At the heart of the Renaissance project, writes Tzvetan Todorov, a renowned French literary historian and philosopher, are three ideas: individual freedom, man as the purpose of all activity, and the universality of his inalienable rights. Wherever intellectual and social life is organised in accordance with these principles, studies of the world advance freely, and political practices are more successful in bridging the gap between reality and ideals.
The goals set two centuries ago by the Renaissance are unlikely ever to be achieved, the author believes, but ‘it is the destiny of the human race — to begin this labour anew every day, knowing that there will be no end to it’.