varied with each individual.

Both Pico della Mirandola and de las Casas were good versed in historical texts, both were good educated, and both shared beliefs in Christianity. Pico, as a Renaissance and Classical humanist, chose to take a way in which to edify other bookmans of his clip. De las Casas, on the other manus, chose to distribute the word of Christianity to the Indians. Although the two may hold differed in their attacks to their religion, both shared a common goal- to achieve redemption through their plants.

Typically, for the people of the Renaissance, life on Earth was non a sad or bad topographic point, but instead a topographic point in which to further the endowments and abilities of human existences every bit far as they could be taken. They believed that worlds should develop their potencies ; and that is the kernel of all humanitarianism.