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Oration On The Dignity Of Man By Pico Della Mirandola Summary

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In the selection from Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of man he discusses the concept of humanism in a religious context where humans can achieve anything in the hierarchy of the world. Mirandola accomplishes this through the three characteristics of Humanism: the relationships through human to the divine through knowledge, the renewed interest in the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the virtues of human beings (45).
Mirandola demonstrates the relationships through human to the divine through knowledge. He discusses the place of humans in the world, “the man is the intermediary between creatures, that he is the familiar of the gods above him as he is the lord of the beings beneath him” (47). Man in Mirandola’s mind is capable of anything; essentially there is no place in the hierarchy of the world for humans to go, so they can achieve any status. He goes on to describe people as “little lower than the angels” in …show more content…

He demonstrates this where he states, “If vegetative, he will become a plant; if sensual, he will become brutish; if rational, he will reveal himself a heavenly being; if intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of god” (48). In Mirandola’s mind the characteristics of a human being is the driving force that determines what a person can achieve. He believes that from the creation of man that God gave humans the “seeds pregnant with all possibilities” the ability to become anything (48). Mirandola believes that the brutes will only possess what their mother gives them, however he expresses that the highest spiritual beings the intellects possessed their status the moment or soon after creation (48). Mirandola contradicts himself, by stating the destined minds of intellects have been established since creation, but if each human is a blank canvas that can choose their own path then why is he calling humans brutes that only acquire what their mothers give

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