renaissance and modern philosophers (from 14th to 17th century)

Renaissance and Reformation Section 1

http://www.antlers.k12.ok.us/AHS%2007_08/Pam%20D%20History%20Notes/ch15/ch15_sec1.ppt

PHILOSOPHY

Prepared by:

Erwin s. Ted

BSE 302 English


• Roughly from 1400 to 1600• Means “rebirth”• Things began to get better• The economy improved• There was a return to buildings, cathedrals,

universities, cities• New view of mankind

The Renaissance


New View of MankindRenaissance Humanism

• After the long Dark Ages in which every aspect of life was seen through divine light, everything once again revolved around man.

• “Go to the source” is the motto.

• Reading humanistic subjects provided a “classical education” and developed what may be called human qualities.

• “Horses are born, but human beings are not – they are formed.”

• “We have to be educated to be human!”


The three discoveries that were essential preconditions for this new period are:

• The compass – made it easier to navigate.

• The firearms – gave the European military the superiority over American and Asiatic cultures.

• The printing press – played an important part in spreading the Renaissance humanists new ideas.

New inventions and instruments began to follow thick and fast. One important instrument for example was the telescope, which resulted in a completely new basis for astronomy.

Renaissance Cultural Background


Humanism

An outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters.

•New view of mankind

•Humanists brought new belief in man and his worth.

•Man was now considered infinitely great and valuable.

New Ideas


Central Figures

• Marcilio Ficino

• one of the greatest figures of the Italian Renaissance, was born in Florence, on October 19, 1433. He died in October of 1499. He was a priest, a doctor and musician, but is best known for his work as a translator of classic works, author and philosopher.

• Exclaimed “Know thyself, O divine lineage in mortal guise!”

• Acknowledged the thought that man has God-like capacities.


Central Figures

• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola• He wrote the famous

Oration on the Dignity of Man, which has been called the "Manifesto of the Renaissance", and a key text of Renaissance Humanism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oration_on_the_Dignity_of_Man


Individualism

We are not only human beings, we are unique individuals. Man did not exist purely for God’s sake

•This idea could lead to an almost unrestrained worship of genius.•The ideal became what we call the Renaissance man, a man of universal genius embracing all aspects of life, art, and science.•The new view of man also manifested itself in an interest into human anatomy.

New Ideas


Empiricism

Every investigation of natural phenomena must be based on observation, experiences, and experiments.

New Ideas


• Undeniably, the new view of mankind led to a whole new outlook.

• Man did not exist purely for God’s sake.

• Man could therefore delight in life here and now.

• And with these new freedom to develop, the possibilities were limitless.

• They behaved as if the whole world was reawakened.

• The renaissance humanists saw it as their duty to restore Rome.

New View of Mankind


Pantheism

God is present in his creation. If God is infinite, then He must be present in everything. Nature is divine.

•Nature was now regarded as a positive thing

•Many held that God was also present in his creation.

New View of Nature


• Giordano Bruno• Not only that he claim

that God was present in nature, he also believed that the universe was infinite in scope.

• He was punished for this idea.

New View of Nature


New World View

Geocentric World View

The belief that everything revolves around the Earth.

Heliocentric World Picture

The belief that everything revolves around the sun.


New World View

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Polish astronomer who wrote the book entitled On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres in 1543.

• Claimed that the earth rotated around the sun.

• Pointed out that all observations of heavenly bodies were easier to understand if one assumed that both the earth and the other planets circled around the sun (the Heliocentric world picture).


New World View

•Johannes Kepler •German Astronomer who presented the results of the comprehensive observations which showed that the planets moved in elliptical (oval) orbits.•The speed of a planet is greatest when closest to the sun (vice versa)•Same physical laws apply everywhere throughout the universe.


New World View

•Galileo Galilei

•Used a telescope to observe the heavenly bodies.

•Studied the moon’s crater and said that it is similar to the earth

•Discovered Jupiter had four moons

•Law of inertia


New World View

•Isaac Newton•An English Physicist who lived from 1642 to 1727•Law of universal gravitation – every object attracts every other object with a force that increases in proportion to the size of the objects and decreases in proportion to the distance between the objects•Gravitation is universal•One set of laws


MODERNPHILOSOPHY


Baroque (17th Century)

• The word “baroque” comes from a word that was first used to describe a pearl of irregular shape.

• The 17th Century was on the whole characterized by tensions between irreconcilable contrasts.

• “carpe diem” – “seize the day

• “memento mori” – remember that you must die.

• Idealism vs. Materialism


Baroque Art

• Irregularity was typical of Baroque Art, which was much richer in highly contrastive forms than the plainer and more harmonious Renaissance Art.

• In art, a painting could depict an extremely luxurious life with a little skull painted in one corner.


Baroque Conflicts

•Age of Conflicts

•Thirty Years War (1618-1648)

•Protestant and Catholics

•Political conflicts

•The politics situation was typified by intrigue, plotting and assassination

Baroque Art


Gustav III• Swedish King

• Assassinated in 1972

• During his time, there had been a rule of “enlightened despotism”

• He is also a vain person who adored all French ceremony and courtesies.

• He also loved the theatre and that was the death of him.

Baroque Art


Life As A Theater…•The Baroque Period gave birth to modern theatre – with all its form and scenery.

•In the theatre, one built up an illusion on stage – to expose ultimately that the stage was just an illusion.

•The theatre thus became a reflection of life in general.

•The theatre could show that “pride comes before a fall” and a present merciless portrait of human frailty.


William Shakespeare• His works is full of passages about life as a theatre.

•In As You Like It, he says:

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely prayers

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.”

•In Macbeth, he says:

“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more;

It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

•In Hamlet, he says:

“To be or not to be – that is the question.”


Baroque Philosophy•Baroque’s philosophy was characterized by powerful struggles between diametrically opposed modes of thought.

•Some philosophers believed that what exists is at bottom spiritual in nature this standpoint was called idealism.

•The opposite viewpoint is called materialism, a philosophy which holds that all real things derive from concrete materials substances.


17th

CenturyPhilosophers

Rene Descartes (1596-16500)

•Descartes is often called the father of modern philosophy.

•He is also known for espousing a dualism

•Descartes made many important contributions to the field of mathematics but is perhaps most famous for his saying "Cogito ergo sum" (Latin for "I think, therefore I am").

• Basically, he wanted to know whether or not there was anything in this world that we could really know for sure. He started by doubting everything, even his own existence. However, he came to the conclusion that if he was thinking about the question, "Do I exist?" then he must exist, otherwise there wouldn't be an "I" to ask the question.

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)

• Spinoza rejected the mind-body dualism of Descartes and is often considered to have held a more pantheistic worldview, arguing that all things are ultimately one.

• He believed in an impersonal God and took a critical approach to the Bible and this led to his writings being strongly condemned by religious leaders.

John Locke ( 1632-1704)

• EMPIRICISM - counters rationalism

• Knowledge is derived from the senses

• References Aristotle

• Blank slate - Tabula rasa

David Hume (1711-1776)

• Begins with everyday experiences• Man reasons by impressions

(immediate) and ideas (recollections)

• Faith vs. Reason • Agnostic• Said you cannot prove faith by

human reason• What is a miracle?• White crow - We have not

experienced ALL natural laws

George Berkeley (1685-1753)

•Irish Bishop•Denied a material world outside of human consciousness - all is spiritual•We exist in the mind of God who causes everything to occur•Questions material reality, time & space•Can we prove that the material world exists?

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

•Kant is often considered to be the most important modern philosopher.

•This is because he built a bridge between rationalism and empiricism.

•Therefore there is a difference between how things really are (the thing in itself) and how things are experienced by us (the thing for me).

•We begin with sense perception, but our mind plays a major role in its ordering

renaissance and modern philosophers (from 14th to 17th century)

Education

renaissance man

italian renaissance

new belief

new outlook

new ideasempiricism

new period

new inventions

new basis