Sophie's PPT ch.16-17

7/31/2019 Sophie's PPT ch.16-17

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/sophies-ppt-ch16-17 1/40

Ch. 16: “The Renaissance”

7/31/2019 Sophie's PPT ch.16-17


Check-in on the Plot

•

"I've begun to wonder whether Hildecan see everything we do" (189).

• Sophie sees Hilde wink with both

eyes in the mirror

vivid dream thatshe sits next to Hilde, but Hildedoesn't notice her Hilde's fatherlooks very much like Alberto Knox

brings gold crucifix back with herfrom dream (190-91)

• "It was called New Square, although

it all looked very old." Renaissance

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Check-in on the Plot (cont’d)

•

Sophie troubled by postcard fromHilde's father that she finds in arandom location Alberto: "Iwouldn't be surprised if he isn't usingus as a kind of birthday diversion forhis daughter" (193-94)

• Alberto's apartment is filled with

objects spanning centuries (195).

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•

Alberto Knox calls Sophie "Hilde"twice: "You'll notice that Hilde'sfather has begun to put words in ourmouths" (214).

• Sophie is troubled by this and thefact that she finds the exact amountof money needed for the bus

immediately after she realizes sheneeds it she questions whetherHilde's father placed it there for her

(215).

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•

“‘Life is both sad and solemn. We arelet into a wonderful world, we meetone another here, greet each other--and wander together for a brief moment. Then we lose each otherand disappear as suddenly andunreasonably as we arrived’” (196)

Baroque idea• "If I am right, he knows practically

everything... We are living under

what is possibly the world's closest

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Science and Philosophy vs.Religion

•

Renaissance = rebirth of art, cultureand humanism of antiquity

• Philosophy and science break away

from religion during the Renaissance.• Understanding God through reason is

seen as impossible.

•

New scientific method vs. newreligious fervour (Reformation) (197)

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Shifts Leading to theRenaissance

•

3 fundamental inventions leading toRenaissance: 1) Compass (easiernavigation, discoveries); 2) Firearms(European military superiority); 3)Printing press (spread of newhumanist ideas, so Church was nolonger the "sole disseminator of

knowledge" that emphasized man'ssinful nature) (198-99).

• Transition from a feudal subsistence

economy to a bourgeois monetary

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http://nickell8humanites.wikispaces.com/file/view/bigstockphoto_Old_Compass_4745460.jpg/130660433/bigstockphoto_Old_Compass_4745460.jpg

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Renaissance Humanism

•

Renaissance humanism ischaracterized by individualism,worshipping genius and exceedingboundaries, whereas the Ancientsvalued humanistic restraint andmoderation.

• Unrivalled developments in all

spheres: art, architecture, literature,music, philosophy and science

• Man's purpose is no longer solely to

live for what lies beyond; world seen

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Anti-Humanism

•

Powerful anti-humanist forces existedwithin the Church as well: "Good andevil are twin threads that run throughthe history of mankind. And oftenthey intertwine" (202).

i ifi i i l

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New Scientific/EmpiricalMethod

•

Emphasis is placed on systematicobservation, experience andexperimentation in order todetermine the validity of an idea(202).

• Precise mathematical terms arenecessary Galileo: "Measure what

can be measured, and makemeasurable what cannot bemeasured.”

S i ifi i i l

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New Scientific/EmpiricalMethod

•

New scientific method led to thetechnical revolution, resulting ininventions since then and man'sinterventions to control nature: "Eversince the Renaissance, mankind hasbeen more than just part of creation.Man has begun to intervene in nature

and form it after his own image"(203-04). Merits and dangers of this intervention?

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The Heliocentric Worldview

•

Prior to the Renaissance, there wasno doubt that the Earth was at thecentre of the universe (i.e. geocentricworld view).

• As a result of his observations of heavenly bodies, Copernicus concluded that Earth, as well as

other heavenly bodies, revolvearound the sun rather than vice-versa.

• Kepler: Earth is just a planet that

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Galileo Galilei

•

Law of Inertia: "A body remains inthe state which it is in, at rest or inmotion, as long as no external forcecompels it to change its state" (205-06). "Of all the scientificdiscoveries in the history of mankind,this is positively the most important"

(208). Why?

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Isaac Newton

•

Law of Universal Gravitation: "everyobject attracts every other objectwith a force that increases inproportion to the size of the objectsand decreases in proportion to thedistance between the objects." (ex.gravitational forces of attraction and

repulsion between the moon and theEarth); "a few natural laws apply tothe whole universe" (209-10).

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Consequences of Heliocentrism

• "people just had to accept that theywere living on a random planetsomewhere in space?" like with

Darwin's theory of evolution,humanity "lost some of its specialstatus in creation. And in both cases

the Church put up a massiveresistance" (211) Does theheliocentric worldview underminefaith in humanity’s importance or

faith in God?

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New View of Religion

• Man is more central than beforeheliocentrism, according to some, aseach one of us can be the centre of

our own universe if the Earth is not.• Religious piety develops where the

individual’s personal relationship

with God is what becomes important(212).

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The Reformation

• Translation of Bible into nationallanguages from Latin and Greek,thereby eliminating priests as

middle-men/interpreters of God'smessage

• Each person could interpret the

Bible's message in his/her own wayto receive God's forgiveness Martin Luther questioned theChurch's authority by encouraging

eo le to do this 213 .

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Martin Luther

• Luther believed that forgiveness isnot achieved through church rituals(i.e. indulgences), but through faith

alone (213).• Luther was a humanist in

encouraging an individual

relationship with God and thelanguage of the people above Latin,but he was also anti-humanist in thathe believed firmly in humanity'sneed to redeem itself b the race of

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Ch. 17: “The Baroque”

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Check-in on the Plot

•

Sophie hears of a Norwegian majorbeing killed in Lebanon and worriesthat it might be Hilde's father hermother becomes suspicious and

demands answers as to why she's sodistraught (216-217).

• Sophie finally tells her mother the

truth about Alberto Knox and herphilosophy course (218-219) Sophie's mother wants to invite

Alberto to the birthday party to meet

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•

The philosophy course is helpingSophie get better marks at school.

• Postcard from Hilde's father falls outof her exercise book (220-21).

• She questions what differentiateshumans from dogs.

•

She finds another postcard in themiddle of the road, exactly whereshe had found the 10 crowns (223).

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•

"Can't you see how he has theeffrontery to compare his ownshabby surveillance of us with God'sprovidence?" (225)

• Alberto has 1st edition of Descartes'essays and lenses polished bySpinoza 2 philosophers living

during the Baroque period and thesubjects of the next 2 chapters(which are the last 2 that we will be

reading!!) (225)

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7/31/2019 Sophie's PPT ch.16-17


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zYOKFjpm9s

“Do You Realize?” by TheFlaming Lips

Do You Realize - that you

have the most beautifulfaceDo You Realize - we'refloating in space -Do You Realize - thathappiness makes you cry

Do You Realize - thateveryone you knowsomeday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them

know You realize that life goesfastIt's hard to make the goodthings last

You realize the sun doesn't

go downIt's ust an illusion caused

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh -OhDo You Realize - thateveryone you knowSomeday will die -

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let themknow

You realize that life goesfastIt's hard to make the goodthings last

You realize the sun doesn'tgo downIt's just an illusion caused

by the world spinninground

Do You Realize - that youhave the most beautifulface

Do You Realize

Meaning and Origins of

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Meaning and Origins of “Baroque”

•

"Baroque": originally an adjectiveused to describe a pearl of irregularshape, it came to signify theirregularities and tensions existing

during the 17th century.

• The Baroque period wascharacterized by vanity, affectation,

superficiality, pomp, and that whichis brief/ephemeral due to a keenawareness of mortality (226).

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Conflict and Class

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Conflict and ClassDisparities

•

An age of conflict, intrigue andreligious wars between Catholics andProtestants parallel to war inLebanon/Middle East

• France became the dominant powerin Europe, but with great classdifferences typified by the

ostentation of Versailles vs. thepoverty of many French citizens.

• Elaborate and ostentatious art and

architecture (226-27)

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http://var/www/apps/conversion/current/tmp/scratch2767///upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Francois_Dubois_001.jpg

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The Age of Theatre

•

Birth of modern theatre, where theemphasis is put on the play as anillusion to reflect life's dreamlike,illusory nature life, like theatre, is

an illusion

• Shakespeare asRenaissance/Baroque author,

expressing parallels between theatreand life in As You Like It , Macbeth,Hamlet , A Midsummer Night's

Dream, The Tempest , etc. (228)

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The Absurdity of Life

•

Reflections on the absurdity of life asthe natural progression from theRenaissance's paradigm shift to aheliocentric world view Baroque

literature characterized by diametricoppositions: ex. here and now vs.celestial and hereafter (229)

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Idealism vs. Materialism

•

Diametric oppositions in philosophyas well:

-Idealism (belief in creation asfundamentally spiritual) vs.

-Materialism of Newton and Hobbes(belief in creation as fundamentallymaterial/concrete/mechanistic),leading to the mechanistic worldview that nature, including humanity,functions essentially like a machine

(230)

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The Mechanistic World View

•

The mechanistic world view leads todeterminism: everything in naturecan be predetermined and we haveno free will, including thoughts,

which Laplace views as material inrelation to the brain

• Other philosophers, like Leibniz,

disagree in saying that the soul andthoughts cannot be seen, grasped orsubdivided (231).

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Sophie's PPT ch.16-17