Bruno Giordano: Philosophy in the Renaissance

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

Brief biography

He was born in Italy, near Naples, in a smallthe provincial town of Nola, for which he gave himself the nickname of the Nolan and sometimes signed them his works. Childhood and the young years of the future philosopher passed in a favorable atmosphere of contemplation and study of nature.

In ten years, Bruno moved to Naples to hisrelatives who maintained a boarding school, and continues their education, already relying on the knowledge of teachers. Then, reaching the age of fifteen, becomes a novice of the Dominican monastery in the hope of expanding the boundaries of his education. At the same time, he tries himself in literature, writing the comedy "The Lamp" and "Noah's Ark", deriding the mores of the contemporary writer of Neapolitan society.

Because of their views on Catholicism and a fewgreater freedom of action than was for the Dominican monk, Bruno was persecuted by the Inquisition and forced to leave Naples. After long wanderings through the cities of Italy, he reached Geneva. But I could not find work there, although I was warmly welcomed by Calvinists, why I went to Toulouse for teaching philosophy and astronomy at the university. Because of his radical views on Aristotle's doctrine, criticism and open attacks on the ancient thinker was betrayed by ostracism among his colleagues and held leading positions in the love rating of 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 activity, which attracts the attention of King Henry III. The latter, for exceptional merits, appoints the philosopher as an extraordinary professor and encourages him to continue his scientific research. Despite all the hospitality rendered by the monarch, the radical views and the difficult position of the heretic in the eyes of the Catholic Church compel Bruno to leave France and go to England. But the Inquisition also persecutes him there, although not to the extent that it is on the mainland. Eventually, he nevertheless 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 sentenced him to a burning. The philosopher took the decision to execute stoically and on 17 February was publicly executed on the Square of Flowers in Rome.

Fundamentals of the knowledge of matter and nature

Relying on the pre-Socratic philosophers andhermeticists, Bruno Giordano, whose philosophy was aimed at changing the notion of a single divine beginning and the structure of the cosmos, begins to form its own idea of ​​the 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 advanced this idea, but the star around which the planets are located. And that there are many similar stars, having their own planetary systems and intelligent life inside them. The main idea from which the entire chain of Bruno's theses can be logically traced was that the world around him, spirit and matter, being, the beginning of everything is not an act of divine creation, but a living embodiment of it, present everywhere.

From metaphysics to natural philosophy

The starting point, the beginning of everything, the causethe formation of the universe is impossible to understand - argued Giordano Bruno. His philosophy not only denied the existence of God, it rather led away from its personification and identification with a specific person. Truth can be known only by the consequence of its presence in the surrounding world, by the traces that it leaves in matter and spirit. Therefore, in order to know God, it is necessary to study nature in its very essence, as far as it is possible proceeding from the possibilities of the human mind.

Cause or reason dualism

God was the beginning of everything, as philosophy claimedRenaissance. Giordano Bruno made an amendment to this thesis: the original cause and the primordia are one in the image of God, but in nature they are different, since the primary reason is pure intelligence, or the universal mind that embodies in nature its ideas, and the initial is matter which under the influence of the cause takes various forms. But at the time of the birth of the universe for the very first incarnate idea, the world mind took matter not from outside but from within, thus creating an animated matter that is capable of taking forms in itself, without the participation of the intellect.

Understanding how difficult it is to perceivethe philosophy of nature, Giordano Bruno briefly (or not so) expounded its essence in his work "On the cause, the beginning and the one." This book impressed both the educated public, thirsting for new ideas, and the Inquisition, which saw heretical thoughts.

Cyclicity and completeness of nature

The philosophy of nature Giordano Bruno in the eraThe renaissance was marked by the integrity of the concept that there is a universal intellect present in every matter that is already deterministic and subordinates to itself the transfiguration and movement of this matter. Therefore, in nature everything 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 of Bruno Giordano is interesting,philosophy, science and religious verbal battles determined his views on the divine principle as a unity of being and form, matter and intellect, since, according to him, they are identical with each other in God. Without this, it would be impossible to define the world as a single whole, subject to general laws and constituting constantly changing matter.

Natural similarity

The pure mind, as Hegel later called it,"Obsessed" with the idea of ​​creation, animated by it. And in this he is similar to the divine essence, though it is not personified, and is defined as something accessible to knowledge. Giordano Bruno, whose brief content of philosophical ideas is a denial of classical religious dogma, was the first to put forward such a thesis. For this was condemned by scholars who adhered to the scholastic theory and did not want to think otherwise.

Constancy and variability

Contradiction with the settled views of BrunoGiordano, the philosophy of nature 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 whole universe and is different in the forms that matter accepts, it is everywhere and at the same time nowhere. And, in order to comprehend this idea, one must learn to think contradictorily. Already after the death of Giordano Bruno, this philosophy will be transformed into a stage of cognition, one of which will be the search for the common in opposites to achieve harmony and the birth of a new pair of opposites. And so in the recursive infinity of the study of matter.

Delusion and exaltation

Nature "simplifies" to matter, and reason"Rises" to know it in all planes. After the dualism of all that exists is realized and accepted by the mind as the unity and the beginning of everything, it is easy to find the points of union in pairs of opposites and build a logical chain of conclusions that will lead us to the truth, Giordano Bruno asserted. Philosophy briefly described the path by which such enlightenment and understanding can be achieved. But far from everyone could venture to begin this difficult and responsible journey.

Giordano Bruno's pantheistic philosophy, shortthe content of which gave the uninitiated the opportunity to see the boundaries of the spiritual and material, was the first step towards understanding the process of knowledge. He was at the forefront of developing science, which broke into the Enlightenment and prompted outstanding minds to further develop their theories. To the best of their abilities, inevitably limited not only by the scholasticism that occupies a strong position, but also by the slow advancement of technical progress, they were engaged rather in putting forward conclusions on the basis of their observations than in 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. The inquisitions undergoing persecution, forced to conceal their own works, popularize them secretly, they worthily went this way, leaving a tangible mark on history.