Pico

=Giovanni Pico della Mirandola=
 * (1463-1494)**

//Philosophical Belief: Humanism//


Aside from trying to run off with another man's wife, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola had a lot of bright ideas in his lifetime. He studied in a number of cities in Europe and studied philosophy with a passion. In the end, he gave the world the [|Oration on the Dignity of Man] (a work justifying aspects of humanism), accompanied by his 900 theses.

"Studying Abroad"
In the beginning of his life, Pico studied [|canon law] but when his mother died, he began studying philosophy at the University of Ferra. From 1480-1482 he studied at the University of Padua, a major center for [|Aristotelianism]. Pico was already fluent in Latin and Greek and then studied Hebrew and Arabic. During these years, he visited humanist centers and studied at home. He also wrote many sonnets, all of which he destroyed before his death. In 1485, Pico left to study philosophy and theology.

Pico's Work/Philosophy
Around 1485, Pico began his 900 theses and desired to defend them in public. After his theses were complete, he intended to organized a "congress" of scholars from all parts of Europe to debate the theses. However, this never happened as Pico fell into a love affair with a married woman and was almost killed by her husband. In 1486, Pico finished the [|Oration on the Dignity of Man] and his 900 theses and offered to pay the expense for any scholars who wanted come to Rome to debate the theses publically. In short, the Pope was not happy with Pico. He prevented the debate of the 900 theses and questioned the orthodoxy of them. After this questioning, 13 of the theses were condemned, but Pico later published them anyway. These theses were dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici and they were called //Apologia//.

While he respected Aristotle, Pico based his ideas on Plato. He addressed the philosophical problem of humanity during his time. Christians believed that the world was created by God, Neoplatonists believed creation of the universe was a part of God's nature and finally, in Averroism (a version of Aristoteleanism), it was believed that "...the question of creation is...irrelevant to physical inquiry" (Hooker). Pico studied many different forms of philosophy on humans in the purpose of looking at the same thing from all different directions. In this respect, he believed in Syncretism (seeing the same thing from different views).

Becoming a Sheep
Sadly, Pico became a follower of his anti-Renaissance friend, Savonarola. Pico destroyed his poetry and gave away his fortune, determined to become a monk, although he never followed through with this scheme. He died under questionable conditions in 1494. Some say his secretary may have even poisoned him because he was abandoning his primary beliefs for Savonarola's. _

Works Cited/Bibliography
"Giovanni Pico della Mirandola." __Wikipedia__. 21 August. 2006. 30 August. 2006. .

Hooker, Richard. "Pico della Mirandola." __World Civilizations__. 6 June. 1999. Washington State University. 30 August. 2006.

<[|http://www.wsu.edu:8001/~dee/REN/PICO.HTM]>.

Knight, K. "Canon Law." __New Advent__. 2006. Robert Appleton Company. 30 August. 2006. .

Knight, K. "Giovanni Pico della Mirandola." __New Advent__. 2006. Robert Appleton Company. 30 August. 2006.

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