Humanism
Humanism Research paper
Humanism is the philosophical idea that emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual. The term humanism is most often used to describe a literary and cultural movement that spread through Florence, Venice, Pisa, Milan, Rome and other Italian cities in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It involved a revival of study of the ancient Latin and Greek authors and trying to see what they actually meant. The time in which humanism grew was called the Renaissance, which means rebirth. Humanism expressed a confidence in humanity’s ability to exert control over nature or to shape society according to its needs and desires. There are many different forms of humanism and it exists in different parts of the world.
The collection and translation of classical manuscripts became widespread, especially among the nobility and higher clergy. The invention of printing with movable type “gave a further impetus to humanism through dissemination of editions of the classics” (Encarta 1). Although in Italy humanism developed principally in the fields of literature and art, the movement extended into the fields of theology and education, and was a major underlying cause of the Reformation. Neither religion nor God was rejected by humanists. Their goal was to remove religion as a “prime dominating and obstructive force in their lives and to establish it as one of several institutions in society” (Compton’s 2). Religion was seen to have a logical civil function because it no longer pointed only toward heaven as mankind’s main goal; it opened the possibility of happiness and prosperity on Earth. This attitude toward religion helped create tolerance among humanists. Because they believed in the unity of all truth, “they regarded diverse religious points of view as expressions of that one truth” (Compton’s 2). It took several centuries of conflict and effort before the idea of general religious tolerance became widely accepted. By the late fourteenth
Humanism is the philosophical idea that emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual. The term humanism is most often used to describe a literary and cultural movement that spread through Florence, Venice, Pisa, Milan, Rome and other Italian cities in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It involved a revival of study of the ancient Latin and Greek authors and trying to see what they actually meant. The time in which humanism grew was called the Renaissance, which means rebirth. Humanism expressed a confidence in humanity’s ability to exert control over nature or to shape society according to its needs and desires. There are many different forms of humanism and it exists in different parts of the world.
The collection and translation of classical manuscripts became widespread, especially among the nobility and higher clergy. The invention of printing with movable type “gave a further impetus to humanism through dissemination of editions of the classics” (Encarta 1). Although in Italy humanism developed principally in the fields of literature and art, the movement extended into the fields of theology and education, and was a major underlying cause of the Reformation. Neither religion nor God was rejected by humanists. Their goal was to remove religion as a “prime dominating and obstructive force in their lives and to establish it as one of several institutions in society” (Compton’s 2). Religion was seen to have a logical civil function because it no longer pointed only toward heaven as mankind’s main goal; it opened the possibility of happiness and prosperity on Earth. This attitude toward religion helped create tolerance among humanists. Because they believed in the unity of all truth, “they regarded diverse religious points of view as expressions of that one truth” (Compton’s 2). It took several centuries of conflict and effort before the idea of general religious tolerance became widely accepted. By the late fourteenth