What Is A Renaissance Man?

As some of you astute readers have probably noticed, I included the term “Renaissance Man” in the URL of this blog.  I did this for a reason, but I am not sure I have ever clearly explained my thoughts behind this decision.  I believe we live in an era of uber-specialization, a time when a individual can be an expert in one part of the digestive system, but have no idea what happens in international affairs.  

I strongly disagree with hyper-specialization, but I also recognize our competitive world in one in which you must know alot about a little to be successful.  University degrees effectively narrow a student’s area of expertise.  Even more disheartening, promising young athletes are encouraged to “go Pro” instead of going to college.  Sadly, the notion of a well-rounded Renaissance Man (or Woman) is becoming a thing of the past.

A Renaissance man or woman is a person skilled in many disciplines.  They may speak several languages and have a passion for philosophy, science, and religious teachings.  Typically, a Renaissance individual dedicates time and effort to physical activity in addition to intellectual pursuits.  Aristotle defines it much more eloquently than myself:

“Every systematic science, the humblest and the noblest alike, seems to admit of two distinct kinds of proficiency; one of which may be properly called scientific knowledge of the subject, while the other is a kind of educational acquaintance with it. For an educated man should be able to form a fair off-hand judgment as to the goodness or badness of the method used by a professor in his exposition. To be educated is in fact to be able to do this; and even the man of universal education we deem to be such in virtue of his having this ability. It will, however, of course, be understood that we only ascribe universal education to one who in his own individual person is thus critical in all or nearly all branches of knowledge, and not to one who has a like ability merely in some special subject. For it is possible for a man to have this competence in some one branch of knowledge without having it in all.”

Scientific knowledge is the knowledge possessed by a specialist in a particular field.  This type of knowledge is more detailed than “educational acquaintance”, which is what an individual has if s/he has been educated in the subject.  

On Joe’s Musings, I have made a sincere effort to write in detail about a wide variety of topics.  If you divert your attention to the right side of this page, you can see the labels I have applied to individual posts.  I work hard to deliver fact and opinion on a range of issues that interest me.  That brings me to my main point- why being a Renaissance individual is important.  Because knowledge in every field has proliferated extensively since the Renaissance era, it is impossible to be an expert in everything.  Nevertheless, you can still master one field, and be competent in many other areas.    

There have been several ideal Renaissance men in the annals of history, but the one that really distinguished himself from the pack was Leonardo da Vinci.  Born in Italy, da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, writer, botanist, and cartographer.  Today, the best example of a modern day Renaissance Man is none other than Henry Rollins.  Originally hailing from Washington D.C., Rollins was the lead singer of the seminal hardcore punk bank Black Flag in the 1980s.  Since then, he has never stopped expanding his horizons.  Henry is a writer, publisher, radio DJ, actor, TV show host, activist, narrator, and speaker.  

I never liked the phrase, “Jack of all trades, master of none” because it ignores the possibility of getting really good at a discipline or skill without being an expert.  Renaissance men and women are not generally not the world’s foremost experts on topics, but they are more proficient and competent than 99% of the general population in a given subject.  At some point, a person who seeking a broad knowledge base will take their studies up to the point of diminishing returns.

Learning about a wide spectrum of things not only improves your understanding of the world, it also makes you a more confident, assertive individual.  The specialist is generally constrained to one subject while the generalist can build empathy and appreciate more endeavors.  In addition, the Renaissance man receives more of what life has to offer. 

The true human being should be too complex to categorize.  Don’t limit your human experience by specializing in one field at the expense of other pursuits.  Be a Renaissance individual.