The Humanistic View
Uploaded by MIKEMASON on Oct 13, 2000
During the renaissance, humanism was a philosophy that was characterized by its blending of the concern of the history and actions of all human beings, and their influence in the world, with religious duty. Prior to renaissance thinking, medieval Europe considered life to be sinful and should despised, and that people should only be concerned about their duty to God.
Writers of the renaissance time period expressed their opinions about human nature and human’s role in the universe through their writings. Alberti, whose work includes, “ On the Family”, emphases the importants of self-worth and education. He writes, “ If one wishes to gain praise and fame, he must abhor idleness and laziness and oppose them as deadly foes. Basically Alberti says, is that if a person goes about their everyday life without the desire for education, therefore, that person is useless to their community.
Bruni, Castiglione, and Pico take humanism a step further. Unlike Alberti, they stress the importants of self-appearance. They believe men should act like a gentlemen, speak softly and be stern with their words, but also at the same time be war ready. From the Book of the Courtier, Castiglione writes, “ where of I think the first should be to handle every sort of weapon well on foot and on horse, understand the advantages of each, and especially to be familiar with those weapons that are ordinary used among gentleman”, what he is saying is that a man during this time should be skilled to fight and he should also know his weapons. For a woman, basically it’s the same thing as a man, with two exceptions. The first exception is that if a woman, who is out in public, and engaged in a conversion she knows nothing about, for her sake she should not comment on anything. And the second exception is that if a woman when speaking, should be very careful not to show how smart she is or how she may have had a better up bringing than a man.
Dante and the humanist have many things in common; such as they both like the classic styles of writing from ancient Greece and Rome, they both have praised the importants of a higher education in their works. But the only thing I see Dante differing from the humanist is the focus of God in their life. , Dante's relationship with God is evident in his...