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The Master and His Emissary. The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Chapter 9: The Renaissance and the Reformation

The Renaissance

The Dark Ages lasted for 700 years between the fall of Rome (in the 5^th century) and the early Renaissance (in the 12^th century). The Dark Ages were not particularly lacking in vitality and colour, but they didn’t compare to the unparalleled step forward in the history of civilisation in the Renaissance.

In the Renaissance, there was a renewed interest in the natural and historical world, and the broader context in which we live. This period was characterised by a thirst for knowledge, and the beginnings of science, history and modern philosophy. In the arts, it was characterised by a new sense of the importance of harmony, and the relation of parts to the whole; a new sense of the balanced reciprocities between the individual and society; a new more self-conscious standing back; a focus on what we see rather than what we know; a sudden coming into awareness of aspects of experiences that has been neglected, and the rediscovery of perspective.

These turning points in Western civilisation began with symmetry and ‘necessary distance’  from the world by both  hemispheres. The left hemisphere focusses on abstraction and generalisation, while the right hemisphere develops relation with the world around it.

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Link to: Chapter 9 Commentary

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