Lecture about the Renaissance

I have never studied philosophy at all so the lecture was quite daunting but also exciting as I will begin to study a new subject and broaden my knowledge. It was fascinating to learn about a range of philosophers who at the time had revolutionary theories but as time progressed these were challenged and doubted as scientific discoveries were made.

Tuesday's lecture about the Renaissance gave me an insight into the views of philosophers from all across the world and how over time the these views constantly changed as scientific discoveries were made. The Renaissance aimed to bring together the teachings of the Church and classical ideas first written about by the Ancient Greeks. Chapters 1 and 2 of 'History of Western Philosophy' by Bertrand Russell summarises the Italian Renaissance brilliantly as it discusses the divisions between the Church and science and how science became more influential than the Pope with many philosophers presenting theories and ideas far removed from the traditional Church dominated society.

During the Renaissance throughout Europe in the 14th and 15th Centuries the theories written by the Ancient Greeks were reborn. This was particularly popular in Italy as it was seen as release from the scrict teachings of the Church that had dominated people's lives for centuries. People were then able to challenge opinions which had previously been set in stone and art was a key feature of the movement as opinions could easily be expressed for everyone to see and admire. The philosopher Galileo (1564-1642) was influential during this period as he used science and mathematics in order to explain his theories rather than the teachings of God. He challenged the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's theory of planets as he believed that the planets were made by science and not magical substances created by God as Aristotle believed. He also used his heliocentric theory to explain that the Earth actually orbited in a circular motion.

1527 is a very important date as it marked the end of the Italian Renaissance and the transition from the middle ages to the modern world. It was also the era of reason and modern philosophers such as Descartes (1596-1650) presented a whole new set of beliefs that differed from both the Ancient philosophers such as Plato and Middle Age philosophers such as Galileo. It was intriguing to find out that philosophy had been in existance throughout the history of mankind and throughout the ages people were building up and questioning previous philosophers thoughts and writings.


A portrait of Rene Descartes



The chapter about Descartes in Russell's book particularly interested me as his beliefs about reality really got me thinking about my existence as a human being. As he learnt about the variety of cultures in different countries he realised that you could not rely on anything as it was constantly changing from country to country. He presented his theory that mankind cannot be certain of anything in life and the only way to become certain of anything is to doubt everything and then prove it correct. If you can doubt what you are thinking ("I think therefore I am") then you do exist as your brain is the centre of your body.

A further chapter of the book which interested me was chapter 4 which focused upon Thomas More and his book 'Utopia' written in 1516. 'Utopia' was based upon an early idea of communism where society lived in a shared world with equal sized houses, streets and equal wealth. This chapter fascinated me as it shows that people were forming ideas about communism and a fair society centuries before the communist movements in countries such as Russia.

This is just a summary of the first lecture and my reading of chapters 1- 9 of Russell's book. I hope as the course progresses I will have more knowledge and understanding of philosophy as the book has really inspired me to continue learning about the great philosophers throughout the ages.