Are human beings just a small world within a hierarchy, or are they individuals who were created to be great, intelligent, and one with God? A hierarchy is the process of classifying individuals and/or objects above and below each other, according to their superiority to one another. A continuum is a comparison of similar beings that are different by degree and compared based on their quantitative difference. The Great Chain of Being, which consists of having both a hierarchy and continuum, would suggest that human beings are just a part of a hierarchy, where they are inferior to those who are higher up, which would make those superior to humans. Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, the author of, “The Dignity of Man”, suggests that God, who is all-powerful
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Within the Great Chain of Being, the place of the human being is below God, therefore meaning that they are inferior to Him. However, in Mirandola’s interpretation, human beings are boundless and noble, because they were created by God. Mirandola suggests that when Go created humankind, He granted them with the seeds that they would need to grow to attain all aspects of life. That, any seed each human being nurtures and supports will grow inside of them. That if the seeds were reasonable and wise, then that man would become heavenly and divine. If the seeds were intelligent and knowledgeable, then that man would be an angel of God. Mirandola states “…if, content with the lot of no created being, he withdraws into the centre of his oneness, his spirit, made on with God in the solitary darkness of the Father, which is above all things, will surpass all things” (Mirandola 479). This quotation demonstrates that man is capable of becoming greater than any other being, creature, or entity in this world. This is different from the Great Chain of Being because everything that has to do with this ‘chain’ is hierarchical, where everything is based on ranking, and where you fit in this world. That as soon as an individual is created, that person is put in a position where they cannot leave or change their position, whereas with Mirandola, an individual can grow like a seed, to become greater and
Within the Great Chain of Being, the place of the human being is below God, therefore meaning that they are inferior to Him. However, in Mirandola’s interpretation, human beings are boundless and noble, because they were created by God. Mirandola suggests that when Go created humankind, He granted them with the seeds that they would need to grow to attain all aspects of life. That, any seed each human being nurtures and supports will grow inside of them. That if the seeds were reasonable and wise, then that man would become heavenly and divine. If the seeds were intelligent and knowledgeable, then that man would be an angel of God. Mirandola states “…if, content with the lot of no created being, he withdraws into the centre of his oneness, his spirit, made on with God in the solitary darkness of the Father, which is above all things, will surpass all things” (Mirandola 479). This quotation demonstrates that man is capable of becoming greater than any other being, creature, or entity in this world. This is different from the Great Chain of Being because everything that has to do with this ‘chain’ is hierarchical, where everything is based on ranking, and where you fit in this world. That as soon as an individual is created, that person is put in a position where they cannot leave or change their position, whereas with Mirandola, an individual can grow like a seed, to become greater and