New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-21
ITALIAN FREE THOUGHT.
THE ADOLESCENCE OF MODERN Pill
L0SOPIIY.

THE SKEPTICS OF TIE ITALIAN RENAIsS. iNCE
sSnsHsce rP Xxx Co. SsWloh o'S Macman "
European thought lay dormant in the Middle
Ages In the Renaissance, say from the prime OF
Dante on the threshold of the fourteenth century
to the death of Bruno on the eve of the seven
tenth, it terminated and projected meal
culabe distance along the lines upon which modern
culture is still seeking answers to the problems OF
philosophy An estimate of the value of the
Renaissance is useless which does not distinguish
what was local and related to the time alone from
that which endurcs in the texture Of the present
century by virtue of vitality which is essentially
a universal possession 1t is necessary TO care
fully draw distinction between the positive and
the relative value of work like the Morgnntc
Maggiorc' for example. For what are we in
debted to Puci? For fine and precious work
OF art for rivulet Of energy losing itself in
the great stream that among the heights Of
the Divina Commedia' and flowed in ever
creasing volume across the European plain until
its flood beat down the bulwarks Of the papacy
and bore the Reformation TO firm ground? The
answer to this appears simple enough until
perceive the difficulty Of identifying the nature
Of Pulcs genius, until recollrct that criticism
Of any product of the Renaissance implies crii-
cism OF the force underlying it. and that il is in
the presence of this force that historians most
mystfed. The late John Arlington Symonds ad-
mitted in an essay recently published that after
thirty years Of searching he found himself no
nearer to a satisfactory explanation Of the causes
Of the Renaissance than az the earliest stage OF
his Investigations The most do with
those causes is to approach them through ANALYSIS
of the men Of the great era of expansion. and by
orr lyino NJ Il al.
this way draw some approximate conclusions Mr.
Owens volume is interesting because It dscngagcs
some of the representative figures Of the Renais-
sancc, and in the course o: n wide and acute sur
vey Of their works stimulates thought on the
period Of fc .nentation ont of which they arose
Dante, with whom Mr.. Owen begins his in
qAry is not. of course. ~ bc described as rising
from the Renaissance movement But he pro
figures and is linked to the Renaissance in wlvs
that set his profound mcdiaevalism at nought IL
him. beneath tn, theology OF his time there
thr0bs the mysterious impulse the elusive energy
which was to prove the vital spark in the TO-
vival Of learning that Pctrarch inausurated with
such power. Pe.rarch was properly the founder
of humanism. To him was due the return 10
classical literature and through this return tho
renewal Of PAGAN sympathics and the stimulation
Of free thought Yet what constitutes Dante \
poet Of the Renaissance is that in his way he
is a greater humanst than Pctrarch. He be- !
queathcd TO the fourteenth century q work OF
which the insight. the passion and the intensity
of feeling for human interests arc removed by an |
unreasonable distance from the highest peal;
which Petrarch ever scaled. Tie wrote. too in
Italian; and although the culture which mme-
diately followed him was far more interested |
in its LatiEity than in its vernacular his use |
of the vulgar tongue" was il the end OF i'm |
mense benefit TO the peninsula. Free thought is |
the theme OF Mr.. Owens hook More so than sccp |
tcism, should say, in spite OF The ttlr for the
suspension Of Judgment characteristic of the true
sceptic is hardly characteristic Of the men whose
works lie traverses after leaving Dante-Petrarch.
Boccaccio Puci. Machiaveli. Guicciardini. Pom
ponazzi. Bruno and Vanin Not ore Of these but
was a loyal servitor OF the reason a. opposed 70 |
the inf1cxbfies Of dogma A. the same time not |
one of them but was deeply convinced of the
logic of his reaction they were all reactionarcs)
and thoroughly persuaded OF the virtue of his reac
soning Petrarch could go 10 ridiculous lengths |
IN his refusal to accept the dinta Of the lawyers |
and thr medical men, lie did not suspend judg-
ment upon jurisprudence. lie condemned it out |
right, and would have consigned Justinian to the
bottonllcss pit while he elevated Cicero TO a |
celestial throne.
The prccarions balance OF the free-thnkcrs OF
the r Nuisance is partially explained by their
adolescence. partially by their unfamiliarlty with
ratiocinativc methods Of thought De Quir ,ey |
has phrase which may bc made to bear upon
their condition. No man lie great thinker,
he says. who is not great student Ierarch
Boccaccio, Pomponazzi and Bruno students
Of enormous industry, but the crudtion OF the
Renaissance needed 10 be more catholic than II |
was and TO be diccstcd before it could I've pro-
dfctivr OF perfectly sound reults. Oi Mr.. Owen'r
frcc-thinkery only one, Machavclli, was possessed
Of constructive genius. OF Bruno our author is
co,npelctl TO say that the truth he
finally obtains by ht dealism is so far impe feet
and indemonstrable that his highest knowledge
consists in q direction rather than goal an
effort than achievement. a perpetual struggle
than definite crownng victory" This absence
Of symmetrical and scientifically deduc~d philo-
sophical formulate is one OF the mcst salient ple-
nsmena Of the Renaissance. It Is perhaps. due