Potential of Mankind in the Renaissance

The Renaissance was a time of great progress towards the potential of man and marked a period of loosening of restrictions – man’s potential is really wide open during the fascinating period of the Renaissance. The ideas of the potential of man caused a flourishing of artistic genius, and the idea of loosening long-held restrictions often caused people to harness their potential for the bad. What we call the Renaissance is marked by freedom, less restrictions and the overarching belief in the potential of man.

The direct potential of mankind to bring change is expressed strongly in Pico Della Mirandola’s “The Dignity of Man[1].” He asks “who then will not wonder at this chameleon of ours” describing man as a creature which has the potential and can do whatever he wants. He describes man as “the intermediary between creatures, the intimate of higher beings and the king of lower being, the interpreter of nature by the sharpness of his senses, by his questing curiosity of his reason, and by the light of his intelligence.” This allows men to have potential to do either good or bad, seen as they are intelligent like higher beings but do not possess the need to only do good, unlike higher beings and like lower beings. Mirandola exemplifies the ideas of the loosening of restrictions in his piece, by showing that humans do not have the restriction of intelligence (i.e. they can learn and be intelligent, unlike lower beings) and that they are not restricted by having to do good (unlike angels).

During the Middle Ages in Europe, families had been tied for generations to a single profession, and there was no longer a choice over what a child would do. With the birth of the Renaissance, each person had potential to do whatever they wanted and they had nothing holding them back from doing so. The restrictions were loosened allowing for heightened social mobility – no longer were people in previously lower estates tied to their estate and their job – instead, they could progress up the ranks and could get rid of the restrictions. This is a very important message which can be seen in Mirandola’s work but can also be seen simply by looking at the works produced in the Renaissance. Some of the greatest works of art could be produced during this time because of the ideas of no restrictions and unlimited potential.

Leonardo da Vinci is a true example of a Renaissance Man in that he encompasses and exemplifies the ideas of the potential of man. He harnesses “his ability to transform his own nature” (“The Dignity of Man[2]”) and therefore “he set himself to learn many things, and then, after begun them, abandoned them” (“The Life of Leonardo da Vinci[3]”). For people who embrace the new Renaissance spirit, the ideas of the potential of man inspire them to try out many different things and always look to knowing about something else before they have made “great proficience” in what they had been doing before. This brings in again the idea of the loosening of restrictions, which allows a single person to pursue their happiness freely and to take on many different hobbies. After centuries of families having very little social mobility and many restrictions, many people embraced the Renaissance and tried out all of the different things which had been limited in the past but whose gates were now wide open with the new ideas of the Renaissance. Following from this, the explorations of many different people lead people to believe in their potential and harness this potential to do things which had previously been impossible in the Middle Ages.

The Renaissance, however, didn’t only loosen restrictions for men. Many women harnessed their potential to empower other women and loosen gender restrictions on occupations and basic rights. With the idea of the potential of men also came an idea of the potential of women. Women began to write books about their potential as a gender, and the fact that these women wrote these books demonstrate the idea that they had a strong belief in their potential and were confident about going against long-held views of male superiority. In Lucrezia Marinella’s “Of Women’s Noble Actions and Virtues, which Greatly Surpass Men’s[4],” Marinella holds views which would be considered outright wrong by many people, and she even states in her first sentence that “small honor is mine in proving through reasoning and example that the female sex is, in its actions and transactions, more singular and excellent than the male sex.” In her book, Marinella not only proves that women should have the same (or even more) rights than men through logic and reasoning, but more importantly she demonstrates that she herself has as much potential as a man. She has written a book and had it published, something which was very rare for a woman before the Renaissance.

By writing her book and having it published, Marinella was able to also loosen restrictions for other women. She empowered them to see the fact that gender was no longer a restriction and that women should cross these hard lines which had stayed in place for centuries. Thereby, she empowered other women to harness their potential and go beyond the formerly rigid limits. Similar ideas were expressed about races, which really helped in loosening up the restrictions which had so long prevented the world from much progress.

Although much good could be done by harnessing the new Renaissance ideas of the potential of man, this potential could also be harnessed to be feared. In “The Prince[5],” Machiavelli demonstrates that “How praiseworthy it is for a prince to keep his word and live with integrity rather than by craftiness, everyone understands; yet we see from recent experience that those princes who have accomplished most who paid little heed to keeping their promises, but who knew how craftily to manipulate the minds of men. In the end, they won out over those who tried to act honestly.” In this sense, Machiavelli definitely has a great sense and belief in the potential of man – however, as he explains, sometimes this potential must be harnessed to go against one’s word. With the Renaissance spirit came the potential of man, and people began to use these ideas of potential to give them confidence in doing things which were bad. People would also use this potential as a way of justifying superiority, as is the case in Machiavelli, where each person is competing for who has the greatest potential and is the most able to rule.

More importantly, however, Machiavelli calls into question the importance of morality. He questions why people even need to be moral beings and advises people to use morality as needed – they can use it when they want to, but can also simply stop being moral as it fits them best. This brings back the central idea of loosening restrictions. Machiavelli is tearing down the long-held restriction of morality. For centuries people in the Middle Ages had followed morality largely due to the Church. However, with a growing sense of independence and restrictions being taken away, morality and its importance is called into question and the former barrier is teared down as a restriction for people.

Juan Gines de Sepulveda, as can be seen in “Democrates Alter[6]” thought in a way which was quite similar to Renaissance thinkers in that he believed in the potential of man. However, after the conquest of large parts of the New World by Spain, there came into question how the native people should be treated. In turn, the ideas of the potential of man brought people to think that some races had more potential than others, and this was used as a justification for dehumanising the natives by many Spanish settlers and also by Sepulveda. He also believed that scripture is a useful guide but is impossible to follow and agrees strongly with Machiavelli in that morality should not dictate what the Spanish do with the Native Americans in any way. Sepulveda brings together the ideas that the people with more potential, who he believes to be the Spanish, have an inborn right to take over those with less potential, and combines this with the idea that morality is unimportant, bringing us back to the ideas of loosening restrictions.

Sepulveda states “compare, then, these gifts of prudence, talent, magnanimity, temperance, humanity and religion with those possessed by these half-men, in whom you will barely find the vestiges of humanity.” Sepulveda argues that the Native Americans are uncivilised and unruly and need Spanish interference. He uses the argument that the Spanish, who have greater potential than the Indians, should have the right to take over the Indians, which in many ways connects to the later ideas of social Darwinism. He thinks that the stronger have a right to take over the ones who are weaker, an idea which was very prominent in social Darwinism as well. Combined with the ideas of loosening restrictions of morality this would support the argument that the Spanish should continue their conquests in the Indies and that there is no need for there to be a moral justification for this dehumanisation. This brings back to the concept of the great belief in the potential of man, which was especially held strongly by the Spanish. However, civilisations like Spain used these ideas of the potential of man as reasons or excuses as to why they should be allowed to take over others – in many ways, they considered this “survival of the fittest” where they considered the fittest the Spanish, and used ideas of no limits in morality as justification for their dehumanising encounters with Native Americans.

In conclusion, the Renaissance proved to be a time in which people embraced the ideas of the potential of man wholly. It was a time in which people used this to do both good, however, and bad. Many thinkers used the ideas of the potential of man to justify superiority and ruling in ways considered by many to be unjust. The ideas of loosening restrictions allowed for more social mobility in the Renaissance world while it also caused the gradual extermination of morality as a key factor in making decisions. However, the overarching ideas of the potential of man would also be harnessed by many to have good effects on the world, as they brought remarkable works such as art, and helped people feel an enhanced sense of equality with others.

[1] Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, "The Dignity of Man," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 11-13. [2] Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, "The Dignity of Man," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 11-13. [3] Giorgio Vasari, "The Life of Leonardo Da Vinci," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 228-231. [4] Lucrezia Marinella, "The Nobility and Excellence of Women and the Defects and Vices of Man," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (University of Chicago Press, 2007), 77-118. [5] Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, Unknown publishing date), 232-235. [6] Juan Gines de Sepulveda, "Democrates Alter," in Introduction to Contemporary Western Civilisation, ed. Unknown editor (Columbia University Press, 1954), 492-498.