Determinism And Neoplatonism

Sartre's perspective on freedom is “We will freedom for the sake of freedom. And through it, we discover that our freedom depends entirely on the freedom of others and that their freedom depends on ours. Those who hide their freedom behind deterministic excuses, I will call cowards. Those who pretend that their own existence was necessary, I will call scum”. In other words, Sartre’s believes that freedom is absolute, and the existence of one's freedom. Every man values stand for themselves, as the freedom is the foundation of each individual's values. Human freedom is made up of consciousness ability to get out of the sense that human beings can not pass to be free. Sartre also mentions that from freedom, one is able to change its attitude

Thus, it was unsurprising to find that Pope Sixtus IV built a library that still remains as one of the richest repositories holding ancient, medieval documents. This movement of humanism was largely praise because the viewed humanity through a Christian lens as Renaissance humanists strongly believed that men and woman were made in the image and likeness of God. For example, Pico Mirandola represented man as one in possession of great dignity in his essay, ‘On the Dignity of Man’. Further, Renaissance humanism caused individuals to become increasingly self-conscious about their current lifestyles and their realization of human potential. Humanism heavily influenced much of the Renaissance culture, causing people to depend upon intellect its role in humanity breakthroughs.

Throughout time an individual’s role in which he fits into society has changed. One of the most noticeable changes in an individual’s role in society occurred during the Italian Renaissance during the 14th and 15th centuries with the introduction of Humanism. Humanism gave birth to the concept of individuality a notion which is still alive today. It said that humans mattered and that now mattered, that one should not be part of a whole but rather someone that is unique. Before Humanism people only thought of the after life, of whether they were going to heaven or hell, but with the introduction of Humanism people became more involved in the present, rather then just thinking of what happened after you died. Humanism transformed

Before the Renaissance, God was the measure of all things. People believed that everything in life was predestined, and that they could not be anything more than what they already were. During the Renaissance humanism became widespread, and the focus was no longer on God, but rather on man himself. There was a greater appreciation for man, and an emphasis on what humans think. Pico della Mirandola believed that people are able to be whatever they chose to be according to their own will and knowledge, he even believed that man could rise up and be as great as God. He says in Oration on the Dignity of Man, “To man it is to be whatever he choses to be!…he will be an angel and son of God…he removes himself to the center of his own unity, his spiritual soul, united with God…he will surpass every created thing.” (della Mirandola) In this time, man is of the utmost importance. In a sense, man is considered to be one of the most amazing creation that can essentially do anything with the proper knowledge and reason in order to make

European literature of the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century was a time marked by increased individualism and an inclination to remove all of the remnants of medieval society. It was a time of protest and reform of the ideals, that were once thought to be correct, to more modern ideas, such as free will and that the self-made individual occupies the center of a rational universe. As this new concept of individualism began to spread, there were apparent discrepancies between the noble ideals presented by the modern renaissance humanists and the reality of human behavior. The discrepancies are shown clearly by the Pico’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” and Erasmus’ “Praise of Folly.” In the text by Pico, he describes the ideal characteristics of this new renaissance humanist movement emphasizing the individual. While in the text by Erasmus, he shows the shocking reality between human fallibility and human perfectibility.

Before the early thirteen hundreds, there was a time called the Midieval era, where life was devoted and owned by the church. People were lied to by the thought of paying and working to go to heaven. When the thirteen hundreds came, alongwith it cam the renaissance that lasted until the late sixteen hundreds. The renaissance had a very important movement that changed all of Europe. Many new cultures and ways of life had changed because of this era, and one of the bigger ones is called Humanism. Humanism caused a very large impact on a person’s thoughts, actions, and art.

The Renaissance was the entrance to a change in the overall worldview of man. Humanistic thought began to grow more and more prevalent, and showed itself through art, architecture, and manuscripts. Humanists believe that man is autonomous, that humans are powerful enough to survive, thrive, and conquer without any spiritual help. It is a very self-centered way of thinking, destined to fail. One example of an artist who portrayed this through his work, was Michelangelo. His sculptures “men tearing themselves out of rock” give a bold humanistic statement. Man, as man, with no help is tearing himself out of rock. Man will free himself. Man is great. Leonardo da Vinci, the brilliant chemist, mathematician, musician, architect, anatomist, botanist, mechanical engineer, and artist, understood the end to which humanistic thought would lead.

Viewing a complete shift in the psychology of the European mind, inspiring literature of this Renaissance time period heavily influenced the thoughts and views of humanity. This belief in the capabilities and views on the revival of humans, known as humanism, impacted not only revolutionary advancements, but also positive emotions of people. At this point in history, countless people in Europe viewed their society as a failure because it could not produce the successes, nor the achievements of the Roman empire. Instead, the overall mood of the society was very morose, for the architects were not even aware, or knowledgeable of how to finish off the domes of churches in Florence. Furthermore, the people living in Italy needed to change their

Pico della Mirandola in his work, “Oration on the Dignity of Man”, re-evaluates humanism and humans in general. His work talks about the dignity of man in particular and how man differs from other creatures as man is a creation with a unique and important trait, free will. He uses several arguments to support his claim that humans can choose their destiny and in doing so can achieve perfection. He presents a piece of work that challenges the medieval view of human nature.

Determinism supporters claim that all consequences are inevitable since conditions are met and nothing else would occur by any chances. And determinism could influence and controlling everything in the universe with causal laws. According to determinism, we could make predictions about the occurrences of certain events or actions of human beings. There three types of determinism that I will discuss in the following, the Hard determinism, Soft determinism and Libertarianism.

Although it is unclear of the exact origins, the author provides that throughout history, the concept of human dignity has changed throughout time and has held different meaning in different eras like the Renaissance, and by different people like Hobbes and Kant. In addition, for instance, human dignity, was a theological theme developed by the church produced through faithful reflection on revealed truth rather than scripture.

The medieval world placed God at the centre of existence, leaving the individual and the

During the years 1434 -1737, an Italian bourgeois family, the Medici’s, ruled Florence and eventually Tuscany. Cosimo de Medici created a “Platonic Academy”, which was based off the example of Plato’s Akademia. (Oneonta, 2017) Neoplatonism was very popular during this era as well, Neoplatonism is the thought of finding ties between Greek and Roman culture with Christianity. (Uffizi, 2017) The study of classical texts was also central to this humanist culture. (Oneonta, 2017)

During the shift from the middle ages into the Renaissance period new conceptions of the individual and the human mind quickly came to light. Although art in the Middle Ages was centered predominantly on religion and faith, the incoming art of the Renaissance underwent a drastic change. A vast amount of these changes mainly focused on individualism, secularism, and humanism. Following the collapse of the feudal system, thoughts of individualism quickly rose when people realized that they didn’t have to adhere to a specific group.Throughout the beginning of the Renaissance, religious figures and the Catholic Church began to lose authority which conducted in new ideas of secularism. Comparably, humanistic art and notions became preeminent when individuals focused on glorifying the human body, learning more about it and inclined more towards realistic art.

The individual’s role in society dramatically changed following the introduction of humanism. The idea that was depicted is still heavily important today and still holds strong within society. Humanism brought forward the thought that everyone is important and the concept of individuality. Humanism created the notion that instead of being part of a whole, everyone is unique. Before this introduction, most just thought about their actions and what consequences it had in the afterlife; Whether that be going to heaven or hell. Following the emergence of humanism, people started to think more about the present, encouraging education in humanity, the study of literature and enhancement of art – all this expanded an individual’s outlook on life and in turn allowed for the development of personal success.