Humanism is a special type of philosophical worldview,based on the idea of the highest value of man; for a humanist philosopher, the human person is the center of the world, the measure of all things, the crown of God's creation.
Humanism in philosophy begins to form in the era of antiquity, its first definitions we find in the works of Aristotle and Democritus.
Humanism in the ancient tradition
In the Middle Ages, the ideas of humanism moved to the secondplan, were obscured by gloomy theories of religious asceticism, killing the natural aspirations and needs natural to any person. The main virtues were the following: self-restraint, humility, conviction of the original sinfulness of the human being.
Renaissance humanism
Interest in the heritage of antiquity has increased significantlyonly in the Renaissance. The influence of the church on the life of society has diminished noticeably, science and art have ceased to be purely theological, there have appeared more free, non-theological philosophical theories and teachings. The preservation, systematization and study of the works of philosophers and scholars of antiquity became the main task of the modern humanists. Obligatory for them was the study of the languages of antiquity - Latin and Greek.
In the awareness of the Renaissance philosophers thatsuch humanism, there was a share of originality and originality. Humanism of the Renaissance is original and unique. It was at that time that the importance of humanitarian knowledge became recognized by all; universal values (attention and respect for the feelings and needs of the person, compassion, empathy) were no less significant than, for example, religiousness, observance of church requirements and rituals.
The origins of Renaissance humanism are laid down in scientificworks and works of art of great Italians - Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarca. Thanks to the general atmosphere of freedom, the worship of beauty, the attraction to new forms in art, it was possible the existence of a great phenomenon - a brief period of the High Renaissance (1500-1530). It was at this time that the greatest works of art were created by the geniuses of the Renaissance (Raphael Santi, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo).
Over time, the Renaissance humanism spreadand the northern regions of Europe. It should be noted that the northern Renaissance, unlike the Italian, was closer to the religious tradition. The basic idea of Christian humanists is the improvement of man as the basic condition of salvation. Let us analyze what humanism is in the understanding of a religious philosopher. Only by following God's commandments, observing all the requirements of religion and sacred books, a person can purify himself, approach the ideals of goodness, beauty, harmony. Most vividly the ideas of theistic humanism manifested themselves in the works of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Willibald Pirkheimer.
His answer to the question of what humanism is,give and modern scientists-philosophers. The traditions of Renaissance humanism still do not surrender their positions in the newest philosophy of Western Europe. Belief in man's strength, awe-inspiring admiration of omnipotence, omnipotence of the person, optimistic conviction in the possibility of improving society - all this makes humanism the most progressive and productive current of modern philosophy.
