Renaissance Humanism and the Human Perspective
Humanistic Ideas and Contributions of the Renaissance Period
Jan 4, 2009
Renaissance, meaning "rebirth", is a term coined by French historian Michelet in 1855, yet it does perfectly capture the spirit of that historical period. The Renaissance is considered modern because it self-consciously separated and distinguished itself from the previous era of the Middle Ages.
The Main Ideas behind the Renaissance Movement
For the Renaissance humanists the notion of “Middle Ages” meant that the thinking of the medieval time period was not yet fully developed and it was a time of darkness to be succeeded by the light of the Renaissance wisdom. In fact, they believed that a high culture would be reborn from the achievements and thoughts of the Classical period and they attempted to remodel their own times on the light and knowledge of the Ancients.
Breaking away from age-old traditions, superstitions, and “medievalism” or scholasticism was seen as necessary for advancement and has indeed been a crucial step towards later periods of scientific advancement. Although God and the Church were still predominant during this era, there was a concentrated focus on humanist thought and philosophy inspired the Greek sophists.
When and where did the Renaissance begin?
The Renaissance had its origin around 1300 in Italy and the poet Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) is often regarded as the first man of the Renaissance. These new ideas resonated and flourished in Italy, yet it would not reach its peak until around 1500 when it spread to and was embraced by the Northern parts of Europe.
Humanism and New Ways of Thinking
Although in terms of philosophy the Renaissance did not really contribute new insights and still shared the medieval worldview in many aspects, the achievements were mostly in arts and politics by Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli.
Nonetheless, despite the lack of philosophical unity, these new movements in different disciplines and areas gradually influenced and changed the perspective of the people. One of its most profound impacts was on education and turning away from previously established scholastic disciplines of logic and law, astronomy and philosophy to the studia humanitatis, the liberal arts of grammar, rhetoric, poetry and moral philosophy, all more closely related to humanistic values.
A new kind of humanism, a form of secularization and understanding of the universe and humanity’s place in it, developed and reached its climax after the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg, which had a profound impact on the dissemination of truth and knowledge.
Readers may also enjoy Renaissance and a Humanist Approach to Fine Arts along with The Historical Influences of the Printing Press and Economic Factors and Renaissance Inventions.
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