In Pico Della Mirandola's "Oration on the Dignity of Man," how does he defend his ability to synthesize all human knowledge?

As a founder of Renaissance humanism, Mirandola made the point in this oration that human beings are not just miraculous but admirable, that we can use philosophy and our intellect to reach higher and become as exalted as angels.

Because his proposed ideas are so vast and detailed, so lofty and ambitious--not to mention that they were also somewhat in conflict with what other philosophers believed at the time—Mirandola has to spend a lot of time...

As a founder of Renaissance humanism, Mirandola made the point in this oration that human beings are not just miraculous but admirable, that we can use philosophy and our intellect to reach higher and become as exalted as angels.

Because his proposed ideas are so vast and detailed, so lofty and ambitious--not to mention that they were also somewhat in conflict with what other philosophers believed at the time—Mirandola has to spend a lot of time in this oration defending himself and his right to even put forth all these ideas, which he presents as a kind of synthesis of all human knowledge.

Mirandola points out that some people have a problem with the fact that he’s just twenty-four years old yet is proposing “a disputation concerning the most subtle mysteries of Christian theology, the most debated points of philosophy and unfamiliar branches of learning.” How could he possibly claim to synthesize all human knowledge and expect to be taken seriously?

He defends himself in a few ways.

First, he claims that he’s not in it for money or fame: that is, he’s not expounding on philosophy for any other reason than it brings him “cultivation of mind and knowledge of the truth.”

Second, he’s done his homework. He mentions a canon made up of seventy books of “cabalistic wisdom,” and he’s read them all from front to back.

Third, he claims that even in proposing nine hundred theses (yes, nine hundred) that he’s not taking on too much. He defends himself against his detractors on this point by saying that others shouldn’t “set limits to another’s efforts” or “desire mediocrity in those things in which the rule should be: the more the better.” (He was quoting Cicero just then on the notion of mediocrity, trying to justify his position with a bit more authority.)

Still, Mirandola humbly says that he’s not learned or accomplished, and admits that he might be completely crushed when people start arguing against his ideas. But he says that even a defeat would help him become a better philosopher: “For the one who is bested receives from his conqueror, not an injury but a benefit; he returns to his house richer than he left, that is, more learned and better armed for future contests.” By showing that he's ready to fail gracefully, he further defends his ability to influence and advance the entirety of philosophy.