Renaissance Christian Humanist vs. Machiavellian world views

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Renaissance Christian Humanistvs. Machiavellian
world views
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Great Chain of Being

• Belief structure from middle ages
• Came from Ptolemaic system with earth at the
  center
• Hierarchical system with God and angels above,
  man in the middle, and animals, plants, minerals
  on the bottom.
• Within each species, same hierarchy, with King on
  the top, then nobles, moneyed middle-class, then
  peasants

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Great Chain of Being

• System of Order, corresponding with belief in
  predestination, God has plan for world
• Order can be thrown into chaos if hierarchy not
  adhered to, if subjects rebel against monarch,
  sons against fathers
• Suggests everyone has purpose or role in life,
  should use reason and/or to find and fulfill
  purpose

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Humanist views

• To the Christian belief system, the Renaissance
  added the Humanist beliefs of self-determinism.
• There was still an Ideal beyond the world as we
  know it, but we were to strive to reach that
  Ideal (or at least be worthy of it)
• Thus two supposed opposites, predestination and
  free will, were combined in the Renaissance
  Christian Humanist belief system
• The Renaissance Christian Humanists purpose was
  to make of himself his ideal Self

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Humanist beliefs

• There is an Ideal Love (capital L) which is
  only possible in a timeless world of no change
• Our real world love (lower case l) is an
  imperfect reflection of that Ideal Love it shows
  us what to strive for, though we cannot achieve
  it
• The same is true of Identity there is an ideal
  person we could be, the perfect Self
• The real world self is weak and sinful but by
  striving to be a better person, using his reason
  and faith, he can work toward his potential Self

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Language

• Renaissance Christian Humanist -- poetry
• Metaphoric or figurative language used to
  illustrate place in hierarchies
• Since Sun and King are on top of their respective
  groups, they are joined together through metaphor
  Metaphoric or figurative language used to
  illustrate place in hierarchies
• Machiavellian prose
• Scientific, logical language used to show
  importance of reason

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Great Chain of Beingsystem of analogy

• King
• Nobles
• Professionals
• Trade workers
• Peasants

• Sun
• Moon
• Planets
• Stars

• Lion
• Leopard
• Fox
• Squirrel

• fire
• air
• water
• earth

• Yellow bile
• Blood
• Phlegm
• Black Bile

• Angels
• Man
• Animals
• Plants
• Minerals

• Reason, will (head/brain)
• Fancy, emotion (trunk/heart)
• Five senses (leg/liver)

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Tutor Myth

• History as mirror, moral lesson
• Great Chain of Being defines mans existance
• Nature understood through Bible
• Language of analogy
• State microcosm of Divine world
• Divine Right of Kings
• Time and change moving toward perfection
  vertical concept of time
• Identity is temporal role moving toward spiritual
  essence (Ideal Self).

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Machiavellian World View

• History natural cycle
• No overarching plan, chance or fortune only
• Nature understood through science, reason
• Language is scientific, logical
• State/politics based on power not right
  (privilege or correctness)
• Time and change cyclical, not advancing
• Identity plural, who we are in which situation or
  time, we can play many roles