Focus Question #2 How Did Humanism Affect the Renaissance Worldview? Social Studies 8 Chapter 2

Humanism and Worldview Islamic cultures, and some Jewish scholars idolized much of Greek and Roman classical writing. In the beginning of the Renaissance, European scholars became more aware of these writings. The view of the classical writing was very different than they were used to. Classical writing emphasized life on Earth having value. Before embracing the classical view, Europeans followed the teachings of the Church in that preparing for the afterlife was more important than worrying about the daily life in this world. The classical writing showed them that humans have the potential to do great things and to not be limited by their “roles.”

Humanism and Worldview Humanism became the foundation of philosophy. Humanism is all about the human being. It focuses on the values, abilities and individual worth of everyone. It most importantly states that human society is valuable and can be improved upon

Humanism and Worldview People continued to believe in the teachings of the Church, and about God. Only now, they believed their life on Earth was valuable and enjoyed. People began to see the possibilities of what they could achieve in life. Humanism led to new attitudes towards art, philosophy and government.

Humanism and Worldview An important part of being a humanist was to learn about the ancient languages (Greek, Latin and Hebrew) People wanted to find out the truth from ancient text, and not just take others words for it.

How did humanism affect the Renaissance worldview? Review What You Know! How well could you respond to Focus Question #2? How did humanism affect the Renaissance worldview?