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During the 16th century Renaissance, the country of Italy was reintroduced to the Importance of the liberal arts: language, literature, philosophy, and history. It was a period of rebirth and light for a country once consumed by darkness during the time known as the Middle Ages. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought into Italy an influx of Byzantine scholars that sparked a refocus on such liberal studies and humanities that restructured the general governance of Italy for centuries to come.
Before the fall of Constantinople, Italy was governed by the ideal laws set forth ND insinuated by Thomas Quinoa’s Summary Theological. This scholastic work was considered the zenith of philosophy during the Middle Ages. Being that Aquinas was both a priest and a friar, Summary has heavy religious Influence, though It does address the concept of government. In question 103, Aquinas Introduces the discussion “of the government of things in general. “(UP Q. 1031) Aquinas replies to the objections that the world should not be governed and is governed by many by stating that “a good exalts[s] in the universe… Namely the order of the universe” (UP Q. 103, Art. 2) and the “Intention of a ruler over a multitude Is unity’ which he rebelliously stated belongs to the idea of goodness. Thus, according to Aquinas, the governing of one by many is both necessary and virtuous, as it lends itself to the idea of what is good. This is of importance, as after the fall of Rome, Italy separated Into many city-states, all governed by separate oligarchies In the feudal system. Aquinas not only discussed government as a whole, but also the many aspects, most important being the aspect of law.
He begins by defining law as “nothing else but a dictate of practical reason emanating from the ruler who governs a perfect Q. 90, Art. 1) He then continues to present three types of law: eternal, natural, and Delve. Eternal law finds Its origins In scripture; It Is the word of God and the idea of Divine reason. Natural law is the participation of rational beings in eternal law. The concept of natural law underwrites every case Aquinas argues in his Summary Theological. It is arguably the most prevalent and important concept of life that he Introduces.
It is the nature of humans to act upon our own free will towards a good act and end; good being the good defined by God. Aquinas implies that nature is completely rational, that God created the world in accordance to reason. In today’s postmodern world, there is not as much confidence In such reasoning; nature Is not eternal, It Is something to reconstruct and human nature Is not something that is fixed, humans are malleable and in so, there is not one nature that all human beings have.
Divine law exists in accordance to the uncertainty of human will; it exists so that “no evil might go unforgiving or unpunished. “(SSP Q. 90, Art. 4) It Is upon these three laws that much of the governance of Italy was based; for much of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance, rule was based upon religion due to the unity of Church and state. Quinoa’s concept of natural law heavily influenced Pico Della Monorail’s summation of 900 questions called Oration on the Dignity of Man. Monorail’s 1 OFF of civilizing.
A great humanist of the time, Miranda sought to prove how man is great, and he argued so upon the basis of free will. Whereas man operated upon the means to act good and true within Quinoa’s natural law, Miranda argues that man operates upon simply his own free will. He proposed that any man could acquire greatness through their own capacity; a concept that creates man in a different mage than animals or angels, entities whose future and destiny is already determined. He states that man, unlike any other, has the capacity to love, to comprehend, and to appreciate.
In this, especially the concept of comprehension, Miranda begins the civilizing process. Whereas in the Middle Ages, men were able to defecate and perform bodily functions without embarrassment, the beginning of comprehension of one’s actions brought about shame. And with shame came the suppression of such ill mannered activities. Shame begat prevarication which begat a beginning of individuation. Miranda states that the dignity of a man lies within his power “as the free and rood shaper of [his] own being, [to] fashion [himself] in the form [he] may prefer. (Miranda) In other words, it is a man’s own free will that gives him the ‘power to descend to the lower, brutish forms of life… [or] to rise again to the superior orders whose life is This was a new idea in Renaissance Italy; the idea that one did not have to be born into greatness to achieve it. He also Introduced the idea of appreciation as the intellectual love of the world, which lends to understanding. The practice of such learning is what makes one human, an idea that supported the growing importance of the humanities in Italy.
Theory and practice of education gives man dignity. After the Oration of the Dignity of Man came Niccole Machiavellian The Prince. Inheres the literature previously discussed self-government, The Prince discussed the idea of both self management and the sovereignty of a ruler. It discussed ideals of the individual in terms of themselves as well as in terms of those that one might govern. Machiavelli wrote The Prince to Prince Lorenz De Medici as a how-to for ruling successfully while he was in exile.
In his dedication of the correspondence, Machiavelli brings about the idea of perspective. He states “to comprehend fully the tauter of people, one must be a prince, and to comprehend fully the nature of princes one must be an ordinary citizen. “(Machiavelli). This idea is reminiscent of Monorail’s concept of dignity; one should practice education. A prince should acknowledge what he sees and comprehend and learn from it. Machiavellian rules for governing have much to do with the previously discussed idea of the civilizing process.
In order to rule successfully, a ruler must be concerned Ninth what he portrays, what is on the outside. He should be concerned with his mage, an idea that brought about a pivotal shift from courtesy to civility. Whereas after Monorail’s introduction of comprehension, privatized became a courtesy, after Machiavellian heavy focus on image, privatized became a civility, a necessity. One should be able to manage one’s image in order to be successfully sovereign, for ‘men in general Judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch…
Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really It was in this time that the Church and government shifted to In regards to appearance, Machiavelli suggested sacrificing Quinoa’s ideals of DOD and truth for the good off prince’s people. He argued that there was more rower in being feared than loved, for “love is preserved by the link of obligation Inch, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails. (Machiavelli) He advised the prince to be strategic: to appear generous, to appear virtuous. Machiavellian rules of governance were built upon the balance between what is seen and what is actually done. The actual truth of things is not nearly as important as the truth presented to the public. He stated that a ruler must do what has to be done in order to advance himself and keep his credibility, no tater if it is virtuous or lawful. A prince must have the dignity to be able to do so; his free will gives him the ability to learn and adjust to stay in power.
Machiavelli, a huge supporter of the idea of image, also advised the prince that ‘the first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. ” (Machiavelli) This idea gave way for Balderdash Castigation’s The Courtier, a book in which Castigation gives advice for how to be the perfect courtier to the prince. Though The Courtier did not necessarily influence government, it retainer expedited the civilizing process, as it presented the ideals that a true gentleman should have, spreading humanism and civility through Italy.
Castigation focused heavily on outward appearances, much like Machiavelli. He introduced the concept of supersaturate and graze, or nonchalance and grace. Supersaturate is the art of artlessness, Castigation defined it as “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it. ” (Castigation) A good courtier should accomplish recognition of Ewing better than others through supersaturate and graze, a nonchalance towards praise.
He also lists many qualities a courtier should have: he should be aesthetically pleasing, he should participate in sport and games, he should be well read, he should speak many languages, and he should be able to play instruments. Many of these qualities are qualities of the humanities, spreading the importance of and emphasis on education and learning throughout Italy. Throughout 16th century Italy, government became a product of the civilizing process. Whereas it once was grounded in religion and the idea that man was eternally inclined to do good, it became heavily focused on the concept of appearance.
One must be able to understand what he should be, an aspect of dignity, in order to rightfully portray it and remain in control of his people. It is through Monorail’s idea of dignity that Machiavelli and Castigation’s ideal prince and courtiers are able to exist. It is that idea of dignity that brought light back to Italy; education and the study of liberal arts became of the utmost importance once more, as the ability to acknowledge and understand became the fundamentals ‘aloes of government.