Humanism and Literature
...rn philosophers adhered to these revolutionary ideas, including an Italian, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who outlined the principles of Renaissance humanism in his work Oration on the Dignity of Man (Philosophy Pages). Authors also picked up on this train of thought, including Sir Thomas More, and Edmund Spenser. Humanism is word that evolved over time to describe an evolution of an ideology – that which is humanism - supported by the revolution of the entire society – the Renaissance. Humanist is a broad word that refers to those who set aside their current values in exchange for ancient Greek and Roman ideologies, new, socially minded values and the values of natural science. These humanist values are exemplified in the philosophy of Mirandola, and the literary works of More and Spenser. Humanism can historically be traced back as far as the early fourteenth century, where society had begun to reject both the culture of the nobility and of the clergy. The term humanism began as the Latin word humanitas, which simply referred to an education based on language, literature, history and philosophy. The word and the idea continued to evolve to include teachers and students of this education. The word first appeared in the English language in the late sixteen hundreds with a similar meaning, and then finally appeared in German as we know it today (Renaissance Humanism); it is defined to encompass the praise of human nature and value, and emphasizes goals here on earth as opposed to heaven as a goal. These goals reject their former ideologies, and strive for a reformation of society. Further, the humanist...