In “Oration on the Dignity of Man,” Pico Della Mirandola revealed his understanding of human freedom, the realization of which, according to the philosopher, is possible in three ways. Freedom is revealed in the course of a person’s search for their place in the world, the formation of individuality, and the creation of oneself, as well as at the moment when a person is faced with a moral choice. Initially, plant, sensual, rational, and intellectual seeds were embedded in a person, as a result of which the appearance of a person assumed variability and character impermanence. In this case, this is reflected in the following line: “Let us be driven, Further, let us be driven by the frenzies of Socrates, that they may so throw us into ecstasy as to put our mind and ourselves in God” (Cassirer 234:16). The doors are open to people: to come to natural happiness or supreme bliss depends only on their choice. Receiving the free choice given by God, a person should not be content with the ordinary. Their ideal is striving for the highest divinity, the perfect world.
A person can develop and plunge into the depths of their minds to reach the state of pure contemplation, showing signs of elevation. Thus, Pico Della Mirandola justified a person’s social right to be active, take the initiative, and determine their place in society. This can be seen in the following words: “Who would not wish to be so inflamed with those Socratic frenzies sung by Plato in the Phaedrus, that, by the oarage of feet and wings escaping rapidly from hence, that is, from a world set on evil, he might be borne on the fastest of courses to the heavenly Jerusalem” (Cassirer 234:16). Undoubtedly, anthropocentrism can be considered a vital constant of the philosopher’s worldview, which sets the matrix of reflections on humans and the world around them.
Work Cited
Cassirer, Ernst, et al. The Renaissance Philosophy of Man: Petrarca, Valla, Ficino, Pico, Pomponazzi, Vives. University of Chicago Press, 1956.