title: Benjamin Constant’s history of philosophy
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Krotov, Artem A.
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2020-09-04T10:47:11Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2020-09-04T10:47:11Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2020-06
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Krotov A. A. Benjamin Constant’s history of philosophy. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 2020, vol. 36, issue 2, pp. 227–239.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2020.202
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/19195
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: The article analyses the concept of a prominent representative of early French Romanticism, considers his division of the historical process into periods and his idea on the meaning of history. According to Constant, history is not uniform in a political sense. The lack of understanding this important truth by the rulers has always brought untold sufferings to their subjects. Constant’s philosophy of history is based on the idea of improving the human race, typical for the intellectual culture of the Age of Enlightenment, to which he gave a new sound, contraposing the spirit of war with the spirit of trade. Distinguishing between two types of freedom, he associated the first variety with the tradition of ancient people’s assemblies, collective direct decisions, and the second with the system of representative government. His periodization of world history concretizes the idea of progress as a fundamental law of nature. He included psychological elements into his interpretation of the meaning of revolutionary events. Treating inequality as the basis of social adversity, he attributed independence in deeds, choice of life’s priorities, personal security, the right to own property, and the ability to express and defend different opinions as the most important human freedoms. Expressed clearly in a number of Constant’s works is the desire to distance himself from the various opposing parties, to appear as an unbiased observer, and a sage guiding his efforts to the common good. This corresponded greatly to the ideal of a philosopher represented on the pages of d’Alembert and Diderot’s famous “Encyclopédie.” At the same time, his doctrine represents a certain rethinking of the Enlightenment legacy, carried out through the lens of the experience of revolutionary times. Hence the demand to limit popular sovereignty, criticism of Russoism, a unique concept of the evolution of religion.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: ru
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies;Volume 36; Issue 2
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Benjamin Constant
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: French liberalism
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: history of philosophy
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: French Revolution
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: French philosophy of 19th century
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: Benjamin Constant’s history of philosophy
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 227-239.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/19195/1/227-239.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 640,72 kB