Free Essays on Humanism Spread Throughout Europe

Before the Italian Renaissance, the education system in Europe was controlled by the Latin Church, which basically taught mostly religious doctrine. Then, beginning in the 1300’s, many scholars began to discover classic works by the likes of Plato and especially Cicero. Cicero, who was a Roman philosopher and statesman, studied something he called â€Å"humane studies.† Cicero influenced Francesco Petrarch, who started the renaissance revival of antiquity, when he discovered his lost letters. Petrarch also had a huge impact on many other people to come along later such as Boccaccio and Salutati. These humanists and many others thought that the medieval program of studies taught too much doctrine. Their goal was to establish a more classical program of studies and they saw themselves as reviving the ancient texts when they found and translated them. The humanists did not agree with the teachings of the university professors and they challenged their system at ever y level. Th! ey had their own ideas about the texts that should form the core of the humanist curriculum, which was based on Cicero’s studies. They were the subjects of grammar- specifically the scientific study of grammar which is called philology. Rhetoric- the art of speaking eloquently which would become crucially important especially in public speaking. Poetry- the purest form of literary expression and through poetry the inner-self can be released. History- they were very conscious of themselves being separate from medieval times. And ethics- which would be at the core of the renaissance humanist studies and covered all four above in a deeper sense. The people who studied this curriculum and the classics became to be known as â€Å"humanists.† They developed this new type of classical scholarship in which they tried to understand and translate the works of the Greeks and Romans. The humanists believed that the Greek and Latin classics contained all the le... Free Essays on Humanism Spread Throughout Europe Free Essays on Humanism Spread Throughout Europe Before the Italian Renaissance, the education system in Europe was controlled by the Latin Church, which basically taught mostly religious doctrine. Then, beginning in the 1300’s, many scholars began to discover classic works by the likes of Plato and especially Cicero. Cicero, who was a Roman philosopher and statesman, studied something he called â€Å"humane studies.† Cicero influenced Francesco Petrarch, who started the renaissance revival of antiquity, when he discovered his lost letters. Petrarch also had a huge impact on many other people to come along later such as Boccaccio and Salutati. These humanists and many others thought that the medieval program of studies taught too much doctrine. Their goal was to establish a more classical program of studies and they saw themselves as reviving the ancient texts when they found and translated them. The humanists did not agree with the teachings of the university professors and they challenged their system at ever y level. Th! ey had their own ideas about the texts that should form the core of the humanist curriculum, which was based on Cicero’s studies. They were the subjects of grammar- specifically the scientific study of grammar which is called philology. Rhetoric- the art of speaking eloquently which would become crucially important especially in public speaking. Poetry- the purest form of literary expression and through poetry the inner-self can be released. History- they were very conscious of themselves being separate from medieval times. And ethics- which would be at the core of the renaissance humanist studies and covered all four above in a deeper sense. The people who studied this curriculum and the classics became to be known as â€Å"humanists.† They developed this new type of classical scholarship in which they tried to understand and translate the works of the Greeks and Romans. The humanists believed that the Greek and Latin classics contained all the le...

Presidential Power essays

Presidential Power essays Richard E. Neustadt, the author of Presidential Power, addresses the politics of leadership and how the citizens of the United States rate the performance of the president's term. We measure his leadership by saying that he is either "weak or "strong" and Neustadt argues that we have the right to do so, because his office has become the focal point of politics and policy in our political system. Neustadt brings to light three main points: how we measure the president, his strategy of presidential influence, and how to study them both. Today we deal with the President himself and with his influence on government action. The president now includes about 2000 men and women, the president is only one of them, but his performance can not be measured without focusing on himself. Richard Neustadt today is a professor of politics and has written many books on subjects pertaining to government and the inter workings of governments. He has many years of personal experience working with the government along with the knowledge of what makes a president powerful. He has worked under President Truman, Kennedy and Johnson. His credibility of politics has enhanced his respect in the field of politics. His works are studied in many Universities and he is considered well versed in his opinions of many different presidents. It is true that he seems to use Truman and Eisenhower as the main examples in this book and does show the reader the mistakes he believes were made along the way in achieving power. Neustagt begins with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom he believes is the one president that knew how best to yield his power. He uses other examples throughout the book of Presidents from FDR to Reagan and endeavors to show the reader the ways in which power and persuasion was used in order for the presidents too perform at the best of their ability and still retain the power to persuade in order to govern the country and app...

Freedom, Our Public and Private Interests, and Kant's Questions Essay

Freedom, Our Public and Private Interests, and Kant's Questions - Essay Example uinas’ definition of human character has fuelled academic debate as to the differences particularly in relation to the theories regarding freedom, public and private interests in light of Kant’s extrapolation of the Supreme Moral Principle of Good Will. The focus of this paper is to critically evaluate these differences with a contextual consideration of Kant’s Supreme Moral Principle of Good Will in practice. To this end, this paper will consider Kant and Aquinas’ central arguments and evaluate Kantian assumptions of innate morality in ethical theory and international relations. It is firstly submitted that Kant’s theory of enlightenment arguably focused on an attempt to seek out a truth of knowledge and similarly Aquinas’s arguments suggests that the underlying nature of being human was explained through rationale thought, which he in turn related to God. Furthermore, Deligiorgi posits that Kant’s philosophy belongs to an intellectual context in terms of the limits of enlightenment and he â€Å"defines enlightenment not in terms of rational certitudes but rather in terms of the freedom to engage in public argument† (Deligiorgi, 1). Accordingly, Kant’s philosophy is rooted in an innate moral propensity towards democracy as a result of human intellectual independence. Kant’s theory of the rationale for being human suggests that it is the interrelationship between intellectual independence and morality that is central to concepts of democracy. Similarly, Aquinas’ proposition of what constitutes being human also emphasises the independent voluntary exercise of will. However, in contrast to Kant, Aquinas’ theory was heavily intertwined with Catholic hierarchy and interpretations of existence (Ardley 3). Moreover, Aquinas’ central focus was on the issue of humanity in context of its relationship to God and the natural world. Additionally, Ardley highlights that the central difference with Kant’s principle of humanity was that â€Å"Aquinas