Self-Determination shown in the works of Erasmus and Pico
Self-Determination shown in the works of Erasmus and Pico
Among the most influential reformative authors during the Renaissance were Pico Della Mirandola and Erasmus of Rotterdam. Both distinguished writers explore humanism as a whole, and clearly dissect the relationship between knowledge and piety in their own way. According to orthodox theology, man was born sinful and was incapable of virtue without the aid of divine grace. However, Humanism offered an alternative, which said that man could freely choose his destiny and could act rightly by the exercise of his own will. Pico’s “Wisdom” throughout On the Dignity of Man, involves the practice of intellectual enlightenment and suggests knowledge as a necessary step towards piety. However, piety cannot be achieved solely without the final step of earning God’s grace. Erasmus’ Praise of Folly criticizes human society through the vast number of follies that lie within. Although it may seem strange to praise Folly, the one certain advantage to foolishness is the freedom to speak the truth. In Praise of Folly, Erasmus puts this freedom to good use in reminding his readers, a society greatly corrupted by worldly concerns, that one must serve God in order to reach a state of piety. Erasmus, as well as Pico, believes that man has self-determination along with the movement of the soul towards God. Erasmus bids entrance into the ambiguity of what we can know and understand, and ultimately the ambiguity of all knowledge, most importantly the divine wisdom of Christ. Although both Pico and Erasmus share a similar correlation between knowledge and piety, the two authors differ however, in that Pico emphasizes the notion that man has the ability to form himself through free will and become pious through intellectual reformation, while Erasmus calls for the need to increase knowledge of the original texts of The Bible, and believes that piety is achieved only when passion, a stifle to spiritual enlightenment can be separated completely from mans soul.
Pico preaches the need to rise up above being a mundane human being and become something of spiritual worth. In order to achieve this lifting, Pico repetitively demands the importance of God’s gift of free will. In the beginning of On the Dignity of Man, Pico relates to this importance by sharing God’s words to Adam after the creation of man:
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