Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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In Reply to: PLEASE POST YOUR SECOND REQUIRED POSTING AS FOLLOWUPS TO THIS POST posted by Tom Bacig on January 13, 1999 at 21:59:54:
Three thinkers [Alberti, Castiglione, & Machiavelli] in the renaissance period, had an idea of the perfect man. Some of these ideas were the same and some were different. In order to compare their ideas, I will split this paper into there parts. One will be devoted to each thinker. In each part I will talk about: his theory on the ideal man, how it differs with the other two thinkers, and who are his influences.
A) Alberti
1)The main idea behind Alberti’s ideal man is perfection. He thinks that a renaissance man should gain knowledge in all fields. He should be specifically accustomed to the classics, “ but with the works of Cicero, Livy, and Sallust above all, so that [he] might learn the perfection and splendid eloquence of the elegant Latin tongue from the very beginning” (Alberti 17-20).
The ultimate evil that a man can have is pure idleness. He should struggle above all else “to enjoy all things, be virtuous and make himself happy” (Alberti 52-53). The only thing that can hold us down is our idleness, so it should be shunned.
2) He is basically the same with both thinkers, except for one point with Machiavelli. Alberti seems to hold virtue at a higher level than Machiavelli does. This will be discussed more in Machiavelli’s section.
3) This seems to come right out of Pico’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man.” The idea that mans is perfectible and has the ability to rise due to his free will, is shared by both Pico and Alberti.
B) Castiglione
1)It seems that he wants a man who excels at all things, and more specifically, things that involve war. He would also like this man to “ do what ever others do, yet never departing from praise worthy deeds..” (Castiglione 86-87). In other words, it seems like virtue is somewhat important to this ideal man. The study of “humanities” and the classics are also important to this ideal man (Castiglione 136-140). The main idea here, is that man should strive toward perfection, and use classical models in their education.
2) The main difference I see is that Castiglione puts some emphasize on doing “praise worthy” and virtuous deeds, where Machiavelli states the opposite (Castiglione 86-87). This will be covered in the section on Machiavelli.
3) This seems to come straight from Alberti. As you will remember from the section on Alberti, the goal of the ideal man is to strive for perfection. The same is true for Castiglione (Fiero 31). Plus, they both believe in the use of the classics.
The only real difference I see between these two is that one emphasizes the military (Castiglione) and the other emphasizes business (Alberti).
C) Machiavelli
1) Machiavelli’s ideal man was an powerful prince. The most important thing to this ideal man, is gaining and maintaining of power. If you have to be cruel to gain power, be cruel! If you have to circumvent virtue to keep power, do it (Machiavelli, Chapter XVIII)! The main goal is power. Machiavelli also claims that a prince should look at the great leaders of the past as examples.
At this point, I would like to point out Machiavelli’s negative view of human nature. When he is talking about holding fear over love he makes a nasty comment about the nature of man. He writes:
“ For love is held by the tie of obligation, which because men are a sorry breed, is broken on every whisper of private interest; but fear is bound by the relaxation of punishment which never relaxes its grasp (Machiavelli 111-114).
In other words, men are self interested and a “sorry breed.”
2) He differs from Castiglione in that he thinks that the ideal man should avoid virtue (at certain times). He also has a much more negative view of human nature than Castiglione. To machiavelli, men are “beasts” (Machiavelli 139).
3)The only thing that he takes from Alberti is the study of the classics. Machiaveli thinks that a prince should study the great leaders of the past. Otherwise, the practice of other things, art, virtue, etc..., Might detract from the price’s power. Yet, power was the only ideal thing to Machiavelli.