Renaissance Humanism and the Rise of Modernity

Posted on Feb 23, 2025 in Philosophy and ethics

Renaissance Humanism

Between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, significant geographical discoveries and advancements in culture, science, and technology led to the emergence of a new mentality, breaking away from medieval theology.

Humanism

Humanism brought with it a defense of freedom of thought and expression. In philosophy, the Renaissance was characterized by a return to the major Greek systems, emphasizing exclusively rational reflection.

Technical and scientific developments fostered the belief that anything was possible. A considerable interest also arose in the irrational, known as Hermetic thought (occultism, astrology, alchemy, and magic).

Anthropocentrism

Humanist philosophers promoted education and the development of individual personality. Moving away from theocentrism, they adopted an anthropocentric perspective:

  • The human being is the center of the universe.
  • The human being is free, not conditioned by sin or grace.
  • The human being is considered the master of their own destiny and freely decides their behavior.

Renaissance thinkers proposed political models based solely on human nature.

  1. Political Realism: Advocated by Machiavelli, it posits that humans naturally tend towards evil but are masters of their destiny.
  2. Utopianism: This school of thought believes it is possible to design and establish a perfect, egalitarian society where all ideas are respected.

Naturalism

Regarding humans and nature, naturalism de-emphasized religious aspects and stressed natural origins.

Modernity: Reason and Freedom

The seventeenth century was marked by a permanent crisis. This crisis affected the image of the human being, now seen as dethroned from their central place in the universe. Absolute truths were replaced by appearances and illusions.

The Problem of the Two Substances

In this context, Descartes, the founder of Rationalism, used doubt as a method: “I think, therefore I exist.” Thought, conscience, and human reason once again became the most emblematic symbols of humanity, now independent of faith, capable of understanding and transforming the world.

Descartes described the human being as composed of two substances:

  • The thinking substance: Consciousness
  • The extended substance: Matter

From this point on, reflection focused on the relationships between:

  • The body-machine, dominated by the laws of physics.
  • The human spirit, which governs the body and is characterized by free will.

Emphasis was placed on separating and distinguishing between body and thought, prioritizing thought over the body. Reason grants humans their freedom, and only wisdom leads to happiness.

The Problem of Human Nature

  • Locke: Humans in the state of nature are free and equal, but not necessarily good. Moral law can be discovered through reason.
  • Rousseau: His thinking is part of the Enlightenment, the European intellectual movement that championed:
    • Reason as a tool against ignorance.
    • The development of science.
    • Optimism for progress.
    • Encyclopedic knowledge.
    • Secularization of thought, independence from religion.

For Rousseau, progress is not necessarily the development of human beings. He defines it as an artificial construct of society and a tool for political power, which has only served to corrupt the individual, leading to the loss of freedom and innocence and establishing inequality among people.