Student Question
How did humanism influence science, religion, and art in the Renaissance?
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Humanism in the Renaissance, with its focus on classical literature and the glorification of humanity, profoundly influenced science, religion, and art. It inspired figures like Machiavelli and Brunelleschi, who drew on ancient sources. In religion, humanist ideas influenced reformers like Luther and Calvin, and critics like Erasmus. Artists celebrated the human form, as seen in Michelangelo's "David." In science, thinkers like Galileo challenged classical views, exemplifying the era's critical approach to knowledge.
Humanism had two main components during the Renaissance. One was a turn to classical (i.e., ancient Greek and Roman) literature and values. The other was the glorification of humankind itself, a departure from medieval thought, which emphasized the depravity of man. We can see the first, for example, in the work of Machiavelli, who looked back to history in order to find examples of how republics and other forms of government had risen and fallen. We can also see it in the renewed use of such classical Roman architectural forms as domes in, for example, the cathedral at Florence, designed by Brunelleschi. In terms of the glorification of man, we can read Pico della Mirandola's "Oration on the Dignity of Man," a profoundly humanist document in every way. He argued that man, as the creation of God, was a miracle to be celebrated:
[M]an is the most fortunate of living...
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things and, consequently, deserving of all admiration; of what may be the condition in the hierarchy of beings assigned to him, which draws upon him the envy, not of the brutes alone, but of the astral beings and of the very intelligences which dwell beyond the confines of the world.
Renaissance-era painters and sculptors similarly celebrated mankind, creating works (think Michelangelo's David) that glorified the human form even as they portrayed biblical themes. But we can also see its influence in religion--both Martin Luther and John Calvin were deeply read in humanist thinking, and though their theology was not exactly consistent with humanist values, their critique of the Catholic Church was. Similarly, Erasmus, though no Protestant, launched a thorough critique of the Church using humanist devices in Praise of Folly.
Renaissance-era scientists revisited, revised, and ultimately overturned much of classical thinking. Galileo, for instance, demonstrated that Aristotle's understanding of motion was incorrect. Aristotle and other classical thinkers thought that objects remained at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Galileo (and Newton) showed that the opposite was true--objects stayed in motion unless acted on by an outside force. Overall, however, the critical view of the world espoused by classical thinkers was revived by Renaissance-era scientists.
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