Oration on the Dignity of Man

...schools, the light of truth might shine more clearly, which Plato calls in his Letters the rising sun of our soul. original: "Epistulae". Pico refers to the Platonic idea that truth is like a light that suddenly illuminates the mind after long study. How can one speak only of the philosophy of the many Latins—that is, Albert, Thomas, Scotus, Giles, Francis, and Henry—while omitting the Greek and Arabic philosophers? Pico lists the giants of Scholasticism: Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Giles of Rome, Francis de Meyronnes, and Henry of Ghent. For all wisdom spread from the "barbarians" to the Greeks, and from the Greeks to us. In the Renaissance context, "barbarians" refers to non-Greek ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Persians, and Hebrews, who were thought to possess original divine wisdom. Indeed, some of our own philosophers suggest it is enough to be satisfied with the discoveries of others and merely perfect what they have already achieved. How can one discuss nature with the Peripatetics without also turning to the Academy of the Platonists? Peripatetics: The followers of Aristotle, so named because Aristotle walked about (peripateō) while teaching. The Platonists' doctrine of the divine has been the purest and highest among all philosophical teachings, as Augustine testifies; and only now, as far as I know (forgive my boldness), is it being brought into public debate for the first time in many centuries.

Why must we subject the opinions of others to discussion if we come to this symposium of scholars empty-handed, offering nothing of our own—nothing produced by our own intellect? For it is unworthy, as Seneca says, to know only through commentaries, as if the discoveries of others had placed a barrier before our own creativity, or as if the natural power of the mind within us had dried up so much that it could not produce its own proofs—if not of the truth itself, then at least a distant reminder of it. original: "Non est sapiens qui nihil invenit" (He is not wise who discovers nothing). Pico echoes Seneca's sentiment that one should be a creator of thought, not just a consumer. For if a farmer hates a barren field, and a husband a barren wife, then surely the divine mind will hate the barren soul all the more, given the noble offspring it might have expected from a union with it. Therefore, not content with the fact that, in addition to the major doctrines, I have drawn much from the ancient theology of Hermes Trismegistus and the Chaldean mysteries, I have also proposed for this debate on nature and God many things discovered and reflected upon by myself. Hermes Trismegistus was the legendary author of the Hermetic corpus; the "Chaldean mysteries" refers to the Chaldean Oracles, a 2nd-century text of mystical philosophy.

First, I present the idea of the reconciliation of Aristotle and Plato, which many have considered but no one has sufficiently proven. Among the Romans, Boethius intended to do this but never fulfilled his plan. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 480–524), a philosopher who aimed to translate all of Plato and Aristotle into Latin to show their underlying agreement. Simplicius among the Greeks claimed the same; but alas, if only he had actually done what he promised! Augustine wrote in Against the Academics that there were many attempts to prove, through profound reasoning, the identity of the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. John the Grammarian said that Plato differs from Aristotle only in the opinion of those who do not understand what Plato said, yet he left the task of proving this to posterity. John the Grammarian, also known as John Philoponus, was a 6th-century Christian commentator on Aristotle. Furthermore, I am deeply convinced that many positions held by Scotus and Thomas are also quite consistent with the assertions of Averroes and Avicenna, even though their teachings are often seen as contradictory. Averroes (Ibn Rushd) and Avicenna (Ibn Sina) were the two most influential Islamic philosophers in the Latin West.

Second, what we have extracted for ourselves from this Aristotelian-Platonic philosophy, we have set forth in seventy-two new theses on physics and metaphysics. I assure you that if anyone can resolve the questions I have proposed regarding nature and God—and this, it seems, will soon become clear—they will do so only by means of a more perfect method, very different from the one we were taught in the schools and which the scholars of our time use to decorate their philosophy. And let no one be surprised, distinguished...