Humanism is a very interesting topic. The word human is easy to describe as a breathing living multicellular organism. Although the term humanism may not be easy to describe. At least not so quickly in one sentence. Humanism was a way of thinking and interacting within a society. As Anthony B. Pinn described in his book “What is humanism and Why does it Matter? ” humanism was a way of life for many. More importantly the time period humanism began to thrive was in the 1400s during the Renaissance.
Generally speaking, many scholars have said that humanism began in Europe and later on thrived in Italy. Pinn gives a more detailed definition of humanism, “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. The life-stance of humanism – guided by reason, inspired by compassion and informed by experience-encourages us to live life well and fully.
It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance” (Pinn 7). The key detail within Pinn’s definition is the progressive ideologies that form within humanism. More importantly humanism detest supernaturalism or more specifically religion revolving around gods or deities. Humanism sees that religion may backtrack the progress that humans have made, whether that is technological, scientific, medical, or even philosophically.
A great example that was given in the presentation in class about faith versus reason or rationality, shows the differences humanism had towards religion. When the question is asked about what is humanism, it tends to get complicated. Looking through academic sources and even google, the searches on humanism varies. It ranges from modern to classical, and some can be defined as religious. This is where humanism can get complicated, because at the same time it can also be secular. As Finn stated in his book humanism can be an ideology to a philosophy and even an adjective.
Over time humanism shaped into a more secular vision identifying religion as the cause of troubles. Religion was being viewed as an obstacle. The Renaissance period was about advances in society. Unfortunately, religion detested many of the advances in society. The ideas of early physics and astronomy completely took away from traditional Christian religions. There is a heaven and there is a hell. The heavens are up in the sky and Earth is the center of the universe. Science would later prove that the Earth was indeed not the center of the universe.
The humanist mind is a free thinker that is not bound by any dictation of a religion. One example of a free thinker and innovator was Leonardo da Vinci. It was da Vinci’s ability to reason and create secularism that allowed his innovations to flow. While being able to create religious artworks, it did not deter him from his scientific or medical explorations. The humanistic attributes allowed da Vinci to dissect the human body and show the body in its most natural form. The act of dissection before the Renaissance was something the church would have never thought to done.
The notion of reasoning paved the way for modern humanism. Thus allowing creations to be born and innovations to happen. The question that must be asked is how did reasoning and religion fit into humanism? Religious humanism existed during the Renaissance period. As obscure as that may sound, many priests believed in the qualities of humanism. The church had its critics and one priest name Desiderius Erasmus fell into that category.
Erasmus was a humanist, social critic, and a religious leader. In an article by Mary E. Giles, the author discusses the modernity Erasmus possessed and the unfortunate circumstances he was in. “Erasmus dedicated his life to cultivating the mind for a rational program of action and the heart for generosity and tolerance. His abiding compassion was nurtured early in his studies; from 1478 to 1483, Erasmus attended the school at Deventer that Gerard Groote had founded, establishing there the devotio moderna that encouraged inner piety, a personal relationship with God, and reliance on the Bible for moral and spiritual guidance.
The years that Erasmus spent at Deventer, which is known as the seedbed of Dutch humanism, obviously left their mark; throughout his life Erasmus remained true to the ideal of a simple, interiorized Christianity in the face of religious practices that fomented superstition, bigotry, and fanaticism, and a church that gave high marks to blind adherence to doctrine and empty exterior piety. These early years also introduced Erasmus to Latin, whetting his appetite for the study of classical literature that he would pursue in the monastery of the Augustinian Canons at Steyn, where he entered in 1487”. (Giles 1).
He was a man ahead of times and it exemplified the versatility humanism had during that time. He differentiated faith from reasoning and understand the core of humanism while still valuing religion. Reasoning was having a clear mind as opposed to just having faith. Having faith something will happen is about the same as luck. Faith is unpredictable and by having faith in something, it could very well never happen. The exploration of what separates humanism from illogical reasoning and religious belief or faith is important. One of the earliest humanists, Francesco Petrarch gave examples of reasoning.
Although he had close ties to church working as a diplomatic envoy, he strongly believed in nature being an ever changing system. It was the early beginnings of evolution within organism. That simple scientific way of thinking allowed others to question. How else could someone have gained more knowledge. Questions allowed for reasoning and for others to gain insight into the world around them. Universal humanism drew from the laws and facts of science. Moreover, Petrarch believed in the mind being part of the brain. The advances in the humanistic way of thinking allowed the questioning of having a conscious after death.
The impact this had on reasoning was unimaginable. No longer did many people during the Renaissance and onwards believe that there is something else after death. The medieval time period was an age of Roman Catholic church ruling. It was understandable that humanism was a threat soon into the Renaissance period. Humans had the most power and could achieve so much by putting forth thinking. The pure philosophy of humanism created a space for the development of art, technology, medicine, and news discoveries of reasoning. Universal humanism justified questioning of simple assumptions with an openness to testing.
Thus reasoning and facts were looked forward to with the experimentation. Where religious humanism ended came secular humanism. Secular humanism was the jackpot of reasoning and subjectivity. Although it was questionable how much reasoning there really was, secularism was the main objective. A complete separation of the church and state gave more power to the people or at least to a different governing body. No longer was the pope or the church in charge. The freedom of expression was easily felt throughout the Renaissance. A man named Niccolo Machiavelli was the prime example of what freedom of expression was.
His political stance took the church entirely out of the picture. Unfortunately, his views were much different than other humanists. Machiavelli’s goal was as much political power as possible. His notions of morality were obscured and at the time he looked upon initiatives to keep his Italian state politically stable. Although his views seemed somewhat radical, he never looked for ways to mistreat citizens. One of his more famous quotes from his book “The Prince”, calls for fear as a logical tactic in political power.
“It is much safer to be feared than loved because love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing o the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails”. (Machiavelli) He felt that the power of fear was his own type of reasoning. It never involved the church instead it involved political figures using tactics to gain the trust or fear of the citizens. Religion did not fit whatsoever with his humanistic views, instead religion conflicted and was not sought after. Many scholars will argue that Machiavelli was the founder of secular politics close to the democracy the U. S. and other nations have today.
Humanism may very well be separated from religion, although throughout history it has been seen that religion coincided. Universal humanism whether it collides with religion or not. created a revolutionary movement. Not only did it promote a new way of thinking, innovations and social developments happened throughout Europe. Without humanism and its detest against supernaturalism, what would have been the anchort keep us planted with reality? Rationality is an excellent quality to have and it further promoted the advancements in technology and even in philosophy
