Test renaissance - Philosophy

Renissance:

1.      Bruni

2.      Da vinci

3.      Scholars of Athens

4.      Raphael

5.      Florence

6.      Flying Buttress

Renissance Paragraphs:

2. Da Vinci’s Vetruvian man is significant for many reasons. It shows an accurate portrayal of man in the nude. This was important at the time because for a thousand years prior realism like this was unknown. This realism merges with the addition of geometry and science into art, as displayed by the circle and square.

5. The Pazzi chapel is a key building in understanding the transition between gothic and renaissance architecture. Built in Florence it embodies the ideas of humanism as it small size puts man in the spotlight once again. The interior also carries these ideas, by displaying works of art with man as the spotlight.

6. Flying buttresses are the most significant architectural advancement in the middle ages. They allowed the building of higher and wider cathedrals because their equal weight distribution. These larger buildings made it possible for the church to impose power upon the people as there scale makes us feel insignificant. Flying buttresses are also important because they make school children laugh when their teacher says butt.

Middile ages

1.      Where they traced people

2.      Where the light shined through onto the people

3.      Where the speaker would stand

4.      Where they keep the dead bodies

5.      One of the two pilars closer to the building

6.      French King

7.      The bubonic plague was a plague that wiped out 1/3 to ½ of Europe’s population

Philosophy.

1.      Descartes

2.      Plato

3.      Locke

4.      Kant

5.      Utilitarianism

6.      Freud

Philosophy questions

2. Dualism is the philosophic idea that the mind and body are separate parts. Often attributed to Plato, who proposed that the mind (or soul in this case) continues on after life. This idea was later gathered by the church that then imposed the concepts of heaven and hell.

4. Empiricism and Rationalism are polar opposite’s philosophic ideas in epistemology. Empiricism is the belief that learning through experience is the only or significantly better way of acquiring knowledge. Rationalism contrasts this with the belief that learning through reason is the only or significantly better way to acquire knowledge.

5. The concept of the blank slate was proposed by John Locke. He said that human beings are born as blank slates, without any predetermined attributes, which we would commonly describe as “human nature”. Instead he believed that all of our experiences in our lives shaped who we are and what we become.

Essay topic: 1.

The Sistine chapel is the perfect representation of the renaissance. The building was constructed between 1473 and 1481 by Giovanni dei Dolci. It is fairly large, which was an attempt by the church to fight the humanist movement. However its interior embodies humanism, and its paintings and there history is a pure manifestation of the renaissance.

In 1505 Pope Julius II told Michelangelo, a fairly well established sculptor, to paint the ceilings of the Sistine chapel. Being a painter Michelangelo was reluctant to take on the project, however continual pressure (and significant money) from the church made him cave and agree to the project three years later. It took another three years until the project was finished, primarily due to Michelangelo’s perfectionist nature. When it was completed, the final result was a masterpiece.

The ceiling shows us the stories from the book of Genesis about the creation of Man and all they knew. Michelangelo portrayed these events in a new humanist light showing us how he imagined god creating man in his own image and in the nude. Shown by the most famous piece in the chapel, the event of God giving life to Adam it put Man directly next to god. For the first time since the Romans humans where significant again. Michelangelo painted god with a face that wasn’t cruel or wrathful but carries the look of a twisted compassion, like a father on his daughter’s wedding night. These paintings showed the illiterate masses not to fear god but relish in his glorious light.

Michelangelo spent rest of his life doing what he loved, sculpting. It wasn’t until 1535 when the Pope approached him once again with a proposition to paint the back wall. Michelangelo was sixty years old at the time and in the decline of his life. It wasn’t just Michelangelo’s life that was in decline though. The second coming of Christ and the eternal judgment of god upon humanity is the polar opposite of ideals which were portrayed by the ceiling. Humanism was dead, and Michelangelo followed suit 28 years later.

Siddhartha Essay: Renoucement

In Hermann Hesse’s novel, a young man named Siddhartha leaves his comfortable life of Brahmanism to achieve enlightenment with his best friend Govinda. Renouncement is a common theme in this novel and is prominent in almost every major event that occurs. It is the primary force that Siddhartha uses to guide his life, and while his chronic renouncement is harmful to Siddhartha in the short term, it leads him to ultimately achieve enlightenment.

Siddhartha uses renouncement to both achieve and abolish emotions, and for a menagerie of reasons. When he is still with Brahmins his ego is what drives him to leave. He could have been satisfied with his life of Brahmanism, because superior to them. Siddhartha initially uses renouncement as a way to put himself above people, as a trick to persuade himself that he is better than his father. When he leaves with the Sammanas he completely abolishes all material and desire driven things. His only desire is to live, abolish, and eventually achieve enlightenment. However Siddhartha’s ego gets to him again and he finds himself even more dissatisfied with himself with the Sammanas than the Brahmins. He realizes that he simply cannot accomplish enlightenment while focusing so much on repressing everything. There is still a hind of arrogance in Siddhartha though, and I believe that he could have achieved enlightenment with Sammanas, if he renounced it instead. He leaves the Sammanas with Govinda to meet the Buddha. Siddhartha is content at first, but later on he realizes that this is another path that is not for him, and that there is no specific religion or spirituality that can lead him to enlightenment. He leaves Govinda and the Buddha behind to return to the material world and to seek his own way to enlightenment. For the first time in Siddhartha’s life he is without teachers. He feels a new sense of freedom empowers him, and for the first time in his life renouncement acts as a truly positive force.

Siddhartha sees the world through the eyes of the new.

“He looked around as if seeing the world for the first time. Beautiful was the world, colorful was the world, bizarre and enigmatic was the world!”

He relishes the realm of the shadows instead of killing himself to see the light. He meets a ferryman, who too is content with his life. Siddhartha then meets Kamala, an incredibly beautiful woman who he has a desire to become lovers with. Kamala tells Siddhartha that to be with her, he must take on a new path of wealth. Enchanted by her secrets he gives in to his desire and pursues a path in business. With his partner Kamaswami, Siddhartha quickly rises in the business world, renouncing his previous life of renouncement. The initial desire of Kamala seemingly becomes less significant to Siddhartha when he achieves his goal, so he pursues more and more worldly treasures. As the years go by he gets sucked in more and more by the material world, a vicious cycle which leaves him less satisfied everyday, until finally nothing has value to him. With a weak heart he leaves everything without telling Kamala or Kamaswami. He again renounces his lifestyle, which takes him back to the river.

While at the river he meets Vasudeva, the same ferryman who he met years before.  Vasudeva tells him to simply listen to the river.  Siddhartha obliges and as he contemplates life he hears the universal sound of  “Om”. This sound is what makes him finally achieves inner peace. As his fame spreads across the land as a wiseman he is visited by a ghost of his past. Accompanied by a boy, Kamala goes to the river. Bitten by a snake she is extremely weak, but with her dying breathe she revels to Siddhartha that he has a son. Siddhartha’s son is the polar opposite of himself, a spoiled and hateful boy who wants nothing else but to return to the city. As the months pass his dissatisfaction eventually leads the boy to run away. Although Siddhartha attempts to chase him down, he stops realizing that it is impossible. For the last time in his last he renounces something. Siddhartha returns to the river and again listens. In his contemplation he achieves an epiphany, both negative and positive, has led him to this point. His renouncement, key to realizing the eternal truth that is out there, finally he has achieved enlightenment.