Essay on The Renaissance Humanistic Concept of Man

The Renaissance Humanistic Concept of Man Each century brings something new into this world. Some ages thus become prominent, others don’t seem to contribute a lot to the humanity. The Renaissance became the symbol of awakening, the symbol of excellence and rebirth. It gave birth to the doctrines and principles that dominate the philosophy up until nowadays. Humanism developed as one of the principal philosophical concepts of Renaissance. What does this concept mean, why is it so crucial to understanding of the epoch of Renaissance? With the philosophy of humanism 14th century Italy obtained the major doctrines of the revival: study of the classics, importance on learning, and emphasis on the human values, concern with man and†¦show more content†¦Petrarch believes that our understanding of the world starts with the self-exploration and awareness attained through classical learning, later known as Studia Humanitatis. He probably makes the first humanistic attempt to stress out the significance of the hu mans in the modern philosophical thought. The characteristic feature of the Renaissance is the praise of human mind, first found in the ancient Greece. â€Å"Nothing is admirable besides the mind; compared to its greatness nothing is great. † Man is primarily praised for his reason, for his arts and skills, derived from his own potential through the path of secular knowledge. But human’s dignity has to be attained and realized through man’s effort. Only then, as expressed in Marsilio Ficino’s writing in 1468, man becomes a dominant power over all elements and animals, he is the ruler of nature; he is assigned a central place in the hierarchy of the universe. While being extremely religious â€Å"Five Questions Concerning the Mind† deal with a system of the universe only because it justifies the glorification of the human soul. The entire concept of human ‘dignity’ was, in fact, based upon a heroic vision of humanity. The glorifica tion of man goes further in Vives stories where human is given the power of self-transformation: â€Å"A Fable about Man.† The perfect human â€Å"determines his own being, has material power over the world and moral power over himself.† Man is able to choose his own destiny, to becomeShow MoreRelatedThe Bubonic Plague And The Renaissance865 Words   |  4 PagesChanah Leyah Oberlander Professor Bietry Survey of Modern History I 10 February 2015 The Bubonic Plague and the Renaissance The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, is believed to have originated in China and was brought to Europe in the mid 1300s by traveling merchants. Outbreaks of this epidemic traveled across the continent and spared no one; neither young nor old were immune to its deadly powers. 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