Pico della Mirandola contributed to Renaissance thinking most notably in his The Oration on the Dignity Of Man. In this work, he shows a shift away from the medieval notion of describing humankind as fallen and sinful to, instead, exalting humans as the centerpiece and crowning glory of God's creation. This emphasis on the centrality of the human, referred to as humanism, is one of the most important attributes of Renaissance thinking.
In Pico's worldview, God is to be greatly honored and worshipped as the creator of the universe, of life, and of humankind. Nevertheless, the main light Pico shines is on humans. He focuses on humankind as made in the image of God and, therefore, as bringing to the earth some of God's immense glory—especially through the human capacity, derived from God, of rational thought. He buttresses his argument about humankind's goodness, intelligence, and worth with many quotes from Classical authors of Greece and Rome, such as Plato and Aristotle, revealing his perception that Christianity and "paganism" are not at odds but can be reconciled and synthesized, since they emanate from the same source.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of this shift to centrality of the human. It was the start of the end of abjection, the idea that all humans could do was bow to received authority because we are too fallen to do otherwise. Instead, Pico argues, we should celebrate "man's" achievements and continue to aspire to greater heights in what we can produce and create.
Pico's greatest contribution to the Renaissance was his attempt to reconcile a bewildering array of world-views, philosophies, and religious traditions to Christianity. This was the very essence of Renaissance humanism, which sought to present an elevated picture of humanity by drawing upon rediscovered pagan texts and then incorporating the insights of such close study into the dominant Christian world-view. It was believed by Pico and other Renaissance thinkers that, far from representing a threat to Christianity, such an ecumenical approach to the gaining of wisdom would strengthen and enrich it.
But Pico wanted to go one stage further: his boundless intellectual curiosity was such that he desired nothing less than a complete synthesis of all human knowledge. It was this breathtakingly ambitious undertaking which landed Pico in hot water with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. They believed that, in such a synthesis, the teachings of the Church would be, at best, watered-down, or at worst, marginalized. They were also deeply unnerved by Pico's regard for the Kabbalah, a collection of Jewish mystical texts.
One of Pico's accusers leveled the absurd accusation against him that Kabbalah was the name of a writer who'd written a number of impious works against Christ. This was complete nonsense, of course, but in any case, the Catholic Church felt that Pico had gone too far in drawing upon non-Christian traditions in his ceaseless quest for knowledge. Though Pico was ultimately defeated in that quest, the restlessly inquiring spirit he displayed in his works would inspire successive generations to push back the boundaries of human knowledge.
Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola (Pico) was a distinguished Italian, Renaissance philosopher who lived from 1463–1494. His contribution to Renaissance thinking came through his published works, including The Oration of the Dignity Of Man. This influential book was first written as a speech yet was not delivered. It was not published until 1496, several years after his death. This work is often considered the manifesto of Italian Renaissance philosophy.
Pico's great contribution to Renaissance thinking through his collected works was an influence on the view of human nature; his aim was to prove that all humanity has an inherent dignity. Pulling beliefs from Christianity, humanism, Islam, and Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), Pico claimed humans are the greatest creatures in all of creation because we have free will. While the rest of the created order is fixed in position, humans have the free will to descend into animal-like behavior or to ascend spiritually and intellectually into a higher order.
Pico offers philosophy as the key to ascending and claims it brings humanity into the highest form of existence and into communion with God, as set forth in Pico's 900 Theses (published in 1486). The Catholic church condemned his theses before he had a chance to defend them publicly; however, it had already been published and had a hand in influencing Renaissance thinking.
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