Od mikrokosmosu do nowego człowieka: refleksje na podstawie traktatów De hominis dignitate (1486) oraz Heptaplus (1489) Pica della Mirandoli

Abstract

This chapter considers the idea of the new man through the prism of two texts by the Italian Neoplatonic philosopher Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494): Oration on the Dignity of Man and Heptaplus. The points of reference for the proposed analysis are two key concepts in Renaissance anthropology: the notion of man as a microcosm containing all of the elements of the universe and the great chain of life on the one hand, and on the other, the opposition between Adam and the New Man – Christ – developed in the letters of St. Paul. In his Oration, Pico moves away from traditional determinist interpretations of the topos of the minor mundus, accenting instead man’s freedom, which through contemplation and the study of philosophy, enables him rise to the level of the angels. In Heptaplus, Pico stresses that in perfecting himself man’s aim is to become like the New Adam and the perfect microcosm that is Christ.