History Presentation: The Characteristics of Humanism and how it was different from Medieval Scholasticism

Hello. My name is Jisue Kang I am in class 22, and my topic was to tell you avout the characteristics of humanism and telling how it was different from medieal scholasticism. I will explain this in 3 main parts. First, I will explain what Humanism is and what characteristics there are. Second I will tell you what kinds of Humanism there is, and finally to conclude, I will compare Humanism and Scholasticism.

Humanism is a term applied to the social philosophy and literary culture of the Western world from approximately 1400~1650, particularly in Italy where the Renaissance began. It also says that Humanism is an approach in study, philosopy, or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. The term can mean several things such as a historical movement (like the Rennaisance). So humanism in simple words is a movement in the 1400's~1650's which basically saw artists and writers look back to the work of the "classics" and they were influenced by ancient Greek classical artists and philosophers. On e of the reasons in which way that happened is because religion became more secular.

There are also many kinds of Humanism. For instance, Renaissance Humanism, a movement starting at the end of the Middle Ages which renewed and interst in classical studies and promote the concept that truth could be discovered by human effort. Plus, Cultural Humanism, a concept that knowledge can be obtained through rational thought and experimentation. It has its roots in ancient Greece and Rome. Secular Humanism is a non-religiously based philosopy promothin humanity as the measure of all things. It had it's roots in the rationalism of the 18th centrury and the thought movement of the 19th century.

Scholsticism comes from the Latin word scholasticus which means "that (which) belongs to the school", and is the school of philsophy taught by the academics of medieval universitios circa 1100~1500. Scholasticism attempted to reconcile the philosopy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology. Scholasticism is not a philosophy or a set of beliefs, but a technique or a method of learning, which puts emphasis on dialectical reasoning.

The primary purpose of scholasticism was to find the answer to a question or resolve a contradiction. It is most well known in its application in medieval theology but was applied to classical philosophy and other fields of study. It is not a philosophy on its own, but a tool and method for learning.

Scholasticism dealt with recent tradition. However, Humanism did not focus all their attention on summarizing and comparing the views of recognized authorities on a text or question, but went directly to the sources themselves. Their most respected sources were classics and the Bible, whereas scholastic rivals were more bound to medieval philosopher and theoliogions.

There seems to be a distinct defference between Humanism and Scholasticism in the Middle Ages. One one side is faith; the other side is reason. Humanism brought in the subjective elements of faith, trust and consience while scholasticism emphasized reason. Thank you.