新时代的黎明
14世纪意大利——
Something new stirring——
从中世纪的shadows——
Into light
不是sudden break——
而是gradual awakening：
To human potential——
To classical wisdom——
To this world（不只是next）
这是Renaissance humanism（文艺复兴人文主义）
不只是艺术运动——
也是philosophical revolution
什么是Humanism？
Modern word"humanism"会mislead——
不是secular rejection of religion
Renaissance humanists多数是devout Christians
那么什么是humanism？
Studia Humanitatis
“Humanistic studies”——
Curriculum focused on：
- Grammar
- Rhetoric
- Poetry
- History
- Moral philosophy
基于古典texts（Greek和Roman）
Contrast with scholastic curriculum：
- Logic
- Natural philosophy
- Metaphysics
- Theology
Humanists不reject这些——
但emphasize different priorities：
Eloquence over logic——
Wisdom for living over abstract speculation——
This world和civic life——
Over purely contemplative
Ad fontes（回到源头）
Humanist motto：
“回到源头”——
Return to original texts：
不是通过medieval commentaries——
而是直接read：
- Plato（希腊文）
- Cicero（拉丁文）
- Greek New Testament（不只是Latin Vulgate）
- Church Fathers（原文）
This requires：
Learning Greek（在西方largely lost）
Philology（文本批判）
Historical awareness
Petrarch（彼特拉克，1304-1374）
“Father of Humanism”
生平
Francesco Petrarca——
意大利诗人、学者
Life between：
- Avignon（教宗流亡地）
- Italy（尤其Florence、Rome）
- Vaucluse（他的beloved retreat）
Famous for：
Poetry（especially十四行诗to Laura）
但also：
Letters、essays、dialogues
Classical scholarship
对古典的热爱
Petrarch passionate about Roman classics——
Especially Cicero、Virgil、Seneca
他discover Cicero的letters（之前unknown）——
感到like meeting friend across centuries
甚至write letters to古人：
To Cicero、Seneca、Homer——
As if they alive
这不只是antiquarian兴趣——
而是sense of connection：
古人有wisdom for today
对Scholasticism的批评
Petrarch批评scholastic philosophers：
尤其Averroists（Aristotle的阿拉伯commentators）
他的complaints：
1. Barbarous Latin
Scholastics write ugly、technical Latin——
缺乏elegance
Contrast：Cicero的beautiful prose
2. Too much logic-chopping
Endless distinctions、syllogisms——
Forget wisdom for living
3. Relying on authorities过度
Aristotle said X——
Averroes said Y——
What about thinking for yourself？
4. Neglect修辞和文学
Philosophy不只是arguments——
也是persuasion、beauty、inspiration
Petrarch的approach：
Philosophy应该move heart——
不只是convince intellect
《登上Ventoux山》
Famous letter（1336）：
Petrarch和brother登Mont Ventoux（山）
Reach summit——
Admire beautiful view
Then opens Augustine’s《Confessions》randomly——
Reads：
“And men go about to wonder at the heights of the mountains…and desert themselves”
Struck by passage——
Realizes：
外在nature的beauty吸引——
但inner soul更重要
这exemplify humanist tension：
Love this world（nature、beauty、human achievement）——
但also Christian concern for soul
不是simple worldliness——
而是complex integration
内心冲突
Petrarch’s《Secretum》（secret book）：
Dialogue between自己和Augustine
Augustine批评Petrarch：
Too attached to：
- Fame（glory）
- Love（Laura）
- Worldly pleasures
应该focus on上帝、eternity
Petrarch承认——
但辩护human desires有certain nobility
这dialogue never resolve——
Petrarch remain torn：
Between worldly和spiritual——
Between action和contemplation——
Between now和eternity
这是humanist condition：
Living in tension
Humanism的核心价值
1. Dignity of man
Human beings有special dignity——
Rational、creative、capable of virtue
不只是fallen sinners（虽然是）——
也是made in God’s image
Potential for greatness
This will fully flower in Pico della Mirandola（后天会讲）
2. Education和self-cultivation
Humans not born完善——
但can cultivate through education
Liberal arts make us fully human
Virtue可以taught——
Through reading classics、rhetoric、moral philosophy
Contrast：
中世纪emphasize grace、faith
Humanists emphasize education、effort
（不排除grace——但add human agency）
3. Civic engagement
尤其在Florence（republic）：
“Civic humanism”
不只是private contemplation——
而是active participation in polis
Citizen’s duty：
- Public service
- Justice
- Defense of liberty
Chancellor Leonardo Bruni（Florentine humanist）：
Praise active life over contemplative（某程度）
这reverse Augustine、Thomas的hierarchy
4. Rhetoric和eloquence
Humanists revive Cicero、Quintilian：
Rhetoric=crucial for：
- Persuading to virtue
- Political deliberation
- Education
- Moving emotions toward good
不只是sophistry——
而是ethical tool
Good person speaking well（Quintilian）
5. This world有value
不是escape world for heaven——
而是：
World=beautiful、worthy of study、场for human flourishing
上帝’s creation to enjoy（responsibly）
Nature、art、human relationships——
All good
这不deny heaven——
但assert earth也matters
Florence：Humanism的中心
为什么Florence？
Republic自由
Florence=republic（not monarchy）——
Citizen participation
这foster civic humanism
Defense of liberty（against Milan、Pope）——
Inspires political humanism
Wealth
Medici和other banking families——
Patronage of arts和scholarship
钱buy：
- Manuscripts
- Artists
- Scholars
- Leisure for study
Classical proximity
Italy=Roman遗产everywhere
Ruins、inscriptions、manuscripts
Sense of continuity with ancient Rome
Competition
City-states compete——
In art、learning、prestige
这stimulate innovation
Greek的Recovery
Crucial development：
Byzantine scholars
1397：Manuel Chrysoloras来Florence——
Teach Greek
First systematic Greek teaching in West（centuries）
Students learn to read：
- Plato（in original）
- Homer
- Greek tragedies
- Greek Church Fathers
1453：Constantinople falls
Ottoman Turks conquer Constantinople
Many Greek scholars flee to Italy——
Bringing manuscripts
这accelerate Greek learning
Plato vs Aristotle
中世纪dominated by Aristotle（via Arabic、Latin）
Now：Plato直接available
Marsilio Ficino（15世纪）translate全部Plato’s dialogues
Platonic Academy in Florence——
Under Medici patronage
Plato’s appeal to humanists：
- Beautiful prose（vs Aristotle’s dry treatises）
- Emphasis on love、beauty
- Mystical elements
- Less tied to scholastic debates
Humanism vs Scholasticism
不是simple opposition——
但clear differences：
| Scholasticism | Humanism |
|---|---|
| Logic、dialectic | Rhetoric、eloquence |
| Aristotle（primarily） | Plato、Cicero、variety |
| Technical Latin | Classical Latin |
| Universities | Courts、academies、私人 |
| Theology、metaphysics | Ethics、politics、poetry |
| Systematic、abstract | Practical、moral |
| Contemplative ideal | Active life（或both） |
某些tensions——
但also interactions：
某些humanists也scholastically trained
某些scholastics appreciate humanism
Not pure conflict
Spread Beyond Italy
北方Humanism
15-16世纪：
Humanism spread to：
- France
- Germany
- Low Countries
- England
Northern humanists：
More focused on Christian texts——
“Christian humanism”
Erasmus（后天会详讲）=prime example：
Greek New Testament edition——
Reform theology through better texts
Thomas More（also后天）：
Utopia combining humanism和Christian ideals
Printing press
Gutenberg（1450s）：
Movable type printing
Revolutionary！
Classical texts可以widely disseminate——
不只是expensive manuscripts
Humanism变成mass movement（relative to before）
Humanism的遗产
Education
Humanist curriculum成为standard——
“Liberal arts”
直到modern times
Grammar、rhetoric、classics——
Foundation of Western education（centuries）
科学革命
Humanist emphasis on：
- Original texts（不只是authorities）
- Observation（nature itself）
- Critical thinking
这contribute to科学方法
虽然humanists本身不是scientists——
但create intellectual climate
Reformation
Humanist textual criticism——
Applied to Bible
Erasmus、others show errors in Vulgate——
This embolden reformers
Luther用humanist tools——
To challenge Church
Modern individualism
Humanist emphasis on：
- Individual potential
- Self-cultivation
- Personal judgment
Seeds of modern individualism
虽然still within Christian framework
Secularization？
Controversial：
Did humanism lead to secularization？
不是humanists’ intention——
多数devout
但emphasis on this world、human capacity——
Long-term，可能contribute to secular modernity
批评
1. Elitism
Humanism=for educated elite——
需要leisure、resources学classical languages
多数人excluded
2. 忽视科学
Focus on texts（ancient）——
Less on empirical investigation
某些argue：humanism actually delayed科学
（虽然也有反面argument）
3. Imitation over originality
Ciceronian style的obsession——
Becomes mere imitation？
某些humanists criticized for：
Copying ancients rather than original thought
4. Moral ambiguity
Classical texts包含pagan ethics——
与Christian有tensions
Certain humanists embrace这too uncritically？
现代意义
1. Liberal education
Humanist ideal：
Education不只是job training——
而是cultivate whole person
这仍relevant：
What is education for？
Skills或wisdom for living？
2. Primary sources
Ad fontes——
回到原始文献
不只是rely on commentaries、summaries
适用于：
任何intellectual pursuit
Read Darwin，不只是关于他的书
3. Eloquence和ethics
How we say things matters——
不只是what
Rhetoric不是manipulation——
可以是ethical persuasion toward good
当今：
公共discourse质量poor——
Humanist emphasis on eloquence=reminder
4. This world vs otherworldly
Humanist tension：
Between worldly engagement和spiritual transcendence
仍是question for everyone：
How balance？
不逃避世界——
但也不只是worldly
实践
1. Read classics
不只是modern——
Also ancient、classical texts
Plato、Cicero、Augustine——
他们仍有wisdom
Conversation across centuries
2. Cultivate eloquence
Care about how you speak、write
Clarity、beauty、persuasiveness
不只是technical correctness
3. Liberal learning
Study broadly：
History、literature、philosophy、art——
不只是narrow specialization
Become fully human
4. Civic engagement
Civic humanist ideal：
Educated person serves community
不只是private success
Public good
从Medieval God-centered universe——
文艺复兴humanists——
Turn attention to human——
Human potential——
Human dignity——
Human responsibility
不是abandoning上帝——
但seeing human作为上帝’s partner——
In creating、learning、improving
Petrarch登山——
Admiring view——
Then reading Augustine——
这tension——
Between world和soul——
Between action和contemplation——
Between now和eternity
This is humanist legacy：
Living fully——
In both worlds——
With wisdom from past——
Creating future
Ad fontes——
回到源头——
To go forward