Renaissance is a French term that equates to rebirth. In so doing, the term accurately depicts the intellectual, scientific, and economic changes that occurred in Europe after the Dark Ages lasting through the sixteenth century. Within the Renaissance the rebirth of classical Greek ideals helped turn in new directions art, society, science, and thought. Curiosity and objectivity about the world asserted the importance of individualism which would lead to humanism. From such a view, it was felt that ration and trained thought as perpetrated by Platonic ideals were the highest goal to which man could aspire. For rational thought and virtuous behavior would lead to the highest development of the soul, not pious preaching or devout worship of idols.
The Renaissance to this day represents one of the greatest periods of transformation in the arts, culture, and sciences of Western civilization. The main developments of the Renaissance include a revival of antiquity (art, literature, and theories of Graeco-Roman paganism), a revival of learning, humanism, and the increasingly secular nature of life. There was also an explosion of creativity in the fine arts and the cultivation of the arts. There was a growth in individualism in both private and public life, while scientific and philosophical boundaries were expanded. New social, political, and economic institutions arose based in part on the new view of humanity and the world. The Renaissance is often attributed to the growing economic and political conditions of the era and the rise of Italian city-states where the individual and society sought culture as the highest good. The three main tenets of the Renaissance were the state as a work of art, the revival of antiquity, and the rise of the individual. The individual was now viewed as being able to develop into his or her highest form, one which made him or her distinct from all other animals. It is this well-rounded character...