Humanism is an educational and philosophical
outlook that emphasizes the personal worth of the individual and
the central importance of human values as opposed to religious
belief. It developed in Europe during the Renaissance,
influenced by the study of ancient Greek and Latin literature and
philosophy. Humanism thus began as an educational programme called
the humanities, which inculcated those ancient secular values which
were consistent with Christian teachings. The Renaissance humanists
were often devout Christians, but they promoted secular values and
a love of pagan antiquity.
Renaissance Humanism
The great intellectual movement of Renaissance
Italy is described as 'humanism'. It developed as a new
spirit of learning at the end of the middle ages with the revival
of classical thought and a renewed confidence in the ability of
human beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood.
Renaissance humanists believed that the Greek and Latin classics
contained all the lessons one needed to lead a moral and effective
life and provided the best models for a powerful Latin literary
style. There was a new, rigorous kind of classical scholarship,
with which the North Italian merchant communities tried to
understand the works of the Greeks and Romans, which seemed so
vital to them.
In the course of the fifteenth century the
republican elites of Florence and Venice and the ruling families of
Milan, Ferrara, and Urbino hired humanists to teach their children
classical morality and to write elegant, classical letters, and
histories.
The humanists also convinced most of the popes
that the papacy needed their skills. Sophisticated classical
scholars were appointed to write official correspondence and
propaganda; to create an image of the popes as powerful,
enlightened, modern rulers of the Church; and to apply their
scholarly tools to the church's needs, including writing a more
classical form of the Mass.
The relation between popes and scholars was never
simple, for the humanists evolved their own views on theology. Some
argued that pagan philosophers like Plato basically agreed with
Christian revelation. Others criticized important Church doctrines
or institutions that lacked biblical or historical support. Some
even seemed in danger of becoming pagans. The real confrontation
came in the later sixteenth century, as the church faced the
radical challenge of Protestantism. Some Roman scholars used the
methods of humanist scholarship to defend the Church against
Protestant attacks, but others collabourated in the imposition of
censorship. Classical scholarship, in the end, could not reform the
Church which it both supported and challenged.
In the High Renaissance, Rome was the centre of
the literary movement known as "Ciceronianism" that aimed to
standardize Latin diction by modelling all prose on the writings of
Cicero. The leaders of the movement hoped thereby to make Latin
usage more precise and elegant; they also hoped to establish a kind
of linguistic orthodoxy maintained by the authority of Rome.
Although humanists had thronged the papal court since the beginning
of the century, Pius II was the first real humanist to sit in the
chair of Peter. Born in Siena as Enea Silvio Piccolomini, he
acquired a reputation as a diplomat, belletrist, and womanizer, and
was crowned poet laureate by the Emperor Frederick in 1442. After
serving the emperor and the anti- Roman Council of Basel,
Piccolomini joined the Roman camp in 1446. He became a cardinal in
1456 and in 1458 was elected pope. As pope, the only work of
scholarship he was able to continue was his "Commentaries," a
remarkably frank autobiography in which he put his passions and
prejudices on full view. In the passage shown here, Pius expresses
his bitter contempt for the French, who had been unwilling to join
his crusade against the Great Turk.
The humanists dedicated themselves to reviving
antiquity-- that is, to searching for, copying, and studying the
works of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Poggio Bracciolini, a long-
time employee of the church, was the most brilliant of the early
fifteenth-century manuscript hunters. He braved what he described
as the squalid, neglected libraries of Germany, Switzerland, and
England in his quest for new texts. Later in the century, curial
scholars began to collate - - and digest -- the new mass of
material, and to translate vital Greek sources, like the works of
Herodotus and Thucydides. Not all of these texts were clearly
acceptable to Christians, or even consistently moral. But Roman
intellectuals prized problematical works like the epigrams of
Martial as well as moral ones like most of the dialogues of Plato.
Vatican manuscripts enable us to follow the humanists at work,
writing in the margins of their texts and then collecting and
publishing their notes as scholarly works.
As it developed from the Renaissance, humanism
resorts to human-centred explanation for humanity's place in the
universe, including humanity's relationship to nature. It
represents, in one sense, a paradigm shift from thought dominated
by Christianity during the middle-ages. This fact, coupled with the
great increase in scientific investigation, aided the breakup of
philosophy into the many different subjects that are taught in
schools today. The Renaissance, the rise of humanism, and the
Enlightenment laid the foundation for the way philosophy has
developed since 1500. Obviously, the science of ecology represents
one outgrowth of these developments; it is thought that ecology
will slowly replace physics as the primary model for understanding
nature.
Among many Deep Ecology and Ecofeminist in Green
Politics, humanism represents a mindset at war with wild nature. On
the one hand, placing humanity at the centre of the universe, over
it in some ways, helps to justify domination of nature and its
destruction. On the other hand, as an approach to nature, humanism
will never achieve a full understanding of nature's complexity, in
spite of scientific ecology. As a result, humanity's quest to
manipulate nature to its wants and needs spells disaster for
biodiversity as well as humanity's reverence for nature.
Modern humanism
By the 18th century the word humanism had come to
be identified with a purely secular attitude--one that often
rejected Christianity altogether.
The modern humanist movement is an international
organization formed by people of different ages, origins, culture
and religion, united by the project to build a truly human society.
In this context, humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance
which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility
to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the
building of a more humane society through an ethics based on human
and other natural values in a spirit of reason and free inquiry
through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not
accept supernatural views of reality. The vision is for a
society in which the human being, with his needs and aspirations,
is the central value; society in which human rights are completely
realized: the right to health, instruction, freedom, spirituality,
search for the meaning of life, and an existence with
dignity.
Since humanists are committed to working for a
global community in which all humans can flourish, they are as
concerned about ecological degradation as environmentalists. This
is the current sphere of ecohumanism where, in regard to what
should be done about environmental problems, humanists do not
hesitate to use the best scientific information and technology to
reclaim the natural world while ensuring the welfare of all human
beings. Humanists stress that science and technology must be used
responsibly and that human beings must learn to give up destructive
ideological fantasies, whether political or religious.tIt is
in these terms that ecohumanism has developed, which views the
destiny of the human species in a full relation with a living
planet and not as something apart from it. Neohumanism is a growing
international network with the aim of promoting sustainable
development incorporating ideas of freedom, justice, benign science
and spiritual values of environmentalism into everyday life.