Lecture 5. Philosophy of the Renaissance

1. Philosophy of the Renaissance: anthropocentrism, humanism, pantheism.

2. Humanism as a revival of ancient culture in the individualistic spirit. Anticlericalism.

Political and utopian thought in the culture of the Renaissance.

The science of the Renaissance.

The Reformation: causes, content and nature.

The revival of classical civilization and learning in the 15th and 16th Century known as the Renaissance brought the Medieval period to a close. It was marked by a movement away from religion and medieval Scholasticism and towards Humanism and a new sense of critical enquiry.

But the credo of the two periods of the Renaissance is different. The arts and philosophy in the humanistic period of the Renaissance (from 1453 to 1600) were human-centered, emphasizing the place of humans in the universe. Philosophy during the natural science period (from 1600 to 1690) was cosmos-centered.

A new sense of critical enquiry arose that looked back to the ancient Greeks but also set the stage for the birth of modern philosophy in the Age of Reason.

The key thinkers of the early Renaissance are Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther. By the end of the Renaissance, however, the significant figures were scientific thinkers, especially Nicolaus Copernicus, a mathematician and astronomer, and Galileo Galilei, a central figure in the scientific revolution. Among the major philosophical figures of the Renaissance were: Machiavelli; Thomas More; and Francis Bacon.

Moreover, Islamic scholars had already introduced most Attic and Hellenistic science into Western Europe, often with vast improvements on the original.

Humanism embodied the mystical and aesthetic temper of a pre-scientific age. It did not free the mind from subservience to ancient authority. The great libraries assembled by wealthy patrons of literature like Cosimo de Medici, Pope Nicholas V, and the Duke of Urbino, devoted much space to the Church Fathers and the Scholastic philosophers. The humanists did, however, read their authorities for aesthetic pleasure as well as moral uplift.

There is one writer whose work is of some importance in the history of ethics: Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). His book The Prince (1513) offered advice to rulers as to what they must do to achieve. Machiavelli is undoubtedly the most important political philosopher of the era and is best known for The Prince. During his political career (1494-1512) he served as secretary of the chancellery of the Council of Ten at Florence. The book attests to the corrupt practices among leaders in Renaissance Italy.

The Protestant Reformation was in part a response to the rampant corruption that had spread through the papacy. M. Luther was outraged by the selling of indulgences-in other words, paying a monetary fee for the sacrament of confession. The issue of selling indulgences was just a symptom of a greater cause.

John Calvin (1509-1564) developed a reform theology that attracted followers in France, Holland, Scotland, and England. Among the major Protestant movements, Calvinism steered furthest away from Catholicism in doctrine and practice. In undercutting the religious authority of the Catholic Church, downplaying subservience to tradition, and placing new importance on the individual, the Reformation caused a groundswell against all intellectual authorities and traditions.

The Renaissance philosophers’ awakened interest in nature led to a revival of natural philosophy, which was associated with G. Bruno, B.Telesio, T. Campanella, G. Cardano, Paracelsus, and F. Patrizi.

The natural philosophy of the Renaissance was based on pantheism and hylozoism.

However, on the whole, the Renaissance natural philosophers’understanding of nature was to a large extent fantastical and included astrological and alchemical concepts.