Humanism is a term applied to the social philosophy and literary culture of the Western world during the Renaissance movements that spread across Europe. Washington State University, WSU, quoted on the internet: "Of all the practices of Renaissance Europe, nothing is used to distinguish the Renaissance from the Middle Ages more than humanism as both a program and a philosophy". The Renaissance in Europe began in Italy, and with it the origin of humanism. The movement began as a response to the troubling times Italy had been facing in the years prior to the beginning of humanism. During the Fourteenth century, Italy had become overpopulated, which resulted in famine and the Black Death. A deterioration for trading with China was another issue that we had to take in account.. Humanism was the intellectual movement responding to this crisis. They began to look at things that had been ignored in the Italian society, and brought ideas to the public eye that revolutionized philosophy and literature.
The School of Athens - fresco by Raffaello Sanzio ...
"School of Athens" Fresco in Apostolic Palace, Rom...
U2 Amsterdam 21th July 2009Ancient Renaissance Philosophers say that "Renaissance humanism was considered a 'rediscovery' of the ancient classical learning of Greece and Rome." The Renaissance is characterized by its emphasis on humanism, an emphasis that would have a tremendous impact upon the subsequent history of Western civilization.
Humanist studies placed us into a different world and changed the face of our lifestyle. Influential factors for Humanism were literature, art as well as music. It embraced concepts such as the supernatural as a created psychological human myth. People that where influential to the Humanism period, constructed this framework by coupling science with human reason to create an appropriate method for creating an interpretation of ultimate reality. Humanists generally denied the existence of anything outside of nature. They rejected many supernatural beliefs; however, disbelief in the supernatural is not...