Western Thought in the 15th and 16th Centuries CE
"The Renaissance"






I.
 The Term "Renaissance"






II.
 Three Streams of Culture: Byzantine, Western-Christian, and Arabic






III.
 Three Philosophical Streams: Platonic, Neoplatonic, and Aristotelian






IV
 Three Discoveries/Inventions that Changed the World and Preceded the Renaissance

A.
 The Compass and the Discovery of the New World

B.
 Gun Power and Fire Arms (Introduced to Europe in 1267 by Roger Bacon)

C.
 The Printing Press (1455)






V.
 New Ideas







A.
 Humanity: Renaissance Humanism and its Classical Roots


Marsilio Ficino (Divine Humanity), Pico della Mirandola (Dignity of Man)


1.
 Humanity Rather than God as the Central Concern (in both Classical and Renaissance Thought)


2.
 From Classical Moderation and Restraint to Renaissance Excellence


3.
 From Classical Humanity to the Renaissance Individual







B.
 Nature as Good/Divine


1.
 Return to a View of Nature as Good


2.
 Resurgence of Pantheism and the authoritarian/anti-humanist Response (Giordano Bruno burned, 1600)







C.
 The Scientific (Empirical) Method


1.
 Triumph of Empiricism



Galileo Galilei (1564-1642): "Measure what can be measured, and make measurable what cannot be measured."




Francis Bacon (1561-1626): "Knowledge is power."



2.
 The Technological Revolution








D.
 A New Heliocentric World View


1.
 Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), On the Revolutions of the Celesial Spheres



2.
 Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) on Elliptical Orbits



3.
 Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and the Law of Inertia



4.
 Isaac Newton (1642-1727)  and the Law of Universal Gravitation








E.
 Christian Religious Reform


1.
 Martin Luther (1483-1546, Protestant Reformer, rejected Humanism)


2.
 Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466-1536, Catholic Reformer, Humanist)









VI.
 Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)