In 1997 one of the most prominent experts on Renaissance in the country Prof. Igor Škamperle wrote in the preface to the translation of the book written in 1486 The Oration on the Dignity of Man (De hominis dignitate) by Pico della Mirandola the following sentences:
“The dilemma of the role of the Renaissance mentality and its influence on the later development of European culture shows us how relevant these questions are today. In the time in which we are faced with similar dilemmas. Reflection on their starting points is therefore not just a historical curiosity that would attract a handful of scholars but a vital question of the cultural and ethical fundamnets of our time. How to respond rationally to human demands which by definition have no boundaries and which are dangerously affecting the essence of the environment we have at our disposal? / … / How can we in the face of confessional conflicts that have not gone away and are manifested in modern societies mainly between the Christian West and Islam create a culture of respect and tolerance that will not necessarily resort to a technocratic totalitarian and financially conditioned society of religiously devalued citizens as promised by some designers of the new Europe? And last but not least, how to revive the original apologia of human knowledge in today’s language which does not avoid the demand for a holistic treatment of man? The five-hundred-year-old text on dignity (famous oratio elegantissima) cannot answer the questions of a single mind.”
His thinking serves as an excellent introduction to Richard Blum’s presentation of ten points at this year’s conference “Towards New European Renaissance, It’s About People 2023”.
What I would like to emphasize that what is currently happening in relations between people and also what happened in history is a paradox. People usually do something universal which we naturally think is right or think it is right to aspire to. For example AI (artificial intelligence) question. AI is capable of creating text that looks intelligent. This discovery is similar to the invention of photocopying that I witnessed. Suddenly it was possible to create huge copies of text without having to write or type all the time.
We must accept the challenges we are witnessing now due to political change are the problems that are solved by stepping back and looking at the problem from a distance. Europe can be seen as an ideal or as a political reality. Europe “version 2.0” definitely needs a renovation. So we can step back with a general view of everything that is concrete or derive solutions from a concrete situation.
The human life can be viewed as historical, which means that we live in a historical world. Wherever we are geographically or otherwise, we come up to this point from somewhere. Whatever we do, we do it with a purpose or with a specific goal in mind. Whether it’s the dignity of Pico della Mirandola or whether we want to earn more financially man is always involved in the history he carries on his shoulders. Of course we can criticize the Renaissance humanists. Nevertheless, they are an example to us that for the first time in the history of Europe they understood this and therefore strove for the renaissance of old values and achievements.
The discovery of America greatly changed much of the European thinking. A good example is Bartolomé de Las Casas’s theory of the origin of the human. The idea emerged that there must be something that connects all of humanity regardless of their biological heritage. This is exactly what we are doing today. We are worried about too rapid technological development, we are worried about the war in Europe, we are worried about the economic crisis and the current state of the economy… If we look at it from the point of our history just as they did in the Renaissance we can draw a kind of map which has brought us to this point today and which also shows us the way forward.
Prof. Richard Blum (Paul Richard Blum is Professor and Chair in Philosophy at Loyola University Maryland) is the main author of the ten points that are the pillars of The New European Renaissance manifesto:
Therefore we stand for the following:
1. The values of humanity, as elaborated in the Renaissance, should guide individuals, community, and politics today: ethics of interpersonal respect, harmony with nature, beauty as unifying society.
Petrarch, On his own ignorance. Bruno, Spaccio
2. Justice and mutual understanding are the foundation of global safety.
Machiavelli, Discourses
3. Individual dignity and universal recognition are reciprocal.
Valla, On free will; Pico, Oration on human dignity
4. Science, knowledge, and education execute and realize the universal human values.
Erasmus, Adagia
5. Science is not limited to positive knowledge but realization of wisdom in the sense of global perspectives on all particular fields, including spiritual, intellectual, and aesthetic areas.
Cusanus, On Learned Ignorance
6. Economy is part of the interpersonal and international aims and activities, realized in the spirit of local and global justice.
Morus, Utopia
7. Research, economy, justice, and ethics need to encompass the ecology of the world.
Bacon, New Atlantis
8. The apparently Eurocentric aims are universal in taking other continents and cultures, as well as nature, into account.
Las Casas, History of the Indies
9. All political, educational, cultural, and scientific endeavours need to be designed to be international, intercultural, and global.
Campanella, Philosophia realis
10. The New European Renaissance should be based on the values of humanity and should connect academic individuals and institutions into networks that aspire to structure this process in a sustainable way.
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Andraž Ivšek
Ljubljana, 16 May 2023
I attended the conference TOWARDS THE NEW EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE as a member of the organizing committee.
In Scientia Veritas 