One of the great thinkers of the Renaissance was Pico della Mirandola. He presented this great discourse called the Oration on the Dignity of Man. In it, he presented 900 theses that he wanted to publicly dispute with other scholars. Interestingly, this discourse wasn't published in his lifetime because of backlash from the Catholic church over the proposed public disputations.
He says lots of great things in this publication. Most importantly, he argues that humans are the best thing ever created by God. Why? Solely because they have the ability to choose for themselves what they will become. Pico recognizes what a great power this is and presents his argument quite beautifully.
He says lots of great things in this publication. Most importantly, he argues that humans are the best thing ever created by God. Why? Solely because they have the ability to choose for themselves what they will become. Pico recognizes what a great power this is and presents his argument quite beautifully.
He starts by trying to imagine what the Creator must have been thinking when he created humanity. In the words of Pico posing as God: "It will be in your power to descend to the lower, brutish forms of life; you will be able, through your own decision, to rise again to the superior orders whose life is divine." This sentence inspires a very provoking train of thought. The true greatness in humanity is not just that they can choose to be great- man can choose to be whatever he wants! The greatness equation is not complete unless humanity can choose to descend to the lowest depths as well as ascend to the greatest heights.
This is why the period of the Renaissance was so wonderful and dignified! Humanity had reached a fork in the path: choose to be mere animals or rise above all their weaknesses and choose the high road. Gratefully for us, humanity chose to be great.
However, that same choice is also left to each of us. Greatness? Or mediocrity?
The dignity is in the choice, not the options.
This is why the period of the Renaissance was so wonderful and dignified! Humanity had reached a fork in the path: choose to be mere animals or rise above all their weaknesses and choose the high road. Gratefully for us, humanity chose to be great.
However, that same choice is also left to each of us. Greatness? Or mediocrity?
The dignity is in the choice, not the options.
This reminds me of the quote by Alecsandr Solzhenitsyn, something along the lines of, "the division between good and evil runs between the heart of each individual." Solzhenitsyn was a first hand witness to both the atrocities of Stalin and Hitler, yet he asked him self what he did to contribute to the genocides that took place. He came to the conclusion that it is up to the individual to change the world around them by taking responsibilities for their own faults, instead of demanding rights and blaming others. He had a pretty important impact on the world. If you are interested I would really recommend reading his literature.
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