The ideas of humanism have an interesting history. The term itself is translated from Latin as "humanity." It was used already in the 1st century. BC e. Roman orator Cicero.
The basic ideas of humanism are connected with respect for the dignity of each person.
brief information
The ideas of humanism presuppose recognition of all the basic rights of an individual: to life, to development, the realization of one’s potential, and the desire for a happy life. In world culture, such principles appeared in the ancient world. The sayings of the Egyptian priest Sheshi, in which he talked about helping poor people, came from the third millennium BC.
Ancient world
A significant amount of similar texts discovered by historians is a direct confirmation that the ideas of philosophical humanism existed in Ancient Egypt.
In the Books of Wisdom, Amenemone contains the principles of humanism, the moral conduct of man, which is a direct confirmation of the high level of morality of the ancient Egyptians. In the culture of this state, everything was immersed in an atmosphere of religiosity, combined with true humanity.
The ideas of humanism permeate the whole history of mankind. Gradually, a humanistic worldview appeared - a theory of the integrity, unity and vulnerability of a human society. In the Sermon on the Mount of Christ, one can clearly see ideas about the voluntary renunciation of social inequality, oppression of weak people, and consideration of mutual support. Long before the advent of Christianity, the ideas of humanism were deeply and clearly recognized by the wisest representatives of humanity: Confucius, Plato, Gandhi. Such principles are contained in Buddhist, Muslim, Christian ethics.
European roots
In culture, the basic ideas of humanism appeared in the 14th century. From Italy, they spread to Western Europe (XV century). The main ideas of humanism of the Renaissance (Renaissance) led to serious changes in European culture. This period lasted almost three centuries, ended at the beginning of the XVII century. The Renaissance era is called the time of major changes in the history of Europe.
Renaissance period
The ideas of the era of humanism are striking in their relevance, timeliness, focus on each individual person.
Due to the high level of urban civilization, capitalist relations began to emerge. The overdue crisis of the feudal system led to the creation of large-scale national states. The result of such serious transformations was the formation of an absolute monarchy - a political system within which two social groups developed: wage workers and the bourgeoisie.
Significant changes occurred in the spiritual world of man. The man in the Renaissance was obsessed with the idea of self-affirmation, tried to make great discoveries, actively connected to public life. People rediscovered the natural world, strove for its complete study, admired the beauty.
The ideas of humanism of the Renaissance assumed secular perception and characterization of the world. The culture of this era glorified the greatness of the human mind, the values of earthly life. The creative abilities of man were encouraged.
The ideas of humanism of the Renaissance became the basis in the work of many artists, poets, writers of that time. Humanists were negative about the dictatorship of the Catholic Church. They criticized the method of scholastic science, which suggested formal logic. Humanists did not accept dogmatism, faith in specific authorities, tried to create conditions for the development of free creativity.
The formation of the concept
The main ideas of humanism in creativity were first expressed in a return to the medieval ancient scientific and cultural heritage, which was almost forgotten.
There was an improvement in the spirituality of man. The main role in many Italian universities was assigned to those sets of disciplines, which consisted of rhetoric, poetry, ethics, history. These subjects became the theoretical basis of the Renaissance culture, were called humanitarian disciplines. It was believed that it was in them that the essence of the idea of humanism was set forth.
The Latin term humanitas in that period meant a desire to develop human dignity, despite the prolonged belittling of everything that was directly connected with the life of an ordinary person.
The ideas of modern humanism also consist in establishing a harmony between activity and enlightenment. Humanists urged people to study ancient culture, which the church denied as pagan. Church ministers selected from this cultural heritage only those moments that did not contradict the Christian doctrine promoted by them.
For humanists, the restoration of the ancient cultural and spiritual heritage was not an end in itself, it was the basis for resolving the pressing problems of our time, creating a new culture.
Renaissance literature
Its origin dates back to the second half of the 14th century. This process is associated with the names of Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Petrarch. It was they who promoted the ideas of humanism in literature, singing the dignity of the individual, the valiant deeds of mankind, freedom and the right to enjoy earthly pleasures.
By right, the poet and philosopher Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) is considered the founder of humanism. He became the first great humanist, citizen and poet, who managed to reflect the ideas of humanism in art. Thanks to his work, he instilled a consciousness into diverse future generations of Eastern and Western Europe. Perhaps it was not always clear and understandable for an ordinary person, but the cultural and spiritual unity promoted by the thinker has become a program for educating Europeans.
In the work of Petrarch manifested many new ways that were used by contemporaries for the development of Italian Renaissance culture. In the treatise On Own Ignorance and Many Others, the poet rejected scholastic scholarship, in which scholarly work was considered a waste of time.
It was Petrarch who introduced the ideas of humanism in culture. The poet was convinced that one could achieve a new flourishing in art, literature, and science not by blindly imitating the thoughts of predecessors, but by striving to reach the heights of ancient culture, rethink them and try to surpass them.
That line, which was invented by Petrarch, became the main idea of the attitude of humanists to ancient culture and art. He was convinced that the science of man should become the content of true philosophy. Petrarch called for all the work to be transferred to the study of this object of knowledge.
With his ideas, the poet managed to lay a solid foundation for the formation of personal identity in this historical period.
The ideas of humanism in literature and music, proposed by Petrarch, made it possible for creative self-realization of the individual.
Distinctive features
If in the Middle Ages human behavior corresponded to those standards that were approved by the corporation, then in the Renaissance they began to abandon universal concepts, turn to an individual, specific individual.
The main ideas of humanism in literature and music were reflected. Poets sang in his works of man not by his social affiliation, but according to the fruitfulness of his activity, personal merits.
Humanist Leon Battista Alberti
It can be considered a vivid example of a humanistic approach to culture and art. An architect, painter, author of several treatises on art, Leon formulated the basic principles of composition in painting:
- symmetry and balance of color;
- Poses and gestures of characters.
Alberti believed that a person can triumph over any vicissitudes of fate only through his own activity.
He claimed: “One who does not want to be defeated easily wins. Tolerates the yoke of fate is one who is accustomed to obey. "
Creativity Lorenzo Valla
It would be wrong to idealize humanism without considering its individual tendencies. As an example, we give the work of Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457). His main philosophical work, “On Pleasure,” considers the desire of man to enjoy as mandatory characteristics. The author regarded the personal good as a "measure" of morality. According to his position, there is no point in dying for his homeland, so she will never appreciate it.
Many contemporaries viewed the position of Lorenzo Valla as asocial, did not support his humanist ideas.
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
In the second half of the 15th century, humanistic thoughts were replenished with new ideas. Among them, the statements of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola were of interest . He put forward the idea of personal dignity, noting the special properties of man in comparison with other living beings. In the work “The Dignity of Man,” he puts him at the center of the world. Claiming, contrary to church dogma, that God did not create Adam in his own image and likeness, but gave him the opportunity to independently create himself, Giovanni seriously damaged the church’s reputation.
As the culmination of humanistic anthropocentrism, the idea was expressed that the dignity of a person lies in his freedom, the opportunity to be what he himself desires.
When glorifying the greatness of man, admiring the amazing creations of individual personalities, all thinkers of the Renaissance period necessarily came to the conclusion that man and God were drawn together.
The divinity of mankind was seen as the magic of nature.
Important aspects
In the discussions of Marsilio Ficino, Gianzzo Manetti, Pico, Tommaso Campanella, an important characteristic of humanistic anthropocentrism was seen - the desire for unlimited deification of man.
Despite this view, humanists were neither atheists nor heretics. On the contrary, most of the enlighteners of that period were believers.
According to the Christian worldview, God was in the first place, and only then did man go. Humanists brought man to the forefront, and only after that they spoke about God.
The divine principle can be traced in the philosophy of even the most radical humanists of the Renaissance, but this did not prevent them from being critical of the church, regarded as a social institution.
Thus, the humanistic worldview included anticlerical (against the church) views that did not accept its dominance in society.
The works of Lorenzo Valla, Poggio Bracciolini, Leonardo Bruni, Erasmus of Rotterdam contain serious speeches against the popes, expose the vices of the representatives of the church, note the moral licentiousness of monasticism.
This attitude did not prevent humanists from becoming ministers of the church. For example, Enea Silvio Piccolomini and Tommaso Parentucelli were even elevated to the papal throne in the 15th century.
Almost until the middle of the sixteenth century, humanists were not persecuted by the Catholic Church. Representatives of the new culture did not fear the bonfires of the Inquisition, they were considered diligent Christians.
Only the Reformation - the movement that was created to renew the faith - made the church change its attitude towards the humanists.
Despite the fact that the Renaissance and the Reformation were united by deep hostility in the scholasticism, longed for church renewal, dreamed of returning to the roots, the Reformation expressed serious protest against the Renaissance elevation of man.
To a particular extent, such contradictions appeared when comparing the views of the Dutch humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam and the founder of the Reformation, Martin Luther. Their judgments echoed among themselves. They sarcastically belonged to the privileges of the Catholic Church, allowed themselves caustic remarks regarding the lifestyle of Roman theologians.
They held a different point of view on issues related to free will. Luther was convinced that in the face of God man was deprived of dignity, will. He can be saved only if he realizes that he is not able to be the creator of his destiny.
Luther regarded unlimited faith as the only condition for salvation. For Erasmus, the fate of man was compared in importance with the existence of God. For him, the Holy Scripture became an appeal addressed to a man, and whether a person will respond to the words of God or not, his will.
The ideas of humanism in Russia
The first serious poets of the 18th century Derzhavin and Lomonosov combined secularized nationalism with humanistic ideas. The source of inspiration for them was Great Russia. They enthusiastically told in their works about the greatness of Russia. Of course, such actions can be regarded as a kind of protest to the blind imitation of the West. Lomonosov was considered a true patriot, in his odes he proclaimed that science and culture could develop on Russian soil.
Derzhavin, often called the "singer of Russian glory," defended the dignity and freedom of man. A similar motive of humanism gradually turned into the crystallization core of a renewed ideology.
Among the prominent representatives of Russian humanism of the eighteenth century, Novikov and Radishchev can be noted. Novikov, at the age of twenty-five, published the journal Truten, on the pages of which he spoke about the Russian life of that time.
Waging a serious struggle against blind imitation of the West, constantly ridiculing the cruelty of that period, Novikov sadly wrote about the difficult situation of the Russian peasant people. At the same time, the process of creating an updated national identity was carried out. Russian humanists of the 18th century began to put forward morality as an important aspect; they preached the predominance of morality over reason.
For example, Fonvizin in the novel “The Undergrowth” notes that the mind is only a “trifle”, and goodwill brings a direct price to it.
This idea was the main idea of the Russian consciousness that existed in that historical period.
The second bright admirer of Russian humanism of this time is A.N. Radishchev. His name is surrounded by a halo of martyrdom. For subsequent generations of the Russian intelligentsia, he became a symbol of a man who actively solved social problems.
In his work, he lobbied one-sidedly with philosophical values, so he became associated with the active "hero" of the radical Russian movement, a fighter for the liberation of the peasants. It was for the radical views of Radishchev that they began to call the Russian revolutionary nationalist.
His fate was quite tragic, which attracted many historians of the national Russian movement of the eighteenth century to him.
XVIII century Russia sought to secular radicalism of the descendants of those people who once supported the ideas of church radicalism. Radishchev stood out among them in that he based his thoughts on natural law, which at that time was associated with Russoism, a criticism of untruth.
He was not alone in his ideology. Very quickly, many young people appeared around Radishchev, demonstrating their supportive attitude towards freedom of thought.
Conclusion
The humanistic ideas that arose in the 16-17th centuries have not lost their relevance at the present time. Despite the fact that today there is a different economic and political system, universal human values have not lost their relevance: a friendly attitude towards other people, respect for the interlocutor, and the ability to reveal creative abilities in each person.
Such principles have become not only the basis for the creation of works of art, but also the basis for the modernization of the domestic system of education and training.
The works of many representatives of the Renaissance, which in their work reflected humanist ideas, are considered in the lessons of literature and history. Note that the principle of promoting a person as an important living being has become the basis for the development of new educational standards in education.