James continues his study of the Renaissance with a lesson on Humanism and as always his speech therapist draws from wonderful material that gets him thinking and writing on his letter board. She did an overview of the basics of Humanism and then asked him to discuss it with her as well as write a manifesto or a written declaration of intentions about something he would want the world to know.
HUMANISM
RENAISSANCE RELIGION
Humanism refers to any philosophical, moral, political, artistic or scientific system with a human, not religious, frame of reference. In humanism, some believe that the ideals of human existence can be fulfilled without regard to religion. The Humanist Manifesto took the position that the universe was “self-created;” that mankind was a part of nature. A manifesto is a written or verbal declaration of intentions, motives or views of the author.
- Name two systems that humanism refers to. PHILOSOPHY….ART
- What is a manifesto? DOCUMENT STATING IDEAS AND BELIEFS
- Why would a manifesto be helpful to talk about a controversial topic? OUR HEADS NEED TO WRAP AROUND NEW IDEAS TO TALK ABOUT THEM
Renaissance humanism refers to a revival of classical literature and philosophy that began at the end of the Middle Ages, or middle of the 14th century. Renaissance humanism features several important intellectual figures, including Nicolaus Copernicus and Leonardo daVinci. Nicolaus Copernicus was a mathematician, economist and astronomer who declared that the earth orbited around the sun. Though Copernicus wrote “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Sphere” several decades earlier, it was not published until his death in 1543 as his theory was in direct conflict with teachings of the Catholic Church. Leonardo daVinci worked as an artist, musician, architect, inventor, engineer, anatomist and geometer. In his drawing Vitruvian Man, daVinci superimposed two views of a nude man in a circle to illustrate mathematical proportions of the human body as described by Roman architect Vitruvius. Vitruvian Man was said to reconcile the main two parts of our being; the physical and the intellectual.
- Tell me something you learned about Copernicus. SOLVING RIDICULOUS NOTION THAT THE SUN REVOLVES AROUND THE EARTH
- What was one of Leonardo daVinci’s occupations? ARTIST
- What was one of daVinci’s contributions to humanism? HIS VITRUVIAN MAN
- What was significant about Vitruvian Man? DEPICTED BODY AND MIND
- I showed James the image of Vitruvian Man and asked what stood out to him. THE SYMMETRY
The difference between humanist and religious theories are their understanding of what constitutes truth. The humanist regards truth as something constantly evolving. Religious theory identifies a static, unchanging revelation from God as truth. A humanist is generally skeptical and open minded. Religious theorists are often unwavering and live according to theological dogma. Dogma is a principle or set of principles provided by any authority as incontrovertibly true.
What is a difference between humanism and religious theory? HUMANISTS BELIEVE THAT THE WORLD CAN BE EXPLAINED BY SCIENCE. RELIGIOUS THINKERS BELIEVE THAT GOD IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS. What is your position? I THINK THERE IS ROOM FOR GOD AND SCIENCE.
Creative Writing: The basic difference between humanism and religious theories is weather something can change or evolve over time. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue to prove that the world was not flat. In 1543, Copernicus declared that the earth revolved around the sun; the planets did not revolve around our round world. Each declaration required education, hypotheses, experiment and declaration to be introduced to an apprehensive audience.
- Define a topic that you know a lot about.
- Do you have a hypothesis or “new take” on that topic?
- Given the chance, how would you research or experiment to determine if your hypothesis is correct?
- In the event that your experiment yields proof of a breakthrough or new perspective, can you think of an audience that would be apprehensive about your findings?
I KNOW A LOT ABOUT AUTISM AND BEING UNABLE TO TALK. I HAVE A HYPOTHESIS THAT PEOPLE WITH NONVERBAL AUTISM ARE JUST AS SMART AS PEOPLE WHO DON’T HAVE AUTISM. I WOULD PROVE THIS BY TEACHING ALL NONVERBAL PEOPLE TO USE THE LETTER BOARD TO COMMUNICATE. I BELIEVE THIS WOULD SHOW THE WORLD THAT JUST BECAUSE ONE DOES NOT TALK DOES NOT MEAN ONE IS NOT SMART. I WOULD ASK LOTS OF REALLY HARD QUESTIONS TO THE NONVERBAL PEOPLE SO THAT PEOPLE COULD REALLY SEE HOW SMAET THE NONVERBAL PEOPLE ARE.
THE AUDIENCE THAT WOULD BE THE MOST SKEPTICAL WOULD BE THE SO CALLED EXPERTS IN AUTISM. IT WOULD DELIGHT ME TO NO END TO SHOW THE AUTISM EXPERTS HOW WRONG THEY HAVE BEEN ABOUT US. THE END
Now, based upon your findings, formulate a manifesto with a title.
POWER TO THE NONVERBAL PEOPLE
DEMAND THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD
LETTERBOARDS FOR EVERY NONVERBAL PERSON
WE HAVE A RIGHT TO LEARN
Returning James 