Pico wrote the Oration on the Dignity of Man as an introduction to his planned disputation of 900 theses. It covers a variety of topics, and is centered on the place of man in the universe. The pope refused to permit the Oration, instead having it searched for heresy. Roughly a decade later, the text was published.

According to Pico, man has freedom, his defining trait. This freedom enables man to act in higher or lower ways. The higher ways are more in accordance with religious notions, while the lower ways are more comparable to plants and animals. A human becomes like his higher or lower actions. Pico likens this to ascending or descending a ladder. The better positions are higher. However, man can make even higher entities envious, because man has freedom.

Previous philosophers had considered man as an intermediate among the animals, or even of time. However, Pico considers man to have been made from parts of all the other creatures. Thus, man unites all things. Through his freedom, man can become like any other thing.

Cleansing and study form important steps in order for one to rise to higher levels. A man should maintain his mental capabilities, and improve them through the study of philosophy and theology, according to Pico.