Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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In Reply to: PLEASE POST YOUR SECOND REQUIRED POSTING AS FOLLOWUPS TO THIS POST posted by Tom Bacig on January 13, 1999 at 21:59:54:
A Renaiassance Man is a man who, once realizing the full potential of his own free will, exercises that independance to better himself and the world around him. He is like the proverbial diamond-in-the-rough, which, as soon as it is discovered what lies quietly beniath the dirt, is cut, polished and set in the open to amaze, and inspire, all who pass and witness the beauty that it projects upon the world. That is the type of man which becomes a Renaissance Man.
A man must possess three things to reach the acclaimed title of a Renaissance Man. Those three things are as follows; a free will, a strong arm and a well educated mind. Without those three things, he would never be able to fully attain the stature of a true Renaissance Man.
He is given a free will at birth and then presented with the opprotunity to exercise that wonderful weapon. If upon accepting the fact that he has the power to take his life into his own hands and mold it to suit his own concept of what is right, then he acheived the first of the three.
Pico della Merandola reveals free will in his Oration on the Dignity of Man. God speaks to Adam and says, "We have given you, Oh Adam, no visage proper to yourself, nor any endorsement properly your own, in order that whatever place, whatever form, whatever gifts you may, with premeditation, select, these same you may have and possess through your own judgment and decision. The nature of all other creatures is defined and restricted withing laws which We have laid down; you, by contrast, impeded by no such restrictions, may by your own free will, to whose custody We have assigned you, trace for yourself the lineaments of your own nature. I have placed you at the very center of the world, so that from that vantage point you may with greater ease glance round about you on all that the world contains. We have made you a creature neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, in order that you may, as the free and proud shapper of your own being, fashion yourself in the form you may prefer. It will be in your power to the lower, brutish forms of life; [or] you will be able, through your own decision, to rise again to the superior orders whos life is divine."
Niccolo Machiavelli also confirms this in The Prince when he states, "God does not want to do everthing Himself, and take away from us our free will and our share of the glory which belongs to us."
As to the strong arm, it states in Casiglione's Book of the Courtier, "The principal and true profession of the Courtier aught to be that of arm..." Machiavelli also supports this statement when he writes, "A prince there fore, must have no other object or thought, nor aquire skill in anything, except war, it's organization, and its discipline...There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not."
Now, on to the well educated mind. It has been presented to us that the Renaissance Man was, not only a free thinking soldier, but, a mand who could spout poetry, do mathematics, write music and sing or play it, and be gracious. He must know the histories and sciences.
In Leon Battista Alberti's On the Family, it lists the qualities a man should instill into his son if he wants him to grow into a proper Renaissance Man. It states, "...see to it that their sons pursue the study of letters assiduously and let them teasch them to understand and write corredtly. ...then let the children learn arithmetic and gain sufficient knowledge of geometry... Then let them turn once more to the poets, orators and philosophers. ...I should want my sons to become accustomed to good authors."
Castiglione goes on to speak about the grown man and how he must behave. "...let him laugh, jest, banter, frolic and dance, yet in such a fashion that he shall always appear genail and discreet, and that everything he may do or say shall be stamped with grace. ...to practice in everything a certain nonchalance that shall conceal design and show that what is done and said is done without effort and almost without thought. ...that waht is chiefly important and necessary for the courtier, in order to speak and write well, is knowledge... more than passably accomplished in letters, at least in those studies that are called the humanities... Let him be well verse in the poets... also proficient in writing verse and prose... I am not content with the courtier unless he be also a musician... besides understanding and being able to read notes, he can play them upon divers instruments... to know how to draw and to have acquaintance with the very art of painting."
All three of these, free will, strong arm and a well educated mind, are needed to created a man remarkable enough to be considered a Renaissance Man. So, to conclude, I shall use the words of Alberti. "...[Man] comes into this world in order to enjoy all things, be virtuous, and make himself happy. For he who may be called happy will be useful to other men, and he who is now useful to others cannot vut please God. ...It is said the man can do anything he wants. If you strive with all your strength and skill, as I have said, I ahve no doubt you will reach the highest degree of perfection and fame in any profession..."