One cannot look at humanism and the Renaissance without looking at how each influenced religious thought. In fact, the most significant difference between the Renaissance and the Middle Ages is "where God had previously been the centre, Man now takes this place" (Dresden 13). Man in now the focal point of the world and he is the "centre of all that is taking place" (12). The most "corrosive impact" (Cameron 73) that the Renaissance had on medieval Christianity came from the thinker who was as "devoutly, intelligently, and consciously committed to Christian faith as could be" (73). Erasmus took the humanists' textual criticism, moral values, and belief in education and applied them uncompromisingly to theology" (73). Another significant difference between the two movements is that the humanists "showed a fresh and, one might say, unprejudiced interest in ancient texts and that they had an almost insatiable curiosity about unknown….

Humanism is an important subject that has been in existence, as a philosophy, since the Renaissance in the 1500's. Yet few know what humanism means, and what it refers to. This paper will provide definitions of humanism, as well as a brief history. With these in mind, thus, one is better prepared to then understand the philosophy and, if needed, apply it to daily life.
As a definition, humanism means, according to the Free Dictionary, any of four things:

as a philosophy, it signified "the denial of any power or moral value superior to that of humanity" as well as the rejection of religion in favor of a belief in the ability of humanity and its advancement through its own efforts;

it can also signify the philosophical position that "stresses the autonomy of human reason in contradistinction to the authority of the Church";

as a literary movement, as aforementioned, it can signify the movement….

Humanism in the Renaissance posited that everyone is worthy of an equal chance, and even though peasants were not the socioeconomic equal of the wealthy, peasants were human and deserving of an equal opportunity. Humanism in fact was an attempt "…to resurrect and emulate the literature and art of the ancient Greeks and Romans," Neil Haughton writes in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. Renaissance painters emphasized the "positive attributes of their subjects, both physical and political," rather than "realistic interpretation" (Haughton, 2004).

As to the impact the Renaissance had on the founding of America, authors Richard Vetterli and Gary Bryner suggest that the American Revolution was "…less…the first political act of revolutionary enlightenment as the last great act of the Renaissance" (Vetterli, 1996, 14). In fact the authors say that the American founders were "civic humanists"; indeed, the beliefs, the attitudes and the character of the American founders "…could not help….

Humanism: Summary
One can define humanism as a school of thought or belief system which connects to both the fields of philosophy and ethics and which places a focus on the power of the individualism. There are a range of different types of humanism, and modes of thought connected to humanism, along with different intellectual and religious movements connected to humanism. All of these elements are partly responsible for making the definition of the term unclear.

In certain respects, the development of humanism was a reaction to the dissatisfaction of many experts with behaviorism. The school of thought surrounding humanism was in many ways the consequences which developed as so many psychologists just couldn't agree with many of the pillars of behaviorism. "Many psychologists did not accept the behaviorists' view that humans were governed by stimuli and responses, with no will of their own to change their behavior" (Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, 2013).….

In one portrait of a Renaissance man, the aristocrat's musical instruments are placed alongside his various scientific instruments, books, and weapons (Arkenberg 2002). Eventually, in spite of "some of the obscure, antiquarian concerns of humanist engagement with the music of the classical past…music came to be thought of not as a branch of mathematics" but as an art ("The Renaissance," Free Encyclopedia, 2009). Humanism shifted the analytical understanding of music fully into the realm of the expressive, fine arts. There was renewed interest in the relationship between music and words and music's ability to express human emotion, versus analyzing the mathematician Pythagoras' notion of the 'music of the planetary spheres' ("The Renaissance," Free Encyclopedia, 2009).
At the beginning of the century, polyphonic music still dominated the Latin masses and motets of sacred music. Because these styles of music contained several simultaneous melodies polyphony tended to deemphasize individual voices, words, and….

The Catholic Church was forced to react and respond to the Protestant Reformation. This can be seen in the music of Palestrina. The Council of Trent resolved to eliminate the use of secular and ornate music during masses, which it saw as part of the 'worldly excesses' condemned by Protestants. Palestrina composed masses with a "purer, more restrained style" (Sherrane 2008). Palestrina brought forth a resurgent interest in plainsong, "each with its own profile and crystalline line," and allowed more individual voices to be distinguished, although this can be seen as actually reflecting a secular musical trend of the Renaissance, namely the interest in setting words to music in chansons and madrigals (Sherrane 2008).

Along with the development of the printing press, other notable technical innovations of the era were the creation of different musical instruments, including keyboards such as the clavichord, harpsichord and organ and the use of the viola….

Humanism, Absolutism, Power and Style
Read the following excerpt from an article, then discuss the three questions below the excerpt. Then respond to 3 members below. Post comments on what they have to say.

In an article in Psychology Today published on September 01, 2008, Hara Estroff Marano writes:

It's tempting to think that style is a new invention, open to us only now because we particularly value self-expression, and an extraordinary range of possibilities for doing so is available to us. But Joan DeJean, a professor of French language and culture at the University of Pennsylvania, contends that style has its well-shod feet firmly planted in the seventeenth century; it was the deliberate creation of Louis XIV of France, the Sun King. He was, she says in The Essence of Style, history's greatest exemplar of it.

DeJean sums up the style that Louis created in a word -- sparkle. Louis bedecked himself….

Humanistic and Exestential Therapyies
Humanistic Existential Theories

Strengths and limitations of humanistic and existential theories

Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, there was an increasing emphasis on new theories of the human personality and on ways of treating psychological disorders that offered alternatives to conventional psychodynamic, Freudian theory and the deterministic behaviorism of Skinner. Both humanistic and existential theories offered an alternative perspective. "They are united by an emphasis on understanding human experience and a focus on the client rather than the symptom. Psychological problems (including substance abuse disorders) are viewed as the result of inhibited ability to make authentic, meaningful, and self-directed choices about how to live" (Brief interventions, 1999). In humanistic and existentialist thought, there is a unity of philosophical speculation about how to enable the client to live a meaningful life.

Humanistic theories of psychology stress the fundamentally 'good' nature of all human beings. All human beings strive for….

Humanism
The term Humanism can mean a number of things. For example, in regard to literature, it can mean that a person has devotion to the humanities or to the literary culture. However, in a religious sense, Christian Humanism would mean a more human-oriented Christianity, as opposed to a spiritual faith and would hold an expectation of man's philosophic self- fulfillment within the framework of Christian principles. The bottom line is Humanism is based on man's input. "...Humans are responsible for the state of the world; we created the beauty and the ugliness of the human condition. e can take credit for the things that go right and we must take responsibility for the things that go wrong." (The Essence of Humanism) Thus, when we attempt to define Humanism, we need to be specific as to the direction our terminology is to lead. This report will focus on Religious Humanism and….

This work provided an intensive discussion historical forces that were to lead to modern humanism but also succeeds in placing these aspects into the context of the larger social, historical and political milieu. .
Online sources and databases proved to be a valid and often insightful recourse area for this topic. Of particular note is a concise and well-written article by Stephen eldon entitled Secular Humanism in the United States. This article provides a well-structured overview of the main issues in the development of secular humanism. It also provides insight into the influence of secular humanism in the United States.

An online article that is especially pertinent in terms of the consequences of the rise of secular rationality in an ideological sense is The Great Scandal (part 1) Christianity's Role in the Rise of the Nazis by Gregory Paul. This article also adds to the complexity of the debate about the….

Comparing Behaviorism and Humanism Learning Theories in Understanding Mike\\\'s SituationIntroductionThe Case of Mike is one that deals with addiction and how to overcome it. Mike was introduced to drugs at an early age, as a treatment for ADHD. Eventually, he took to harder drugs and ended up prison. Now he is out and wants to stay clean. Two contrasting learning theories can be applied to the case study of Mike are Skinner\\\'s Behaviorism, which emphasizes the role of environmental reinforcement and punishment in shaping behavior, and ogers\\\' Humanism, which focuses on the individual\\\'s subjective experience and intrinsic motivation. This paper will look at Mikes case from the perspective of these two theories, compare and contrast them, and show how they can be applied to Mikes situation.Skinner\\\'s BehaviorismB.F. Skinner\\\'s behaviorism theory, or the theory of operant conditioning, rests on the assumption that all behavior is a product of conditioning, with reinforcement….

Picture Analysis The two works were likely completed after the Black Death, as they were both Florentine artists influenced by Giotto, who died at the end of the 14th century. The two works echo Giotto’s style in that there is a distinct rupture between the lifelike representations and the Byzantine style that had preceded them. Byzantine art tended to be more symbolic and less concerned with realism. Here, in each of these Florentine works, one sees a good degree of humanistic representation, which Giotto helped to usher in and that would come to roaring to the fore during the Renaissance.
Each of these works are religious in nature: the one is a triptych—three paneled painting featuring elements of the Gospel—such as the Incarnation and the death and crucifixion of Christ; the other one is Christ the King, flanked by angels. Both of these works would likely have been located in a church.….

As these ideas, become standard for creating a new genre that can speak to the audience in different ways. Therefore, humanism and its impact on the music of the Renaissance period would serve as way of highlighting a shift that was taking place in art and society, with the music reflecting these ideals.
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Chicago Format. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/

"Humanism." Dictionary, last modified 2010. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/humanism

"The Renaissance." J. Rank, last modified 2010.….

Secular Humanism
We live in a world that is so dictated by religious politics. eligion has seemingly become a defining characteristic of who we are. Yet, there are many who choose to free themselves from limited notions of religious doctrine. Many believe in what is known as secular humanism, where the human is at the center of each of our lives, not a religion or God. Secular humanism is a branch of humanism that focuses not on mans connection with God as the primary origin of life, unlike other branches of humanism (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). Here, the human being is the center of each individual's life and not a God or religion in this perspective humans originate much like other animals, their evolution and existence does not depend on a religion. The human identity is just another biological identity. According to the research, "secular Humanism is an attempt to function….

Secular Humanism and Christianity
The first thing to remember about Secular Humanism is that it does not have a creed -- in fact, it rejects them: the Nicene Creed of the early Christian Church, for example, would not be believed by a Secular Humanist, for their religion is science. Secular Humanists have no defined beliefs concerning the origin of the human race, because they have seen no empirical data that is convincing enough to prove anything one way or another: some may believe in evolution and some may even believe in a Creator. Secular Humanists believe in the right to free inquiry (whether "ecclesiastical, political, ideological, or social") (Stevens et al. 2011).

Identity, therefore, is subjective and follows for the most part in the tradition of modern philosophical thought: humanism, after all, truly "exploded" in the West following the Renaissance and became the skeptic's preferred system of belief. Identity is based, like….

Chapter 1: Ancient Civilizations

The Rise and Fall of the Sumerian City-States
The Indus Valley Civilization: Unraveling the Enigma
The Ancient Egyptian Civilization: Pyramids, Pharaonic Power, and Daily Life
The Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations: Maritime Masters of the Aegean
The Zhou Dynasty and the Birth of Chinese Civilization

Chapter 2: Classical Civilizations

The Athenian Golden Age: Democracy, Philosophy, and the Arts
The Roman Empire: Conquests, Governance, and the Pax Romana
The Mauryan Empire: From Chandragupta to Ashoka's Legacy
The Hellenistic World: A Syncretic Blend of Greek and Persian Cultures
The Han Dynasty: China's Ascendancy and Technological Innovations

Chapter 3: Medieval Civilizations

The....