Bruno Giordano: philosophy in the Renaissance

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Perhaps one of the most famous and brilliant thinkers of the Renaissance was Bruno Giordano, whose philosophy was distinguished by pantheism and inspired scientists of the Enlightenment to develop these non-standard ideas.

Short Biography

He was born in Italy, near Naples, in the small provincial town of Nola, for which he gave himself the nickname Nolander and sometimes signed his works with them. The childhood and early years of the future philosopher passed in a favorable environment of contemplation and study of nature.

At the age of ten, Bruno moved to Naples to live with his relatives, who maintained a boarding school, and continued his education, already relying on the knowledge of teachers. Then, having reached the age of fifteen, he becomes a novice of a Dominican monastery in the hope of further expanding the boundaries of his education. At the same time, he tried his hand at literature, writing the comedies "Lamp" and "Noah's Ark", ridiculing the mores of the modern writer of Neapolitan society.

Because of his views on Catholicism and somewhat more freedom of action than expected for a Dominican friar, Bruno was persecutedby the Inquisition and forced to withdraw from Naples. After long wanderings through the cities of Italy, he reached Geneva. But he could not find work for himself there, although he was warmly received by the Calvinists, which is why he went to Toulouse to teach philosophy and astronomy at the university. Due to his radical views on the teachings of Aristotle, criticism and open attacks on the ancient thinker, he was ostracized among his colleagues and ranked first in the rating of love among students who liked the unusual approach to learning.

In the end he has to go to Paris. There, Giordano Bruno is engaged in scientific and literary activities, which attracts the attention of King Henry III. The latter, for exceptional merits, appoints the philosopher an extraordinary professor and encourages him to continue scientific research. Despite all the cordiality shown by the monarch, the radicalism of his views and the difficult position of a heretic in the eyes of the Catholic Church force Bruno to leave France and go to England. But there he is also pursued by the Inquisition, although not to the same extent as on the mainland. In the end, he still returns to Italy, lives quietly for a while, publishing his scientific and literary works.

However, in 1600, the church "police" arrests Bruno, charges him and sentences him to be burned. The philosopher took the decision to execute stoically and was publicly executed on February 17 in the Square of Flowers in Rome.

Fundamentals of knowledge of matter and nature

Relying onpre-Socratic philosophers and Hermetists, Bruno Giordano, whose philosophy was aimed at changing the idea of a single divine principle and the structure of the cosmos, begins to form his own idea of \u200b\u200bthe structure of the world, the solar system and the place of man in it. He believed that the Sun is not the center of the Universe, as Aristotle and his scientific school put forward this idea, but a star around which the planets are located. And that there are many similar stars that have their own planetary systems and intelligent life inside them. The main idea from which the whole chain of Bruno's theses is logically traced was that the surrounding world, spirit and matter, being, the beginning of everything is not an act of divine creation, but its living embodiment, present everywhere.

From metaphysics to natural philosophy

It is impossible to understand the starting point, the beginning of all things, the reason for the formation of the Universe - Giordano Bruno argued. His philosophy not only denied the existence of God, but rather led away from his personification and identification with a specific person. Truth can be known only as a result of its stay in the surrounding world, according to the traces that it leaves in matter and spirit. Therefore, in order to know God, you need to study nature in its very essence, as far as it is feasible based on the capabilities of the human mind.

Dualism of cause or beginning

God was the beginning of everything - so claimed the philosophy of the Renaissance. Giordano Bruno corrected this thesis: the first cause and the first principle are one in the image of God, but in nature theyare different, since the first cause is pure reason, or the universal mind, which embodies its ideas in nature, and the first principle is matter, which, under the influence of the cause, takes on various forms. But at the moment of the birth of the Universe, for the very first embodied idea, the world mind took matter not from the outside, but from the inside, thus giving rise to animate matter, which is capable of taking forms on its own, without the participation of intellect.

Realizing how difficult the philosophy of nature is to perceive, Giordano Bruno briefly (or not so) outlined its essence in his work “On Cause, Origin and One”. This book impressed both the educated public, thirsty for new ideas, and the Inquisition, who saw heretical thoughts in it.

Cyclicity and completeness of nature

The philosophy of nature of Giordano Bruno in the Renaissance was distinguished by the integrity of the concept that there is a universal intelligence present in every matter, which is already determined and subjugates the transformation and movement of this matter. Therefore, everything in nature is logical and complete, everything has its own cycle of existence, after which it again turns into a single matter.

Unity of concepts

The life path of Bruno Giordano is interesting, philosophy, science and religious verbal battles determined his views on the divine principle as the unity of being and form, matter and intellect, since, according to him, they are identical to each other in God. Without this, it would be impossible to define the world as a singlea whole that obeys general laws and is a constantly changing matter.

Natural likeness

Pure reason, as Hegel would later call it, is “possessed” by the idea of creation, animated by it. And in this he is similar to the divine essence, although it is not personified, and is defined as something accessible to knowledge. Giordano Bruno, whose summary of philosophical ideas is a denial of classical religious dogmas, was the first to put forward such a thesis. For this he was condemned by scientists who adhered to the scholastic theory and did not want to think otherwise.

Permanence and variability

The contradiction with the established views of Bruno Giordano, the philosophy of nature, which he adhered to, and the very definite mood of society determined the future for these ideas. The philosopher argued that the universal mind is simultaneously one in the entire universe and different in the forms that matter takes, it is everywhere and at the same time nowhere. And, in order to comprehend this idea, it is necessary to learn to think inconsistently. Already after the death of Giordano Bruno, this philosophy will be transformed into stages of knowledge, one of which will be the search for commonality in opposites in order to achieve harmony and give birth to a new pair of opposites. And so in the recursive infinity of the study of matter.

Descent and ex altation

Nature is “simplified” to matter, and the mind “rise” to cognize it in all planes. After the dualism of all that exists is realized andaccepted by the mind as a unity and the beginning of everything, one can easily find points of unification in pairs of opposites and build a logical chain of conclusions that will lead us to the truth - Giordano Bruno argued. Philosophy has briefly described the path by which such enlightenment and understanding can be attained. But not everyone could dare to start this difficult and responsible journey.

The pantheistic philosophy of Giordano Bruno, a summary of which gave the uninitiated the opportunity to see the boundaries of the spiritual and the material, was the first step towards understanding the process of cognition. He was at the forefront of developing science that broke into the Enlightenment and prompted outstanding minds to further develop their theories. To the best of their ability, inevitably limited not only by scholasticism, which occupies a strong position, but also by the slow progress of technical progress, they were more likely to put forward conclusions based on their observations than real science. Everyone knows these names: Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus, Giordano Bruno. Philosophy briefly gives an idea of their role in the knowledge of the world and the popularization of this knowledge. Persecuted by the Inquisition, forced to hide their own works, to popularize them secretly, they passed this path with dignity, leaving a tangible mark on history.