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Social Sciences - Science (general) | | German term or phrase: freie Wissenschaft | From a scholarly essay on the philosopher Pico della Mirandola. I'm gathering this means that he studied various subjects without being tied to anything in particular - or is there another, more precise connotation? This is in the 15th century, by the way.
Sein Neffe Gianfrancesco berichtet in der Biographie seines Onkels, dass dieser mit 14 Jahren zum Jurastudium nach Bologna geschickt worden sei, dass er dieses Studium aber nach zwei Jahren abgebrochen habe und dann sieben Jahre – die Zahl ist sicher topisch – wie Plato und Apollonius mit *freier Wissenschaft* an französischen und italienischen Universitäten zugebracht habe. |
| millKudoZ activityQuestions: 116 (none open) ( 5 closed without grading) Answers: 124
| Local time: 18:45
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| | English translation:artes liberales/liberal arts | Explanation:
I suspect that the term 'freie Wissenschaften' actually refers to the seven 'liberal arts' (artes liberales - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artes_liberales). Arts doesn't mean arts in the modern sense, but it was a way to study all areas of general knowledge and to develop your intellect and rational thinking. In the Middle Ages, most scholars studied the 'artes liberales', and so did Pico - with a strong focus on philosophy and languages.
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Note added at 5 Stunden (2010-05-26 02:43:57 GMT)
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In answer to Johanna's comment, Pico della Mirandola himself referred to 'artes liberales' - and not humanities - in his Oration on the Dignity of Man. Pico della Mirandola lived at a time where the Renaissance just started - in fact he contributed massively to the new concepts, but it is still very much a transition phase from the Middle Ages.
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Note added at 5 Stunden (2010-05-26 02:51:49 GMT)
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For further reference see also the "Theologische Realenzyklopädie", Volume 26, which states that Pico della Mirandola stopped studying law and studied the liberal arts instead. There is a version available on Google Books, just type in 'Pico della Mirandola' and 'artes liberales' and you should find it. |
| Selected response from:
  Daniela Gieseler-Higgs
| Grading comment You convinced me! Thanks very much.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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Automatic update in 00:
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1 hr confidence:   studia humanitatis / humanities
Explanation:
"Giovanni war ein Sohn des Grafen Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. Nach dem Tod seines Vaters (1467) wurde er von seiner Mutter erzogen und auf eine kirchliche Laufbahn vorbereitet. Schon im Alter von 14 Jahren beschäftigte er sich mit Philosophie und den klassischen Sprachen. 1477 begann er ein juristisches Studium (Kirchenrecht) in Bologna, das er aber abbrach. Nach dem Tod seiner Mutter (1478) wechselte er 1479 nach Ferrara, wo er sich den studia humanitatis zuwandte, und 1480 nach Padua zum Studium der Philosophie."
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Pico_della_Mirandola
[The humanities include languages, literature, music, philosophy, history, media, the classics, religion, and the visual and performing arts. Additional subjects sometimes included in the humanities are anthropology, area studies, communications and cultural studies, although these are often regarded as social sciences.]
“Ficino's student Giovanni Pico della Mirandola also based his ideas chiefly on Plato, but Pico retained a deep respect for Aristotle. Although he was a product of the studia humanitatis, Pico was constitutionally an eclectic, and in some respects he represented a reaction against the exaggerations of pure humanism, defending what he believed to be the best of the medieval and Islamic commentators (see Averroes, Avicenna) on Aristotle in a famous long letter to Ermolao Barbaro in 1485.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonism_in_the_Renaissance
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3 hrs confidence:
3 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +4 artes liberales/liberal arts
Explanation:
I suspect that the term 'freie Wissenschaften' actually refers to the seven 'liberal arts' (artes liberales - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artes_liberales). Arts doesn't mean arts in the modern sense, but it was a way to study all areas of general knowledge and to develop your intellect and rational thinking. In the Middle Ages, most scholars studied the 'artes liberales', and so did Pico - with a strong focus on philosophy and languages.
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Note added at 5 Stunden (2010-05-26 02:43:57 GMT)
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In answer to Johanna's comment, Pico della Mirandola himself referred to 'artes liberales' - and not humanities - in his Oration on the Dignity of Man. Pico della Mirandola lived at a time where the Renaissance just started - in fact he contributed massively to the new concepts, but it is still very much a transition phase from the Middle Ages.
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Note added at 5 Stunden (2010-05-26 02:51:49 GMT)
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For further reference see also the "Theologische Realenzyklopädie", Volume 26, which states that Pico della Mirandola stopped studying law and studied the liberal arts instead. There is a version available on Google Books, just type in 'Pico della Mirandola' and 'artes liberales' and you should find it.
| | | Grading comment | You convinced me! Thanks very much. |
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The translation workplace 
