To be human is to be both heroic and deeply flawed, self-sacrificing and selfish, competitive and giving. For the Greeks, the human body laid bare the divinity of beauty. The ancient Greek view of humanity is emphasized by the human body. Greek artists highlighted physical beauty and athleticism in their works. The Greeks see physical beauty as godly and divine. Ancient Greek art stands out among that other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body. In contrast, The Renaissance view of humanity combined influences of increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more individualistic view of man.
Two examples of these contrasting views on humanity are Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam painted in the Sistine Chapel with that of the medieval Adam and Eve Reproached by the Lord. The Sistine Chapel is among the most popular and painted interiors across the globe, and essentially the entire popularity is associated with its ceiling’s magnificent painting. Obviously, Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam is spiritual in nature because it represents the moment when God gives life to Adam in the Book of Genesis. This touch is very powerful and will not only give life to Adam but will give life to all of mankind. Therefore, it is the birth of the human race. The painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling allowed Michelangelo to fully demonstrate his skill in creating a huge variety of poses for the human figure and which has provided an enormously influential pattern book of models for other artists ever since. Michelangelo’s beautiful brush strokes came to embody the peak of Renaissance art. Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam painted in the Sistine Chapel is very lifelike while the medieval Adam and Eve Reproached by the Lord offers more structure in a three-dimensional sense. Michelangelo presents traits of humanism in The Creation of Adam by mirroring the image of a man so close to God. Also, he focuses on the character’s details and components and depicts the biblical stories from his own perspective.
The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo is an important landmark for the art portion of the Renaissance era. The painting was created by the artist Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Interestingly the painting was not done traditionally but in a unique way by Michelangelo while laying down looking up at the ceiling. The painting was also used as a metaphor to show the Renaissance belief in the holiness of humankind. It later created controversy in 1980 because of being restored due to wear and tear over time, and was accused of being ruined. The Creation of Adam was a landmark in Renaissance art during the era due to the different techniques brought about by the legendary artist known as Michelangelo allowing advancements to be brought about in the field of art in society today.
Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Renaissance literature refers to European literature which was influenced by the intellectual and cultural tendencies associated with the Renaissance. The literature of the Renaissance was written within the general movement of the Renaissance, which arose in 14th-century Italy and continued until the 16th century while being diffused into the rest of the western world. It is characterized by the adoption of a humanist philosophy and the recovery of the classical antiquity.
The phrase “Middle Ages” tells us more about the Renaissance that followed it than it does about the era itself. Starting around the 14th century, European thinkers, writers and artists began to look back and celebrate the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. They dismissed the period after the fall of Rome as a middle or even dark age in which no scientific accomplishments had been made, no great art produced, no great leaders born.
The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th through the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. Some of the greatest authors, scientists and artists in human history succeeded during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.
The Renaissance in Europe was an awakening from the long slumber of the Dark Ages. Even backsliding kind of society re-invested in the promise of material and spiritual gain. There was the sincerely held belief that humanity was making progress towards a perfect existence. This rebirth came to fruition is a matter of debate among historians. What cannot be debated is that humanity took an astounding leap forward after hundreds of years of drift. The 14 through 16 centuries in Europe witnessed a deliberate break with feudal modes of living. Greek and Roman mythologies and philosophies served as the inspirational material for a new wave of artistic creation. Intellectuals adopted a line of thought known as “humanism,” in which mankind was believed capable perfection beyond what had ever been imagined. The overwhelming spirit of the times was optimism, a belief that life was improving for the first time. The specter of the Dark Ages were still very fresh in people’s minds, and the promise of moving forward and away from such horrors was welcome.
During the 14th century, a cultural movement called humanism began to gain momentum in Italy. Among its many principles, humanism promoted the idea that man was the center of his own universe, and people should embrace human achievements in education, classical arts, literature and science.
Humanism was an intellectual movement embraced by scholars, writers, and civic leaders in the 14th and early 15th century Italy. The movement developed in response to the medieval scholastic conventions in education at the time, which emphasized practical, pre-professional, and scientific studies engaged in solely for job preparation, and typically by men alone. The movement was largely founded on the ideals of Italian scholar and poet Francesco Petrarca, which were often centered around humanity’s potential for achievement. While Humanism initially began as a predominantly literary movement, its influence quickly pervaded the general culture of the time, re-introducing classical Greek and Roman art forms and contributing to the development of the Renaissance. Humanists considered the ancient world to be the pinnacle of human achievement, and thought its accomplishments should serve as a model for contemporary Europe. Humanism was a hopeful idea that saw man as a rational being, with the ability to decide and think for himself. It saw man as inherently good by nature, which was in tension with the Christian view of man as the original sinner needing redemption.
Renaissance Humanists saw no conflict between their study of the Ancients and Christianity. The lack of perceived conflict allowed Early Renaissance artists to combine classical forms, classical themes, and Christian theology freely. Humanism affected the artistic community and how artists were perceived. By the mid-16th century, Humanism had lost much of its power. Europe was engaged in a war of words, ideas, and sometimes weapons over the nature of Christianity. Humanist culture was overtaken by rival ideology, becoming semi-independent disciplines governed by the area’s faith.
Poetry in the Renaissance became one of the most valued forms of literature and was often accompanied by music. According to The Literature Network, the poetic forms most commonly employed during this period were the lyric, tragedy, an elegy or pastoral. The goal of each poet was to capture the beauty in the modern world. One of the most significant poems written during this time is the epic Paradise Lost by John Milton. The purpose of Paradise Lost was to communicate the reasoning behind God’s decision involving Adam and Eve’s fall from Eden and to express the central Christian truths of freedom, sin, and redemption as he conceived.
John Milton was an English poet, who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse.
William Shakespeare dominated English drama during the Renaissance. Shakespeare’s ability to switch between different genres, comedy and tragedy, while continuously teaching a lesson is what made him different. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which a soldier goes rogue with greed, killing several people, he does all of this because of a prophecy. Shakespeare is regarded as one of the greatest playwrights and even created several words in the English language. However, much of Shakespeare’s life is unknown, there are gaps of time when Shakespeare’s presence is gone.
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely known as the greatest writer in the English language. He is often called England’s national poet and the Bard of Avon.
The Renaissance is an important time period because the level of artistic and architectural production during this time is amazing, so much that years and years later works produced during the Renaissance continue to capture the public’s mind. There are many reasons why the Renaissance is important. Not only is the period highly interesting, but it also offers us several lessons, which we can approach the world today.
The Renaissance taught us the power of looking to the past for ideas. During the Renaissance, people looked to their past with a sense of admiration in search of guidance. They did not look to the previous century, but instead to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Patrons, scholars, artists, and engineers of the Renaissance looked back to their ancient ancestors in order to help them craft their world in the 15th and 16th centuries. While the Renaissance is mostly considered in light of the historical thinking that went on in the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of that time could be very forward-thinking in their approaches.
The Renaissance is arguably the best example of a civilization with its feet in worlds of the past and also the future. Historians today consider the period before the Renaissance to be the Middle Ages, which effectively began with the fall of Rome in the 5th century and lasted for 8 or 9 centuries. Although the Middle Ages cannot be thought of as an entirely homogeneous entity, we might say that the rate of change during that time was relatively less when compared to history during and after the Renaissance.
Following the Renaissance, the world started changing in significant ways. The Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the Scientific Revolution gradually developed on the heels of the thinking that had emerged in the decades and centuries before. The Renaissance was the gateway to the modern world. After looking back through the history of Western Civilization, one can point to the Renaissance as the one period that best ties everything in its past with everything in its future.
The Renaissance refers to an era of intellectual excitement when art, literature, and science blossomed and groundbreaking humanistic ideas started to make way. The impact of the Renaissance was powerful and has endured for centuries. This important era changed the concept of what it means to be human and emphasized the beauty and intelligence of the individual forming the principle of the Italian Renaissance, the philosophy known as “humanism.” However, what did change man’s view of man in this bonanza of innovation and rebirth? Quite frankly, humanism was the most effective in changing man’s view of man. Humanism encouraged people to be curious and to question received wisdom, especially that of the Catholic Church. Humanism even brought changes in subjects such as art and science. As a result, changing man’s view of man, unlike developments such as technological advances or the creation of Italian City-States.
Yet, to further understand how humanism changed man’s view of man, it helps to review what European society was like before.To begin with, the period of European history before the Renaissance, from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West to the fall of Constantinople, or, more narrowly, from c. 1100 to 1453, is usually called as the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church and Pope were the supreme power during the Middle Ages, causing many people to believe in spiritual icons, such as Jesus. But, in the 1300s, humanism changed man’s outlook on religion. During this century, important changes began to happen, serfs were now able to gain their freedom, no longer depending on lords. Some freed serfs migrated, where they took up the craft of trade. The number of merchants and bankers increased. Literacy then spread, with the goal of educating workers so, they could effectively carry on their work. Eventually, educated people began to question teachings of the Church. This early movement evolved into the philosophy known as “humanism” and was an outlook that attached prime importance to human rather than religious matters, making people of the Renaissance secular. Because of this new outlook, halos, which were worn by saints in paintings, seemed to gradually faint and eventually disappeared during the Renaissance. Moreover, the hieratic scale was disregarded, and ordinary people grew to be the same size as saints in paintings, and saints began to look more like ordinary people. However, humanism did not only change man’s view of religion but as well as the subject of science and medicine.
Subsequently, the philosophy continued and worked its way, into the sciences and medicine. As a result, many Renaissance intellectuals focused on trying to define and understand the laws of nature and the physical world. Firstly, the scientist and mathematician, Galileo Galilei investigated astronomy, only to discover that the universe was not geocentric, but indeed heliocentric! As the article “The Italian Renaissance” adapted by Newsela staff, states in paragraph 8, “Galileo also built a powerful telescope. He used it to show that Earth and other planets revolved around the sun and not, as religious authorities argued, the other way around. For this, Galileo was arrested and threatened with torture and death, but he refused to deny what he knew to be true. ‘I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use,’ he said.” Galileo focused on trying to define and understand the structure of the universe but was overrun by religious authorities because of his humanistic ideas. Galileo serves as a prime example of how humanism changed man’s view of man. Yet, another major example is Andreas Vesalius, an anatomist, and physician. The Middle Ages believed that each sign of the zodiac governed a certain part of the body, for example, the constellation, Aries the Ram, controlled the head. Despite that, he believed the zodiac theory of anatomy was a false representation of the human body. Vesalius, when on and dissected human corpses to better explain the human to his medical students.
Evidently, humanism was the most effective in changing man’s view of man, unlike technological advances and Italian City-States because it turned away from medieval religious beliefs and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought. Which resulted in Italian City-States and technological advances, making humanism the root of the change. For example, Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci applied many humanist principles to his work. Instead of focusing on symbols, Da Vinci tried to show people as they would appear in real life. He also tried to show people’s emotions. In the famous work “Mona Lisa,” Da Vinci used the technique of perspective and chiaroscuro, which changed the essence and emotion in the art itself. According to, “Document A: The Individual in Art,” it states, “[It] was the essence of the Renaissance…. One begins to know the names of the artists … feel stronger emotions in the subjects … see well-defined landscapes, natural folds in drapery, and three-dimensional figures; and one begins to notice the emphasis on symbolic representation giving way to depictions of recognizable scenes … the new artistic styles would echo the broader movements and interests of the new age.” Humanistic ideas affected the view of artists changing art so neither the techniques nor the forms of artistic expression would be the same again. As said many times before, humanism was the most effective in changing man’s view of man.Many different scientific, artistic, and cultural achievements played a role during the time of the Renaissance, especially the ideas of humanism. In summary, humanism was the most effective in changing man’s view of man and encouraged people to be curious and to question received wisdom. And brought changes in subjects such as art and science. As a result, changing man’s view of man, unlike developments such as technological advances or the creation of Italian City-States. In conclusion, thanks to humanism, people started to look at themselves in a new way.
Q. Whose perspectives and objectives are evident within the assigned documents and what do they demonstrate about the nature of humanism in Renaissance Italy?
Civic humanism is the advanced term for the ethical, social and political way of thinking that over the span of the fourteenth and fifteenth hundred of years started to be verbalized in Italian city-states and most quiet in Florence. Many historians gave her perspective on Civic humanism. It stands as a bridge between modernity and the middle ages. It is indubitable that the historical and innovative contributions of humanism could only have developed in the fifteen century. When the humanists led civic lives and it is supported by many historians.
The humanist political talk differs to the origination of political and social reality as a reflection or being a piece of the celestial and otherworldly request of things, subsequently undermining the power relations and the political progressive systems’ customary defenses. The last made a domain for present-day yearning for political and social requests grounded in correspondence and freedom. It additionally prompted the origination of the current type of belief system, which legitimized social commitment by disguising its structures and disparities of the domain. Like the general current political thought, humanism reflects and builds the argument of domain and liberation, something which is integral to Modernity.
To begin with, Baron claims that the thoughts, which the Florentine civic humanists came up with and spread during the first decades of the fifteen-century had cultural and intellectual revolution. Florentines were forced into a process of rigorous self-analysis that affirmed the values for which they were fighting: freedom of speech, free access to political office, equality of all citizens before the law, and self-government – in short, the fundamentals of modernity.[footnoteRef:1] [1: Mark Jurdjevic, “Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici,” Renaissance Quarterly 52, No. 4 (Winter 1999): 995.]
Bruni proposes the same relationship between culture and political freedom, that ‘virtue, nobility, and genius” can only flourish among politically free people.[footnoteRef:2] Baron accepted that the powerful and extreme republican reasoning of municipal humanism became out of this perception, consequently guaranteeing the transmission of democratic suggestive from olden times to the modern era.[footnoteRef:3] He expressed that the community humanists didn’t have a typical comprehension of society and individuals, and rather grasped the cutting edge sees.[footnoteRef:4] In his contention, Baron describes the progressions that happened in various subject matters and movements. Economic activity resonates with the modernity and originality of the humanists[footnoteRef:5]. Though the medieval culture recognized renunciation of intensity, private property, and sexual movement as a portion of its optimal, the community humanists considered family life favorable and normal to satisfaction of direction as humankind. In a similar weight, material riches and monetary movement were considered in a positive light. Something considered important to the general public and common to a person. Be that as it may, as the creator expresses, these sentiments were educated by considerations of mankind, which were significantly unmistakable from the medieval one. [2: Mark Jurdjevic, “Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici,” Renaissance Quarterly 52, No. 4 (Winter 1999): 1002. ] [3: Mark Jurdjevic, “Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici,” Renaissance Quarterly 52, No. 4 (Winter 1999): 995.] [4: Mark Jurdjevic, “Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici,” Renaissance Quarterly 52, No. 4 (Winter 1999): 994 ] [5: Mark Jurdjevic, “Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici,” Renaissance Quarterly 52, No. 4 (Winter 1999): 995.]
Baron goes further to attest that the metro humanists thought of the cutting-edge subject of history, naming this as ‘present-day recorded awareness.’ Even along these lines, a parallel pundit, for example, Leonardo Bruni goes an alternate way by indicating his basic reasonableness as he dismisses the astonishing medieval authentic idea. Noble, be that as it may, keeps up that such a work was an indication of the advanced quality of chronicled thought of the humanists. He contended that Bruni’s way was a disavowal to outrank history to religious philosophy, and thusly seeing and speaking to the past in common classification.[footnoteRef:6] [6: Mark Jurdjevic, “Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici,” Renaissance Quarterly 52, No. 4 (Winter 1999): 996.]
Moreover, changes in education showed how Italian humanism adapt to the concept of modernity. The small towns in the Italian Renaissance had the highest number of graduates the big city Florence. The graduation records for the period 1543-99 reveal that while Florence claimed only five graduates per thousand inhabitants for that period, the secondary towns of Tuscany claimed a substantially larger number, and Pistoia surpassed them by far with twenty-seven graduates per thousand inhabitants.[footnoteRef:7] In Pistoia children’s schooling responsibility was taken by city council rather than church school that’s was happening in other big cities. Indeed, the success of the educational system in Pistoia reflects on the ways that Pistoians imbibed the spirit of civic humanism, effectively inculcating its principles throughout their educational system[footnoteRef:8]. Schooling of children in the Renaissance happens according to their family status and wealth. The community of Pistoia had changed the schooling experience for children make accessible for youth from different backgrounds within the community[footnoteRef:9]. Baron integrates education, morals, political activism, and humanism. Baron concentrated on the main job accepted by humanists in the enunciation of law-based rules that guided the administration of the Florentine republic of the early quattrocento. Through a nearby examination of works of that period, Baron featured the humanists’ craving for rich residents to contribute the overabundance of their riches for common objectives and the open great to profit their community[footnoteRef:10]. [7: Arie S. Zmora, “Schooling in Renaissance Pistoia: Community and Civic Humanism in Small-Town Tuscany,” Sixteenth Century Journal 34, no. 3 (Fall 2003): 761.] [8: Arie S. Zmora, “Schooling in Renaissance Pistoia: Community and Civic Humanism in Small-Town Tuscany,” Sixteenth Century Journal 34, no. 3 (Fall 2003): 764.] [9: Arie S. Zmora, “Schooling in Renaissance Pistoia: Community and Civic Humanism in Small-Town Tuscany,” Sixteenth Century Journal 34, no. 3 (Fall 2003): 762.] [10: Arie S. Zmora, “Schooling in Renaissance Pistoia: Community and Civic Humanism in Small-Town Tuscany,” Sixteenth Century Journal 34, no. 3 (Fall 2003): 763.]
There was women humanist Laura Cereta, she wrote great Latin work, letters, and important defense of humanist education for women. She wrote the famous “Letter to Augustinus Aemilius: Curse against the Ornamentation of Women”. In which letter is taken up with an investigation of the estimations of the vast majority of her companions who give extraordinary consideration to their looks. The last section of the letter appears to be a finished turnabout, for Cereta apologizes for instead of berating her sex[footnoteRef:11]. In another work of Laura Cereta “ Letter to Bibulus Semproniuss”, she explained that women have been able by nature to be exceptional, but have chosen lesser goals.[footnoteRef:12] [11: Laura Cereta, “Letter to Augustinus Aemilius: Curse against the Ornamentation of Women,” in The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook, edited by Kenneth R. Bartlett, 2nd edition (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001), 145.] [12: LETTER OF LAURA CERTA. Accessed November 11, 2019. http://web.archive.org/web/20001205233600/http://www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/certa.htm.]
In conclusion
The present-day view of the real world and the contemporary individual developed during the period of the Renaissance. The researchers who lived during Baron’s age, for example, Eugenio Garin held and spread a similar translation of humanism, featuring its party of human movement and urban life just as taking note of its authentic cognizance. Notwithstanding, the exceptionality of the understanding that Baron presents lies by the way he centers around a particular sort of humanism as an advancement carrier. That is Florentine urban humanism. As per Baron, it is apparent that the recorded and the inventive commitments of humanism could possibly have been created in the fifteenth century when the humanists had community existences .what’s more, related themselves with Florentine republicanism. The extraordinary debater sees the community humanists’ republican political hypothesis as key to their idea.
Did the Renaissance change man’s view of man? This question is debatable. There are so many points to prove the differences and similarities in theories like astronomy to medicine and humanism. The Renaissance, French for “rebirth,” was a period that started near 1350 A.D. after the Middle Ages when people started having more looks that focused on the man itself and not only God or listening to everything the Bible said. This led to people finding that certain subjects thought of as wrong by the church were proven to be correct. Before the Middle Ages was Ancient Greek’s time. If we take history into consideration, we see that the Middle Ages, unlike the Renaissance and Ancient Greece, did not have a humanistic look but a look that solely relied on the Bible. What went wrong during this time? This all leads back to the big question: Did the Renaissance change man’s view of man? In this essay, we will be looking at medicine, astronomy, and humanism in the three time periods, and what provoked the change during the Middle Ages. To prove these points, I will have one piece of evidence from all three of the times to prove the continuity between the Renaissance and the Ancient Greek times. So, what did really happen during the Middle Ages, and is there really continuity between the three times?
Medicine has been studied by many people all around the globe and throughout history. But how did medicine play out during the Ancient Greek times, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance? Hippocrates is a well-known physician that practiced medical tasks in Ancient Greece. Hippocrates, or father of medicine, is a very good example of medicine and human anatomy studies in Ancient Greece. He learned a lot about the human body’s muscles and made humourism into a medical theory. Humourism is a medical theory that showed that the body had four basic substances, also known as humor. If there was unbalance in these humor, or one of them is corrupted, you would be sick[footnoteRef:4]. This was how physicians in Ancient Greece explained sickness and disease. The physicians in this time didn’t have any explanation for humor and humour were explained superstitiously. Although humor were somewhat unlogical and superstitious, some Ancient Greek practices made sense and many logical practices were made by physicians of this time, including surgery and steps of diagnostics. During the Middle Ages, humor was also adapted into the system and were used just like they were used in Ancient Greek times. During the Medieval times, other superstitious practices were adapted including bloodletting and astrology. These were ineffective and completely superstitious methods of curing someone of sickness or disease. During the Renaissance, many different kinds of medicinal practices were invented and adopted. Many superstitious practices were kept including bloodletting. But many logical practices were used and kept like an autopsy, C-section, and trepanation. This could show us that with more advancements in science and human anatomy, more logical practices were able to be put in place. During these three times, we could see that all three time periods used superstitious methods. Some more than others. The Renaissance used the most amounts of logical practices and the Middle Ages used the least amount of logical practices. In these three times, we could see the least amount of difference in continuity. If we were to put this onto a graph of achievements this would be up (Greek), down (Middle Ages), up (Renaissance). The ups and the downs for Greece and the Middle Ages would not be drastic compared to the up of the Renaissance.
Astronomy has kept mankind confused for thousands of years while trying to figure it out. Every civilization has had its own beliefs on astronomy for certain reasons. Some reasons were more valid than others. For example, the Ancient Greeks had many beliefs of how our universe and the solar system was laid out. Many drawings from earlier in the Ancient Greek times showed the belief of a geocentric model. The main enthusiast, of this model, was Aristotle. Aristotle is well known for his philosophy but was also known for maths, physics, and biology. With Aristotle leading the movement. Much of the Greek population followed him. Then came Aristarchus. His many drawings of explanation show Earth rotating around the Sun, and the Moon rotating around Earth. He was the first of the Ancient Greek times to realize that the sun was the in the middle of our solar system[footnoteRef:8]. Many people did not agree with this, but it slowly progressed into a valid theory and was considered correct over the geocentric model in Ancient Greece. The Middle Ages had a different view than the heliocentric model. The Middle Ages thought of the geocentric model as the correct one. This is because the Bible stated that the Earth was the center of the universe. The Middle Ages was influenced by Christianity massively and all knowledge was based on the Bible or Christianity itself. We can see many paintings of the geocentric model from the Middle Ages proving that this was the correct theory during this time period. During the Renaissance, many things changed. People started trying to find out the truth on certain subjects and many discoveries were made. One certain person had a massive influence on this change. This was Galileo Galilei along with his many drawings and explanations of the heliocentric model. A bit after the Renaissance started, the church still had power over people. So, when Galileo Galilei had proof for the heliocentric model, which was that he had spotted Jupiter’s moons revolving around Jupiter. Therefore, showing that not everything revolves around the Earth and that Aristarchus’ heliocentric model was correct. He was put into jail by the church and was never a free man again[footnoteRef:9]. Slowly, people started listening to this theory and accepting it. Eventually, even the church listened to the heliocentric theory and it was accepted. The Greeks started with the geocentric model but eventually gave in to the heliocentric model, the Medieval Times had the geocentric model as their belief, and finally, the Renaissance supported the heliocentric model. This can show the continuity of the Greeks, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. The Greeks did not have the correct theory at first, but then they changed. The Middle Ages never had the correct theory, and the Renaissance did have the correct theory. This process can show a line progressing upward, then falling down for quite some time, and rising up drastically because of the Renaissance. This type of graph can explain to us the continuity between the three times.
What is humanism? Humanism is an outlook of thoughts where prime importance is connected to humans instead of supernatural matters. How exactly was humanism linked to Ancient Greece, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance? Well, humanism in Ancient Greece was very significant. For example, in the literature and arts of the Greek times, the Greeks put humans in the center and focused mostly on them. The Greeks did paint or write about the gods. This can be shown by many Greek sculptures. One is the Artemision Bronze, this painting shows either Zeus or Poseidon; which might not be humanist, but if you look at the sculpture, it shows Zeus/Poseidon in human form. Hence, showing humanism, and the beauty of the human. The Greeks did not let the gods determine their knowledge on things such as astronomy, and medicine. This showed that they were very humanists and did not praise or let supernatural matters determine their thoughts and beliefs too much. During the Middle Ages, things were different. Styles of art changed and became focused on god. This can be shown by many paintings like Maestà di Santa Trinita by Giovanni Cimabue, where the background is simple, the painting is focused on religion, and the baby is not drawn to scale. This happened to the rest of the arts including literature and even affected the knowledge at the time (medicine and astronomy). Art, literature, and knowledge were all formed into ways to show god and praise the church. During the Renaissance, things changed back, slowly but surely. Humanism became a movement because of the influence of knowledge and the Bible being proven wrong. More people stopped worrying about life after death but about the current life. The church’s decline in power led to humanism, literature, and arts focusing on the human species instead of god and Christianity. We can see this through many primary sources from the renaissance. One is Petrarch, the father of humanism. Petrarch wrote many poems talking about love and humans, this shows that he did not care much about the life after but the life before. Petrarch also reconciled Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome with Christianity. This brought new thoughts and theories to the table. So how does the influence of humanism compare during these three times? Well, we see that the Greeks were very humanist and showed this through their art. The Middle Ages were not very humanist. This was portrayed in their art as these were all made to show the power and influence of god over mankind. The Renaissance had a lot in common with the Greeks, the arts started moving into praising humanity. They stopped focusing on the church and God and started praising themselves. In terms of continuity, the Greeks would be in line with the Renaissance while the Middle Ages would lower than both.
So, what exactly changed during the Middle Ages? What happened for this time to go downhill in terms of knowledge and humanism? Well, the Middle Ages happened in the west of the Roman Empire. So, when Constantinople changed the empire’s official religion to Christianity, this was a huge factor in the Middle Ages. This is because when the Roman Empire finally split into a giant amount of small communities. The factor that re-joined these communities together was the church. The church linked all of these small communities together and created a sort of society. At the beginning, the church was for everyone. Meaning that everyone could join and that it was not corrupt. With the church in power, this led to the development of humanism plummeting, and the arts and beliefs being focused on god. How did the church stay in power for so long? After the switch of the official religion of the Roman Empire, the church had a lot of power, so when the Roman Empire fell, the church did not lose the power it had as the people that lived in the Roman Empire still followed Christianity. With the church in power, it would not be gone for a while. The church soon became corrupt because of all the power it had, enforcing policies like paying the church to get into heaven. How exactly did the Middle Ages end? The Renaissance started by the massive influence of developing knowledge and humanism. One factor of the Renaissance was trade arising from the Middle East, which led to people being connected to other traditions and religions. This also was a big factor because the Middle East also had started developing more and with trade came developing ideas and thoughts from the Middle East. This influenced people in Europe massively and is one of the main reasons of the Middle Ages ended. The Middle Ages started and ended for a reason. The church and the fall Roman Empire was the reason why the Middle Ages started and shows us why the decline in knowledge and humanism in this time was present.
This all comes back to the big question, did the Renaissance change man’s view of man? Well, looking at the overall continuity of medicine, astronomy, humanism, and the causes and changes of the Middle Ages. In this essay, we see that the civilization that is Ancient Greece had similar thoughts as the Renaissance and it was the Middle Ages that stood out from the pack. This means that the Renaissance was not especially “revolutionary” compared to other civilizations and the similarities between them and the Renaissance. The Middle Ages could just be considered as a phase, that mankind had to go through. It was almost the only one of its kind, unlike the Renaissance and the many developments that came with it. So, looking at the Renaissance and Ancient Greece we can see that the thoughts were very similar and the only reason that the Renaissance could have changed man’s view of man was that the Middle Ages was right before it.
Primary and Secondary Sources
Medicine (1st paragraph)
Ancient Greece and the Middle Ages
The four humors
Astronomy (2nd paragraph)
Ancient Greece
Aristarchus’ model, shows the Earth orbiting the sun and the moon orbiting Earth.
The Middle Ages
The geocentric model was drawn in the Middle Ages.
The Renaissance
The Copernican system. Drawn by Copernicus, and later proved by Galileo.
Humanism (3rd paragraph)
Ancient Greece
The Artemision Bronze
Middle Ages
Maestà di Santa Trinita by Giovanni Cimabue.
The Renaissance
A poem by Petrarch talks about him falling in love with a lady. Instead of religion or the Bible. This gives signs of humanism.
Era il giorno ch’al sol si scoloraro
It was on that day when the sun’s ray was darkened in pity for its Maker, that I was captured, and did not defend myself, because your lovely eyes had bound me, Lady.
It did not seem to me to be a time to guard myself against Love’s blows: so I went on confident, unsuspecting; from that, my troubles started, amongst the public sorrows.
Love discovered me all weaponless, and opened the way to the heart through the eyes, which are made the passageways and doors of tears: so that it seems to me it does him little honor to wound me with his arrow, in that state, he not showing his bow at all to you who are armed.
“Humanism in the Renaissance .” Study.com, Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/humanism-in-the-renaissance-recognizing-the-beauty-of-the-individual.html#.
“Kill or Cure? 10 Medieval Medical Practices and Their Effectiveness.” History Extra, 12 Sept. 2018, www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/kill-or-cure-10-medieval-medical-practices-and-their-effectiveness/.
“13 Medical Practices of the Renaissance That Are Still Used Today.” Interesting Engineering, 24 Sept. 2018, interestingengineering.com/13-medical-practices-of-the-renaissance-that-are-still-used-today.
“These Drawings Show Just How Little People Knew About Science During The Middle Ages.” These Drawings Show Just How Little People Knew About Science During The Middle Ages | Deveoh, m.deveoh.com/middle-ages-science-drawings.
In the history of the world, many remarkable events have taken place that has led to a turnaround in the thoughts and general lives of the people. One of such period is renaissance humanism. Renaissance Humanism is the study of ancient Greek and Roman texts with the goal of promoting new norms and values in society. (Writers, 2019) Humanism was an optimistic philosophy that saw man as a rational and sentient being, which has the ability to think and decide for himself. The Humanism movement was first developed in response to the scholastic conventions during the 14th and early 15th century in Italy and later spread to the other parts of Europe which later came to be known as the Renaissance. The term Renaissance in a simple context means “rebirth.” During the Renaissance period, most humanists were religious wherein their concern was to purify and renew Christianity but their focus was not only on religion but also on what it is to be human. They believed in the importance of education and in promoting civic virtue that is enabling an individual to realize his or her full potential for the benefit of oneself and the others in the society they live in. Thus, the humanist main goal was to improve the lives of citizens and help their communities. In this context, this essay will basically highlight on the three major points is, firstly it will focus on the major points of the chosen topic and how it has been applied to contemporary events. Secondly, it will demonstrate how the ideas of Renaissance Humanism help individual development and how it is still relevant today and subsequently, it will discuss the critical evaluation.
Renaissance Humanists used ancient texts to promote a worldview based on logic and reason. Humanism was a major intellectual movement of the Renaissance which was responsible for the change in the medieval education system, emphasizing rational and racial thinking. The humanist believed that individual humans were capable of great accomplishments thereby, humanists tend to give more focus to individualism. Further Humanism promoted the idea that man was the center of his own universe, and people should embrace human achievements through education, classical art, and science. Additionally, during the contemporary world, they believed that human beings could be dramatically changed with education wherein the humanists of the renaissance created schools to teach their ideas and wrote various books on education. “Humanists reacted against the utilitarian approach to education, seeking to create a citizenry who were able to speak and write with eloquence and thus be able to engage the civic life of their communities.” (Lumen) Hence, Humanism played a major role in education during the Renaissance where it aimed to cultivate the moral and intellectual character of citizens. For instance, the contemporary period was filled with people who moved out of their social class, focused on drawing the best of their abilities and achieving their optimum achievements.
While Humanism initially began as a predominantly literary movement, its influence quickly pervaded the general culture of the time, reviving classical Greek and Roman art forms and contributing to the development of the renaissance which is still prevalent, in the modern world. Today, the term humanism has come to signify a worldview that denies the existence or relevance of God, and indeed the seeds of the modern world were sown and grown in the Renaissance. This is because the Renaissance played a vital role in history, where everything improved and people’s opinions and ideas changed, explicitly that, a renaissance has brought in huge development and improvement not only in the individual’s life but also to the world at large. Evidently, the existence of various forms of innovative scientific ideas, creative art, architecture, music, and literature, are the results and inspirations drawn from the renaissance period. Additionally, “Humanism led to the creation of an international network of scholars linked by letters and books, the separation of church and politics, the critical examination of texts leading to the discovery of inaccuracies and even forgeries, and the creation of public libraries.” (Cartwright, 2020) In this sense that, Humanism has transformed education and rejuvenated the world of ideas and art with its discovery, promotion and adaptation of classical works. Although it seems rather odd that scholars took such an interest in ancient sources which might be considered outdated and irrelevant to contemporary society but for humanist thinkers, it was not fully in opposition to religion. Nonetheless, it did lead to the idea of a morally- autonomous individual, which in turn led to individualism.
Renaissance humanism in the present-day context is very much helpful in the process of a clear idea regarding individual development and the social appliance of any matter related to the day-to-day life of the common people. In this regard, Humanism can also be mentioned as the guiding light for acquiring views and ideas related to any social issue which helps in the process of opening new perspectives regarding the issues. Renaissance humanists also promoted the idea that citizens should be educated in the field such as, literature, history, poetry, and philosophy in order to allow them to participate in the social and political life of their society.
Renaissance humanism inspired those who followed and strictly implemented it. Humanism goes along with secularism in the sense that it makes human being the center of attention and not god. People started to engage in activities because they enjoyed them rather than in dedication to gods glory. The evolution of ideas in the renaissance era has led people to realize and contest for their entitled human rights. Had there been no radical changes, people’s beliefs and morals would have been corrupted by the influences of the church and religion’s restriction to explore beyond ordinary livelihood. Thus, the break-through of that stereotype was possible with the growing idea of the humanist movement which not only emphasized on the importance of knowledge but also on the potential education of the individual and civil responsibility.
In succinct, humanists give more attention to the belief that human needs and values are more important and impactful than religious norms. Moreover, it also provides information that an individual should create their own set of ethics. In doing so, people are educated about their individual rights and freedom. As a result, the humanist doesn’t completely oppose the idea of religion and church rather they emphasize more on the development of individualism. Furthermore, humanist proponents relied on the concept that education can enhance and dramatically change human beings in their everyday learning.
Reference
Cartwright, M. (2020, November 04). Renaissance Humanism. Retrieved from World History: https://www.ancient.eu/Renaissance_Humanism/
Lumen. (n.d.). Humanist Thought. Retrieved from Boundless World History: http://courses.lumenlearning..com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/humanist-thought/
Writers, H. C. (2019, 07 29). Renaissance Humanism. Retrieved from History Crunch(historycrunch.com): https://www.historycrunch.com/renaissance-humanism.html/
The concept of religious doctrine has always been a major societal force, which directly impacted people’s values. It is important to note that the current set of human dogmas gradually developed on the basis of three main religious philosophies. They include Greco-Roman polytheism, Medieval monotheism, and Renaissance humanism. Although each of the given ideas possessed a different perception of the world, the core elements were derived from each other. All three concepts brought a significant amount of change in a culture’s artistic production, such as art, literature, and music. The primary difference lies in the idea of God, where polytheism has pluralistic views, and monotheism is fully dedicated to a singular Creator. However, humanism entirely dismisses the notion of the divine entity, and instead it focuses on people’s secular attributes and the overall goodness of human nature. Polytheism and monotheism are bases for values of the modern humanism.
Polytheism is a set of beliefs that perceives the world as a bipolar structure, which contains immortal beings, such as gods, and mortal humans. One of the most complex and carefully developed systems of the polytheistic worldview was the religion of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. The ancient Greeks had a large but strictly delineated pantheon of humanoid gods and demigods, and within this pantheon, there was a rigid hierarchy (Olofsdotter 531). Therefore, the main difference of polytheism from both humanism and monotheism is that the given view sees gods as imperfect and powerful entities, who are the cause of injustice and human flaws. However, it is similar to monotheism in the presence of belief in divinity and holiness.
The Medieval monotheism played a major role in forging the current European and Arabic cultures, which strongly focuses on the idea of one God. The largest monotheistic religions are Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, which can be put in a category of Abrahamic ideas. All of these worldviews include the concept of a single Creator, who is all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing (Smith 197). The given properties serve as a moral compass for monotheistic believers, who are assured that life is a test of faith, which will result in the final judgment. The main difference of monotheism from polytheism is that God cannot be a source of evil and injustice in the world, whereas, polytheism sees gods as imperfect and morally variant entities (Smith 201). However, monotheistic values are close to humanistic ones because they both strive for morality and ethics. These similarities can be seen in the literature and art of Medieval age because humanistic ideas were partially derived from Christianity.
Secular humanism is a byproduct Renaissance and enlightenment, where people realized that moral guidance does not require divine beings. It is important to note that the core idea of holiness and goodness were conceptualized from monotheistic beliefs, which makes them highly similar. The shift was manifested in moving from monotheistic holy books to the factual and scientific methodology of evaluating the moral compass, which came in the form of celebrating secular human attributes (Barnes 23). The cultural, artistic production depends on whether society believes in the concept of divinity or their direct relationship with social values (Fornoff 126). Therefore, both culture and religious ideas are tightly interconnected with each other. Societies with polytheism are more practical and art is more demonstrative of the gods, because these beings were not considered as perfect and no promise of heaven was made. Monotheistic people tend to be more use are to illustrate their absolutist views of good and evil, and some religions does not allow to picture the prophet (Fornoff 127). However, humanism gives an open field of creativity and innovation, because no restrictions are present.
In conclusion, monotheism, polytheism, and humanism share common roots because they adopted critical ideas from each other. Polytheistic views the gods are human-like beings, who are prone to be immoral, whereas monotheism beliefs in one all-good and all-powerful God. Humanism does not derive its core ideas from the ideas of supernatural entities but focuses on human attributes.
Works Cited
Barnes, L. Philip. “Humanism, Religious Education and the Former Archbishop of Canterbury.” Theology, vol. 119, no. 1, 2016, pp. 18-25.
Fornoff, Roger. “At the Interface of Art, Religion and Politics.” Thesis Eleven, vol. 123, no. 1, 2014, pp. 123-128.
Olofsdotter, Karin. “No Other Gods.” Review & Expositor, vol. 113, no. 4, 2016, pp. 527-533.
Smith, Brandon D. “What Christ Does, God Does: Surveying Recent Scholarship on Christological Monotheism.” Currents in Biblical Research, vol. 17, no. 2, 2019, pp. 184-208.
To gain an in-depth understanding of child development, one should consider several factors, including a child’s environment, physical and psychological needs, and motivations. Many development theories can help identify the level of a child’s progress. At the same time, this multitude of theories can pose a challenge for analysts as they may become confused with the variety of classifications available. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs seems to be the most relevant way of assessing child development. This theory is compared and contrasted to Gesell’s maturational theory and Skinner’s behaviorism approach to single out the most crucial elements of child development.
Theories of Understanding Child Development
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as the Key Theory to Understanding Child Development
Humanistic theory is highly relevant for understanding the basic principles of child development. This approach appeared as a response to the one-sided behaviorist view (Crain, 2014). Research indicates that multidimensional methods of analyzing child development are more favored by modern psychologists and educators (McDevitt, Jobes, Cochran, & Sheenan, 2010). One of the most prominent advocates of the humanistic theory was Maslow who introduced a hierarchy of human needs and motivations.
Maslow identified the following levels of needs: physiological, safety, belongingness and love, self-esteem, and self-actualization (Crain, 2014). Once a level is reached, an individual works on the attainment of the next one. Thus, Maslow’s hierarchy is grounded in potentials, the most important of which is self-actualization (Medcalf, Hoffman, & Boatwright, 2013).
In their analysis of Maslow’s motivational hierarchy, Taormina and Gao (2013) attempted to evaluate the satisfaction of human needs. They report that there are substantial positive interactions among the levels of this hierarchy. Specifically, the more satisfied one is with each lower-level need, the more accomplishments one will reach in the following higher-level need (Taormina & Gao, 2013). Moreover, their research found that life satisfaction, values, and family reinforcement have a beneficial impact on reaching all five needs. At the same time, anxiety was considered as harming the achievement of needs (Taormina & Gao, 2013).
According to Maslow’s hierarchy, the basic needs are physiological, incorporating oxygen for breathing, food for eating, and water for drinking. These needs can be satisfied by almost every person (Medcaff et al., 2013). The second-level needs are concerned with safety, and they presuppose being secure and safe. According to Maslow, only after physiological and safety needs have been met, can one then turn towards higher purposes (Medcaff et al., 2013). On the next level, belongingness, there are such needs as love, acceptance, and affection. As Maslow stated, every person looks for others’ acceptance by offering and consuming affection and love.
Upon fulfilling the first three levels, the person concentrates on esteem needs. Here, Maslow presupposed that an individual feels unworthy if he or she does not experience a sense of being respected by others (Medcaff et al., 2013). Indeed, self-respect and self-esteem play a crucial role in this dimension. Finally, upon satisfying all of the needs at this level, one can move to the very highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy, self-actualization. This level of needs involves an individuals’ realization of the functions they are destined to perform. According to Maslow, there is only one issue that can prevent a person from reaching self-actualization: obstacles created by society (Medcaff et al., 2013).
In recent studies, scholars have begun to rethink the place of some elements in Maslow’s hierarchy. Oved (2017) remarks that love should not follow the safety level but precede it. According to Oved (2017), love is a significant precondition for the feeling of security. The scholar notes that this fact holds not only for modern society, which is materially safe but also for more dangerous basic societies. As Oved (2017) notes, feeling loved, and knowing that one has friendly relationships with one’s family and friends is more crucial than feeling physically safe. Therefore, love needs are necessary to fulfill safety needs since only upon forming intrapersonal connections can a society be shaped.
Other researchers focus on the investigation of the needs for growth and deficiency. In their analysis of Maslow’s theory, Noltemeyer, Bush, Patton, and Bergen (2012) found that there is a positive association between growth needs and deficiency needs. These scholars point out that although Maslow’s initial position was that each level should be reached in a sequence, the psychologist reconsidered that opinion later in his career (Noltemeyer et al., 2012).
Thus, there is an acceptance that a person can be motivated by several needs concurrently. For instance, an individual with a low level of belongingness can still satisfy their esteem needs, even though the level of fulfillment may be poorer in such circumstances (Noltemeyer et al., 2012). Moreover, there is a possibility that even upon satisfying deficiency needs, an individual can still be motivated by them at some point in the future. For instance, a person who has become redundant may neglect self-esteem needs and focus on deficiency needs (Noltemeyer et al., 2012).
Fernald, Kariger, Hidrobo, and Gertler (2012) apply Maslow’s theory to researching the socioeconomic status of children’s development in low-and middle-income countries. In their analysis, factors such as home stimulation, measures of length, and child development evaluations are considered (Fernald et al., 2012). Their research indicates that the education of the mother and household prosperity are the main determinants of a child’s development in low- and middle-income states.
Fernald et al. (2012) emphasize the relevance of Maslow’s theory by reporting that without satisfying physiological, safety, and belongingness needs, children cannot reach the two highest levels, self-esteem and self-actualization. According to Fernald et al. (2012), the social position has a profound influence not only on a child’s health but also on their memory, behavior, and language. Considerable negative outcomes of poverty on young children are manifested through insufficient parental education or household resources, as well as through a variety of risk factors, including discouraging learning environments, poor quality of care, and low dynamics of processes (Fernald et al., 2012).
Therefore, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a valuable theory for analyzing children’s development. Through this prism, one can identify at what level of the hierarchy an individual is and can predict the needs that should be accomplished next. However, even though this theory is highly suitable for scrutinizing child development, it is not free from deficiencies, and it may be used in combination with other approaches to gain more extensive results.
Gesell’s Maturational Theory
One of the approaches challenging Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is Gesell’s theory of maturation. In Maslow’s theory, little attention is paid to the environment in which a child grows up. In Gesell’s approach, the environment is one of two important factors impacting on a child’s development (Crain, 2014). The second vital component, according to Gesell, is the genetics of the child. An “outstanding” element about the maturational theory is that the child’s growth occurs in fixed sequences (Crain, 2014, p. 22).
Such a biological approach presupposes that all children develop in the same way – first before birth, and then after being born. Gesell argued that every child required meeting cultural and social needs, along with satisfying physical needs (Crain, 2014). In this respect, Gesell’s theory finds some common features with Maslow’s approach, which also presupposed covering various types of needs as a prerequisite of successful development.
While there is a grain of common sense in Gesell’s ideas, the theory has been widely criticized both by his contemporaries and modern scholars. In the articles by Harris (2011) and Weizmann (2010), Gesell’s eugenics-driven ideas are discussed. These scholars note that despite the contribution that Gesell made to psychology in the first half of the 20th century, some of his core opinions were rather alarming.
As Harris (2011) remarks, Gesell’s emphasis on biological factors was too strong. As a result, the scholar was in error in proposing that a child’s genes predetermine his or her development, while Weizmann (2010) notes that Gesell’s theory was rather limited because it did not include any discussion of cognitive development.
In general, critics are of the common opinion that Gesell’s theory is not sufficient for appropriate analysis of child development (Guhn & Goelman, 2011; Syomwene, Nabwire, & Musamas, 2015). As Bergen (2017) remarks, if Gesell were working at present, he would defend quite different ideas than he did almost a century ago. Therefore, even though Maslow did not include the biological factor in his theory, his hierarchy is still much more useful to employ for the evaluation of children’s development than Gesell’s theory.
Skinner’s Behaviourism Theory
Another theoretical lens through which child development might be analyzed is Skinner’s behaviorism theory. Skinner’s theory has some features in common with Gesell’s (Crain, 2014). Skinner acknowledged the role of environment and genetics in a child’s development (Crain, 2014). However, unlike Gesell, Skinner put a stronger emphasis on the environment than he did on genes. The major limitation of Skinner’s theory is that it is based on animals rather than humans, which puts some of his findings into question since they were not tested on people. However, a positive characteristic of Skinner’s approach is that he employed quantitative analysis whereas Maslow used only qualitative data (Crain, 2014).
Skinner defended the idea that development was triggered by positive and negative external influences. In particular, the scholar paid much attention to the importance of praise in a child’s upbringing (Crain, 2014). Zentall and Morris (2010) also report that recognition is a crucial motivating factor, and these findings correlate with Maslow’s need levels of belongingness and self-esteem.
Other research findings indicate that praise has a positive effect on boosting children’s self-esteem (Brummelman, Crocker, & Bushman, 2016; Shinohara et al., 2010). At the same time, Skinner was an ardent opponent of neurophysiological explanations of behavior (Zilio, 2016). Despite this, Skinner’s theory admittedly has much in common with critical psychology. Therefore, this approach may be useful in some respects of child development analysis.
Goddart (2014) notes that as well as highlighting the environmental aspect of behavior, Skinner also paid attention to promoting cultural change as a driver of enhancing human welfare. This idea is associated with Maslow’s self-esteem and self-actualization levels. However, despite containing some relevant ideas, Skinner’s theory does not cover as many crucial aspects as Maslow’s hierarchy, which makes the latter a better approach to identifying levels of development more precisely.
Conclusion
The utilization of multiple theories of child development enables analysts to make more comprehensive conclusions than following a single approach would have granted. Maslow’s theory of development, which is based on a hierarchy of needs, is the most relevant way of identifying the level of progress of a person. The major premise of Maslow’s theory is that an individual has to pass one level to move to the next (Crain, 2014; Medcalf et al., 2013).
However, there is also the possibility to miss one level and move to others under certain circumstances (Noltemeyer et al., 2012; Taormina & Gao, 2013). In general, Maslow’s hierarchy is a rather useful tool for analyzing a child’s needs and level of development. However, it would be wrong to consider Maslow’s theory as all positive, and the only possible approach.
The consideration of other theories allows singling out the limitations in Maslow’s system. If compared to Gesell’s maturational theory, one can see that Maslow’s approach lacks analysis of the biological characteristics of children. However, Gesell’s theory has more controversial elements than Maslow’s. Particularly, Gesell concentrates on genetic impacts too strongly, and his initial views were very much concerned with eugenics (Harris, 2011; Weizmann, 2010). Thus, although Gesell’s theory allows drawing a clear distinction between development stages, it is not as useful as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Comparing Maslow’s theory to Skinner’s behaviorism approach, one can conclude that Skinner’s value of stimuli can be correlated with Maslow’s needs for self-actualization and self-esteem. Both psychologists focus on the exceptional role of culture as the environment in which a child grows (Crain, 2014; Goddart, 2014). It is important to note that considering development through only one lens is dangerous because it may lead to one-sided analysis. On the other hand, comparing the dominant theory to others enables researchers to make valuable inferences.
References
Bergen, D. (2017). What Arnold Gesell would advocate today. Childhood Education, 93(3), 199-203.
Brummelman, E., Crocker, J., & Bushman, B. J. (2016). The praise paradox: When and why praise backfires in children with low self-esteem. Child Development Perspectives, 10(2), 111-115.
Crain, W. (2014). Theories of development: Concepts and applications (6th ed.). Essex, UK: Pearson Education.
Fernald, L. C. H., Kariger, P., Hidrobo, M., & Gertler, P. J. (2012). Socioeconomic gradients in child development in very young children: Evidence from India, Indonesia, Peru, and Senegal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 109(2), 17273-17280.
Goddart, M. J. (2014). Critical psychiatry, critical psychology, and the behaviorism of B. F. Skinner. Review of General Psychology, 18(3), 208-215.
Guhn, M., & Goelman, H. (2011). Bioecological theory, early child development and the validation of the population-level early development instrument. Social Indicators Research, 103(2), 193-217.
Harris, B. (2011). Arnold Gesell’s progressive vision: Child hygiene, socialism and eugenics. History of Psychology, 14(3), 311-334.
McDevitt, T. M., Jobes, R. D., Cochran, K. F., & Sheenan, E. P. (2010). Is it nature or nurture? Beliefs about child development held by college students in psychology courses. College Student Journal, 44(2), 533-550.
Medcalf, N. A., Hoffman, T. J., & Boatwright, C. (2013). Children’s dreams viewed through the prism of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Early Child Development and Care, 183(9), 1324-1338.
Noltemeyer, A., Bush, K., Patton, J., & Bergen, D. (2012). The relationship among deficiency needs and growth needs: An empirical investigation of Maslow’s theory. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(9), 1862-1867.
Oved, O. (2017). Rethinking the place of love needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Society, 54(6), 537-538.
Shinohara, R., Sugisawa, Y., Tong, L., Tanaka, E., Watanabe, T., Onda, Y., … Anme, T. (2010). The trajectory of children’s social competence from 18 months to 30 months of age and their mother’s attitude towards the praise. Journal of Epidemiology, 20(2), 441-446.
Syomwene, A., Nabwire, V., & Musamas, J. (2015). Theoretical bases influencing curriculum decision making in early childhood education. Journal of Educational Policy and Entrepreneurial Research, 2(12), 23-31.
Taormina, R. J., & Gao, J. H. (2013). Maslow and the motivation hierarchy: Measuring satisfaction of the needs. American Journal of Psychology, 126(2), 155-177.
Weizmann, F. (2010). From “The village of a thousand souls” to “Race crossing in Jamaica”: Arnold Gesell, eugenics and child development. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 46(3), 263-275.
Zentall, S. R., & Morris, B. J. (2010). “Good job, you’re so smart”: The effects of inconsistency of praise type on young children’s motivation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 107(2), 155-163.
Zilio, D. (2016). Who, what, and when: Skinner’s critiques of neuroscience and his main targets. The Behavior Analyst, 39(2), 197-218.
The question of whether life has any sense has always been one of the most disputable issues in philosophy and ethics. Using various perspectives and frameworks, individuals have tried to determine whether their lives have any meaning. However, it is impossible to find a universal answer as it remains relative and subjective.
Secular humanism is one of the philosophies that can help to answer the question. It rejects religious dogma and introduces the idea that human life and the right to be happy are the major values. From this perspective, the meaning of life is life itself and the ability to enjoy numerous benefits available to a person.
The religious perspective introduces another view on the meaning of life. Following this framework, life is a miracle created by God, meaning that it has sense only if a person serves him and follows religious dogmas. The major weakness of the given model is that it limits a person within the frames of religion and deprives atheists of the right to happiness.
Finally, from the pessimistic perspective, life can be viewed as suffering because every human being will die in the end. For this reason, life does not have any meaning as all actions of an individual will not alter its end and, as a result, will not make a person happier. It can be viewed as a weak philosophy as it promotes helplessness.
Altogether, secular humanism gives the most plausible answer to the meaning of life question. It considers some relativist ideas, such as people’s ability to judge what is right or wrong (Lawhead 425). At the same time, it shows that life is priceless, and to make it meaningful, a person must be happy. This answer will motivate people to move forward and enjoy every moment.
Work Cited
Lawhead, William. The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach. 7th ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2018.
One of the most distinguishable features of African-American (Black) literature, in general, is the fact that it often deals with the unsightly realities of life, which in turn endows the associated literary works with the clearly defined humanist sounding. In this paper, I explore the validity of the above-stated at length, in regards to the short stories Sonny’s blues (James Baldwin), Miss Cynthie (Rudolph Fisher), In the cutting of a drink (Ama Ata Aidoo), Emente (Onuora Ossie Enekwe), Ravenna (Gale Jones) and The point of no return (Miriam Tlali).
Probably the main challenge that people face, throughout the course of their lives, is the lack of understanding/acceptance, on the part of others. In this turn, this often prevents them from being able to realize their full existential potential – this is the foremost motif that highlights the overall discursive significance of Baldwin’s short story.
After all, it was namely because people used to criticize Sonny’s (the narrator’s young brother) intention to become a musician, as something rather unrealistic, which explains why he ended up in jail – the character’s involvement with drugs extrapolated his anxiety of being deprived of a chance to attain self-actualization.
The fact that this was indeed the case can be illustrated, in regards to the story’s episode, in which Sonny expresses his contempt of the narrator’s idea that it is thoroughly natural for people to adjust their aspirations to be more ‘down to earth’ – even at the expense of becoming miserable individuals, “I (narrator) said, ‘that there’s no way not to suffer. Isn’t it better, then, just to—take it?’. ‘But nobody just takes it,’ Sonny cried, ‘that’s what I’m telling you! Everybody tries not to.
You’re just hung up on the way some people try— it’s not your way!” (Baldwin, p. 143). What is quite ironic, in this respect, is that the narrator’s initial insistence that Sonny finds something better to do than being a musician, was in essence well-meaning. That is, the narrator simply wanted his brother to adopt a realistic attitude towards life, as the main precondition for Sonny to be able to take full advantage of it.
Yet, what gives the narrator a huge credit, in this respect, is that he nevertheless was able to admit having been wrong all along, while trying to talk Sonny away from considering the career of a musician. This, of course, once again points out to the fact that there is indeed much literary value to Sonny’s blues – in the aftermath of having been exposed to it, readers will gain a number of valuable insights into what accounts for one’s proper attitude towards addressing life-challenges.
Essentially the same can be said about the story Miss Cynthie. The reason for this is quite apparent – the main idea that is being promoted by this story is that, even though it does takes much effort for many people to come to terms with the realization of their own perceptual short-sightedness, they are nevertheless fully capable of doing it.
To exemplify the validity of this claim, we can refer to the story’s actual fable – an old woman (Miss Cynthie) from the South travels to New York, in order to meet her grandson (David), while hoping that he is now a well-established person, “Be a foot-doctor. And if you don’ get that fur, be a undertaker. That’s the least you must be. That ain’t so bad” (Fisher, p. 106).
However, it did not take her too long to realize that, despite exhibiting the indications of a being a wealthy person, David is not quite the person that she would like him to be. Moreover, being a famous dancer, he is in fact the embodiment of ‘immorality’ – at least in the sense of how Miss Cynthie used to perceive the meaning of the notion in question. Nevertheless, at the end of the story Miss Cynthie proves herself intellectually flexible enough to accept David just in the way he was.
This, of course, naturally prompts readers to grow comfortable with the idea that, regardless of how seemingly unconventional a particular person happens to be, it does not mean that he or she deserves to be scorned – quite to the contrary. In its turn, this contributes rather substantially towards the story’s value as an educational piece, and towards endowing it with the spirit of humanism and tolerance – something that makes Miss Cynthie consistent with the realities of today’s living in America.
Aidoo’s story short is also quite notable, in this respect. Even though the story’s plot unravels in Africa, its themes and motifs do in fact correlate with the discourse of post-modernity – thus, endowing this story with the strong humanist sounding. There are a plenty of indications in the story that this is indeed being the case.
Probably the main of them has to do with the fact that In the cutting of a drink encourages people to adopt an open-minded attitude, within the context of how they go about discussing the ethical implications of one’s professional affiliation. It is understood, of course, that from the narrator’s point of view, the fact that his long-estranged sister Mansa turned out to be a hooker, could hardly be justified.
This simply could not be otherwise – having been born and raised in the remote rural area, the narrator could not help ending up affiliated with the so-called ‘traditional’ (patriarchal) values, the advocates of which assume that for a woman to be a prostitute is utterly wicked.
Nevertheless, while exposed to Aidoo’s story, readers begin to recognize the sheer fallaciousness of such an assumption – the story’s very ethos, concerned with ridiculing the narrator as a somewhat simple-minded individual, naturally predetermines such a development. There is, however, even more to it – Mansa’s attitude towards her own profession naturally causes readers to admit that it is indeed being thoroughly rational, “My brother, cut me another drink. Any form of work is work… is work… is work!” (Aidoo, p. 26).
This unmistakably establishes Aidoo’s story, as such that is being discursively consistent with the African-American literary tradition, known for its close ties with the style of Realism. Therefore, it will be fully appropriate to refer to In the cutting of a drink, as a literary work that conveys the message of humanism/tolerance, by the mean of advancing the idea that people should refrain from judging each other.
There is another notable feature of how many Black writers go about writing short stories, which in turn causes their literary creations to to emanate the spirit of humanism – the fact that, during the process, these writers strive to ensure the psychological plausibility of the would-be explored themes and motifs. The stories Emente (by Enekwe) and Ravenna (by Jones) exemplify the validity of this statement perfectly well.
The first of them is about the emotional relationship that the narrator has had with Emente – a young woman, who after having been diagnosed with Tetanus, ended up being doomed to face the eventual disfigurement and death on the hospital-bed. As a true Realist, Jones never had any reservations against presenting readers with even the most graphic details of Emente’s transformation, induced by her disease, “I felt as If I were looking at a living corpse.
Her cheeks were sunken so that the lines of her cranium were clearly visible. Her jawbones and eye sockets stuck out like crags” (Enekwe, p. 38). Initially, the narrator used to hope that Emente would recover, but as time went on, it was becoming increasingly clear to him that this will not be the case – hence, making the narrating character more reluctant to continue paying visits to the hospital.
As a result, he could not help experiencing the ever-stronger sense of self-loathing, on the account of having betrayed Emente – especially given the fact that his betrayal was apparent to the hospital’s staff, “I (nurse) have no time to waste listening to somebody who wants to know about a patient he never cared about for three months” (Enekwe, p. 39).
Nevertheless, despite the fact that Emente ends on a rather pessimistic note, it is best discussed as such that sends a strong message of hope. This message has to do with the fact that, as it can be inferred from the story; people are capable of experiencing remorse (due to having acted unethically in the past) – something that makes possible the eventual betterment of humanity.
The story Ravenna revolves around the theme of betrayal, as well. After all, it would indeed prove quite impossible to refer to the featured couple’s decision not to adopt Rene (because of her ugliness), as a morally justified act – even though there were a number of rational reasons for the Farther and Mother to refrain from doing it. As the Mother pointed out, “The other one (Rene) will always grow up in the shadow of her sister’s (Ravenna) beauty” (Jones, p. 102).
Nevertheless, as compared to what it is being the case with Enekwe’s story, in Ravenna the motif of self-guilt is secondary to the motif of self-dignity, embodied by the character of Rene. The reason for this is that, despite having been a child, Rene was perfectly aware that, due to being ugly (at least, in the sense of how everybody used to think of her), she would never be adopted.
Yet, Rene’s awareness, in this respect, was not causing her to yield to bitterness, but rather to adopt a stoic stance in life, as if she wanted to say – ‘I know that, because of my physical looks, no foster parent would like to adopt me, and I do not mind. However, I think it is wrong to deny a child the perspective of a social advancement, simply because of this child’s appearance’.
This highlights the significance of Rene’s suggestion that she can wait all that it takes, in order for people to eventually realize that, regardless of how children look like, they equally deserve love and appreciation (Jones, p. 103). Apparently, the relationship that she developed with the Farther and Mother, serves the literary purpose of enlightening readers on the fact that, even when people’s hypocrisy appears thoroughly rational, it does not make it less hypocritical – something that today’s Whites still have a great deal to learn about.
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assume that the discursive humanism of African-American literature is solely concerned with the affiliated authors’ preoccupation with exploring the theme of the relationship between people – it is also often about encouraging individuals to apply a conscious effort into making this world a better place to live. Nothing illustrates the validity of this suggestion better than the short story The point of no return by Tlali.
In essence, this story presents readers to the conversation that took place between the characters of Mojalefa (a Black revolutionary, who is about to embark on the mission of freeing South Africa from apartheid) and his wife S’bongile, in the wake of what Mojalefa hopes will turn out a successful revolution against the oppressors. Throughout this conversation, S’bongile tries to convince her husband to refrain from taking active part in the revolutionary conspiracy, because she rightly considers it an utterly dangerous undertaking.
Still, even though Mojalefa is being shown as a loving husband and father (the couple has a baby-daughter Gugu), he refused to consider the possibility of giving up on his essentially self-sacrificial intention to attempt to overthrow the racist government. The reason for this is that, as it appears from the story, the well-being of Black people in Africa meant for Mojalefa so much more than the prospect of enjoying happiness with S’bongile and Gugu.
The following statement, on the part of Mojalefa, leaves only a few doubts, in this respect, “Somebody has got to sacrifice so that others may be free. The real things, those that really matter, are never acquired the easy way. All the peoples of this world who were oppressed like us have had to give up something” (Tlali, p. 49). It is needless to mention, of course, that this establishes Mojalefa as an utterly admirable person, who happened to be nothing short of a saint.
There is, however, is even more to him – along with having had enough resolution to sacrifice his life for the sake of the rest of brothers and sisters, Mojalefa also exhibited the traits of a realistically-minded intellectual, who was perfectly aware of why White people were able to subject Black Africans to their rule, in the first place. According to Mojalefa, this development took place not the least because of the intellectually poisonous influence of the White man’s religion.
Hence, the significance of Mojalefa’s rhetorical question,”What’s the use of praying all the time? In the first place, how can a slave kneel down and pray without feeling that he is not quite a man, human?” (Tlali, p. 45). Thus, while exposed to Tlali’s story, readers will not only be able to grow even more appreciative of the fighters for Black liberation, but also to gain a number of valuable insights into what should account for the proper existential mode of a Black person in this world.
I believe that the line of argumentation, deployed throughout this paper, is fully consistent with the paper’s initial thesis that the spirit of humanism is deeply embedded in African-American (Black) literature, as we know it.