A 23-year-old argued humans are unique because they're born with no fixed nature at all

In his 1486 Oration on the Dignity of Man, Pico della Mirandola wrote that God placed humanity at the centre of creation with no fixed form, free to sink to the level of beasts or rise to join the angels through its own choices alone. Written to introduce 900 theses he hoped to publicly debate in Rome, the oration was banned by the Pope before the debate could ever take place.

— Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man — 1486
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