Humanism of Russian classical literature. Ideas of humanism in English and Russian literature

Thesis

Shulgin, Nikolai Ivanovich

Academic degree:

Candidate of Philosophy

Place of thesis defense:

HAC specialty code:

Speciality:

Theory and history of culture

Number of pages:

Chapter 1. Basic philosophical and cultural problems of humanistic thought.

§1. Origins and various meanings of the concept “humanism”.

§ 2. Trends in the development of secular humanism in philosophical and cultural thought of the 19th - 20th centuries.

§3. Religious-idealistic humanism in Russian and Western European thought of the 19th-20th centuries.

Chapter 2. Reflection of the problems of humanism in second literature half of the 19th century centuries.

§ 1. Fiction in the socio-historical and general cultural context of the 19th century.

§2. The crisis of humanism in fiction

Western Europe and the USA.

§ 3. Russian literature: synthesis of Christian and Renaissance humanism.

Introduction of the dissertation (part of the abstract) On the topic "Humanism in European and Russian culture of the second half of the 19th century: based on the material of fiction"

The relevance of research

Problems of humanism are attracting growing attention not only from specialists, but also from public and cultural figures in different countries. This is due to the general interest in the problem of man that characterizes the entire twentieth century; with the rapid development of disciplines that study man in his various aspects - philosophical anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, psychology. At the same time, many authors note that, along with the deepening of specific knowledge, a holistic idea of ​​what a person is not only has not developed, but, on the contrary, is increasingly falling apart into many different theories and concepts. And if in theoretical terms such a variety of approaches can be considered justified, then in practical terms it entails many problems. With the “erosion” of a person’s image, ideas about his place in the world, about his relationship with nature, society, with other people, about the criteria for assessing certain behavioral practices and social trends, educational and psychotherapeutic methods, etc., are also “blurred.” and in connection with this, the understanding of humanism becomes increasingly uncertain. And it can be assumed that further research in this area will, simultaneously with the growth of diversity of views, approaches, points of view, still strive to develop an integral system of ideas about man. Thus, the relevance of the chosen topic seems undoubted.

Interest in this problem is also caused by the fact that in the twentieth century the differences that exist between the Russian and Western types of humanism became clearer: between humanism, which is based on ideas about the unity and reality of the highest spiritual values ​​(developed in religious-philosophical, philosophical -idealistic directions), and secular, secularized humanism. Social practice last centuries gave many examples of the concrete embodiment and development of ideas of both ideas about humanism, and, thus, now researchers have rich empirical material for verification different concepts. In particular, in our opinion, those dead ends of secularized humanism that Russian philosophers wrote about have come to light: the loss of the idea of ​​the reality of higher values ​​and ideals led not only to the erosion of moral norms, the growth of negative social trends, but also to the processes of personality disintegration, moreover, to justify these trends, for example, in the postmodern paradigm. This situation also requires special understanding.

At the same time, it can be noted that research into the problem of humanism is more fruitful when it is based not only on the material of sociology, psychology, cultural studies or other scientific disciplines, but also on the material of art and especially fiction, since fiction has man as its central theme and most directly influences the development of humanitarian knowledge. Outstanding writers in their works act not only as psychologists and sociologists, often penetrating deeper into the problem than scientists, but also as thinkers, often far ahead of scientific thought and, moreover, giving it new ideas. It is no coincidence that philosophical and scientific texts, having a person as their theme, constantly refer the reader to literary examples. Therefore, tracing the development of the ideas of humanism on the material of fiction seems not only relevant, but also logical.

The period of development of fiction analyzed in this work is almost unanimously noted by literary critics as the most holistic and complete, on the one hand, and diverse in areas, on the other. Moreover, it was in the second half of the 19th century that the trends that became dominant in the next century were formed and reflected in literary, artistic and literary critical works. At the same time, the similarities and differences in the ideological and artistic approaches of Russian and Western literature were determined. The choice of specific countries and works from the entire body of Western literature for research is determined, firstly, by their greatest representativeness, and secondly, by the scope of the work.

Degree of development of the problem

Research in line with the chosen topic falls into two blocks: on the one hand, these are philosophical and cultural works devoted to human problems and the problems of humanism as such, on the other hand, literary critical works related to the selected period. Since the very appearance and approval of the term “humanism” is traditionally associated with the Renaissance, the dissertation research was based on works written since this period.

These include, firstly, the works of the Renaissance thinkers themselves, among whom are C. de Bovel, G. Boccaccio, JI. Bruni, P. Brazzolini, JI. Valla, G. Manetti, Pico della Mirandola, F. Petrarca, M. Ficino, C. Salutati, B. Fazio, later M. Montaigne, N. Cusansky, and others. Further development of the ideas of humanism occurs in the New Age and the Age of Enlightenment in the works of such authors as F.-M. Voltaire, A.C. Helvetius, T. Hobbes,

P. Holbach, D. Diderot, J.-J. Rousseau, T. Starkey and others. In the 19th century. Social issues are developing in the works of F. Baader, J1.

Feuerbach, ML. Bakunin, A. Bebel, V.G. Belinsky, A.A. Bogdanova,

I. Weidemeier, A.I. Herzen, I. Dietzgen, N.A. Dobrolyubov, E. Kaabe, K. Kautsky, P.A. Kropotkina, N.V. Stankevich, N.G. Chernyshevsky, as well as K. Marx, F. Engels and later V.I. Lenin. At the same time, philosophical, anthropological and cultural studies developed in classical European philosophy in the works of G. Hegel, J.-G. Herdera, G.E. Lessing, I. Kant, etc.; in German classical literature in the works of I.V. Goethe, F. Schiller; The historical and cultural perspective of the research is reflected in the works of A. Bastian, F. Graebner, J. McLennan, G. Spencer, E. Tylor, J. Fraser, F. Frobenius, C. Levi-Strauss, and domestic authors such as S.S. Averintsev and others. In the 20th century, axiological and anthropological problems developed in the works of many authors - A. Bergson, N. Hartmann, A. Gehlen, E. Cassirer, G. Marcel, H. Plessner, M. Scheler, P. Teilhard de Chardin , M. Heidegger, etc. In addition, research concerning the problems of suppression of personality through total manipulation of consciousness has acquired a special role; issues of interaction between man and technology, models of a new stage of social development, etc. These themes were developed by many authors, such as G. Lebon, G. Tarde, S. Silege, then F. Nietzsche, O. Spengler, N.A. Berdyaev, X. Ortega y Gasset, E. Fromm; G. M. McLuhan, J. Galbraith, R. Aron, G. Marcuse, K. Popper, F. Fukuyama, J. Attali, etc.

And many works are also devoted to the topic of humanism, to the analysis of this concept. It was raised by many of the above-mentioned authors, and in the twentieth century it became the subject of special research in the works of P. Kurtz, S. Neering, L. Harrison, M.

Zimmerman, T. Erizer, in Russia - JT.E. Balashova, JT.M. Batkina, N.K. Batova, I.M. Borzenko, G.V. Gilishvili, M.I. Drobzheva, G.K. Kosikova, A.A. Kudishina, O.F. Kudryavtseva, S.S. Slobodenyuka, E.V.

Finogentova, Yu.M. Mikhalenko, T.M. Ruyatkina, V.A. Kuvakin and many others. It can be summarized that, thus, the overwhelming majority of representatives of humanitarian thought in one way or another contributed to the development of the problem of humanism.

Analysis of Western and Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century is presented both in articles by the writers themselves, who often acted as literary critics, and in the works of Western and Russian literary and art critics of the 19th and 20th centuries. - M. Arnold, E. Auerbach, JT. Butler, G. Brandes, S.T. Williams, J. Gissing, J. Ruskin, I. Tan, E. Starkey, T.S. Eliot; N.N. Strakhova, N.A. Dobrolyubova, N.G. Chernyshevsky, D.I. Pisareva; A.A. Aniksta, M. M. Bakhtina, N.V. Bogoslovsky, L.Ya. Ginzburg, Ya.E. Golosovkera, Yu.I. Danilina, A.S. Dmitrieva, V.D. Dneprova, E.M. Evnina, Ya.N. Zasursky, D.V. Zatonsky, M.S. Kagan, V.V. Lashova, J1.M. Lotman, V.F. Pereverzeva, A. Puzikova, N.Ya. Eidelman, B.Ya. Eikhenbaum and many others. Thus, one can note a very large volume of works devoted to various aspects of the chosen topic, but at the same time, a special comparative analysis of humanism in Russian and Western literature has not been carried out, which determined the choice of the research topic.

Object of study: the main trends in the development of fiction in Russia and Western countries in the second half of the 1st 19th century.

Subject of research: interpretation of humanism in Russian and Western fiction of the second half of the 19th century.

Purpose of the study: to conduct comparative analysis embodiments of Western and Russian types of humanism in fiction of the second half of the 19th century.

In accordance with the purpose of the study, the following research objectives were set:

1. Conduct an analysis of the development of the concept of humanism in philosophical and cultural thought and determine its various meanings and interpretations.

2. Systematize the main differences between secular and religious humanism; identify problems associated with the affirmation of secularized humanism.

3. Give a comparative historical overview of the main trends in the development of fiction in the second half of the 19th century in the USA, European countries and Russia; trace the connection of the main literary trends with one or another interpretation of humanism.

4. Show internal unity various directions Russian fiction.

5. To substantiate the special, synthetic character of the Russian type of humanism on the material of the most outstanding works Russian fiction of the second half of the 19th century.

Methodological basis of dissertation research

In the philosophical and cultural aspect, the methodological basis of the study was made up of the principles of dialectical methodology (the principle of comprehensive consideration of the subject, the principle of unity of the historical and logical, the principle of development, the principle of unity and struggle of opposites), the method of comparative historical analysis, elements of hermeneutic methodology, as well as general scientific methods: inductive , deductive and comparative historical. When studying the fiction of the selected period, the methods of literary analysis used by Russian and Western researchers became theoretically and methodologically significant for # the author.

Scientific novelty of the research

1. The main aspects of the development of humanistic thought are identified: socio-political, historical-cultural, philosophical-anthropological, ethical-sociological.

2. Three main types of humanism are identified: religious-idealistic humanism; classical secular (Renaissance) humanism; converted secular humanism; the transition from the second to the third type of humanism is justified; the concept is revealed and the dead-end nature of the transformed secular humanism is shown. sch

3. The relationship between the ideological and artistic crisis in Western literature of the second half of the 19th century is shown. and disappointment in the ideals of classical secular humanism.

4. The formation of the main literary movements of the second half of the 19th century is analyzed from the position of the secularization of classical secular humanism and its transformation into converted secular humanism.

5. A synthetic type of humanism characteristic of Russian culture has been identified and its main features have been highlighted: affirmation of the ideals of man and society; a call to implement these ideals in life; humanism in the aspect of compassion and sacrifice; psychologism,

It is aimed at identifying and affirming the Human in any personality.

The study obtained a number of new results, which are summarized in the following provisions for defense:

1. In humanistic thought in the process of its development, several main aspects/problems emerged: the socio-political aspect as the problem of realizing the ideal of personal and social existence in real historical conditions; historical and cultural aspect: problems of the essence of culture, criteria of progress; philosophical and anthropological aspect: questions about the needs, goals, values ​​of the individual; ethical-sociological aspect: problems of relations between the individual and society, the nature of morality, etc. Different answers to these questions have formed different interpretations of humanism.

2. One of the central problems of humanistic thought was the problem of the ideal of man and society. On this basis, three main types of humanism can be distinguished: religious-idealistic humanism; classical secular (Renaissance) humanism; converted secular humanism. The first is based on the idea of ​​the existence of a higher spiritual principle of the universe, which determines personal and social ideals. In classical secular humanism, these ideals are preserved, but their ideological justification loses integrity and is gradually “eroded.” Converted secular humanism is characterized by the destruction of ideals, the justification of “present” existence and the cult of material needs, and a tendency towards moral relativism. On this path, humanistic thought actually reached a dead end, which in practice was expressed in the growth of social and psychological problems.

3. The second half of the 19th century, according to experts, was marked by a social and ideological crisis, which was reflected in the development of fiction in Europe and the USA. The works of leading Western writers questioned the possibility of a just structure of the world, the ability of man to defend his freedom and independence in a hostile environment, and the predominance of good over evil in the human soul. Thus, the crisis was associated with disappointment in the ideals of classical secular humanism.

4. The search for a way out of the crisis in Western fiction was expressed in two main trends: the rejection of ideals that seemed unrealistic, the affirmation of the “natural” person and the legitimacy of any of his desires and passions (the current of naturalism); and the implementation of a kind of escape from the surrounding reality (neo-romanticism, escape into “ pure art", the flow of decadence). Both trends are associated with the gradual destruction of the value core preserved in classical secular humanism, with its further secularization and the establishment of transformed secular humanism.

5. In Russian culture, religious Christian ideas were creatively rethought on the basis of the best achievements of secular Western culture. This gave rise to a special synthetic type of humanism, which brought leading Russian atheist thinkers closer to their opponents standing on a religious-idealistic platform, and at the same time noticeably different from Western European humanism.

6. The synthetic type of humanism, reflected in Russian fiction, was characterized by the following main features: affirmation of the reality and effectiveness of the ideals of man and society, to which every individual should strive; a call to implement these ideals in life; humanism in the aspect of goodness, compassion, sacrifice as the central idea of ​​most literary works; deep psychologism, not aimed at the naturalistic " anatomical dissection» human soul, but to identify and affirm Man in any, even “fallen” personality, colored by love, understanding, and affirmation of the fraternal unity of all people.

Approbation of dissertation research

Approbation of scientific material and conclusions obtained was carried out with participation (in speeches) at:

International conferences: “Formation of a unified educational space in the Greater Altai region: problems and prospects" (Rubtsovsk, 2005);

All-Russian conferences, symposiums and meetings: scientific and practical conference " Theory and practice of educational work in higher education"(Barnaul, 2000); scientific symposium " Man of culture"(Biysk, 2000); seminar-meeting “Problems of transformation and quality of socio-humanitarian education in Russian universities based on second generation state standards” (Barnaul, 2002); scientific and practical conference "" (Rubtsovsk, 2005);

Many regional, interregional, city and intra-university conferences: regional scientific and practical conference " Spiritual origins of Russian culture"(Rubtsovsk, 2001-2004); interregional scientific and practical conference “Psychological and pedagogical training of specialists” (Moscow, 2001); interregional scientific and practical conference " Theory, practice and education in social work: realities and prospects"(Barnaul, 2002); city ​​scientific and practical conference “Science for the city and the region” (Rubtsovsk, 2003, 2004); intra-university scientific and practical conference " Man in the context of the modern sociocultural situation"(Rubtsovsk, 2004, 2005).

Conclusion of the dissertation on the topic "Theory and history of culture", Shulgin, Nikolai Ivanovich

Conclusion

Humanism is one of the most popular and frequently used terms. It is used in a variety of disciplines - in philosophy, sociology, psychology, cultural studies; as well as in everyday language, in literature, in the media. At the same time, humanism is one of the most arbitrarily interpreted concepts. At the same time, the difference in interpretations, as M. Heidegger quite rightly noted in his time, is connected primarily with the general worldview platform of the author who uses this term, and she, in turn, with this or that culture, the mentality of the nation, with a specific social environment . Therefore, even the very systematization of meanings and meanings this concept, identifying its origins different interpretations relevant from a theoretical point of view.

Perhaps even more relevant is the study of humanism from a socio-practical position, since it is the cornerstone concept of those areas public life, trends and processes that directly affect people - education and upbringing, building a civil society, affirming and protecting human rights; the basic foundations of most social reforms. In this case, as a rule, the initiators and authors social programs and projects do not record the fact that they often contain direct contradictions between the stated “ humanistic“goals and specific practices and methods, which often turn out to be contrary to the real interests of the individual, that is, precisely inhumane. Thus, clarifying the concept of humanism can contribute to a more qualified and detailed analysis of these programs and the development of sound recommendations.

Studying the history of the development of this concept, the reasons for the emergence of its various meanings requires the use of theoretical and empirical material from many fields of knowledge, primarily philosophical and cultural thought. But no less important and promising, in our opinion, is the application of the results obtained to the analysis of those areas where humanism is a central concept. These, of course, include fiction. Man, his problems, his place in the world, relationships with other people, with nature and society have always been the main theme of fiction. And without exaggeration, we can say that within its framework a unique literary anthropology developed, which not only intersected with philosophical anthropology, but in many ways significantly ahead of it, providing it with a wealth of empirical material, developing many specific and even general interesting ideas that were subsequently are in demand by philosophers, cultural scientists, psychologists, sociologists and everyone who in one way or another is faced with the problem of man.

When studying the processes and trends in the development of fiction in the second half of the nineteenth century, as the most indicative and in many respects defining period, what is striking is the fact that the ideological and artistic crisis noted by literary scholars, which gripped most European countries and American literature during this period, is inextricably linked with the crisis of humanism as such. The humanism of this time represented classical Renaissance-Enlightenment humanism, which was in the process of transformation, with its belief in the omnipotence of the human mind, the ability to transform the world on rational principles and in accordance with the principles of justice; with conviction in the triumph of the principles of freedom, equality and fraternity, with faith in the linear progress of civilization. The actual reality of the noted historical period practically dispelled these illusions. This led to the fact that the old ideals began to be discarded and humanism began to move into its transformed form. If earlier under the person who claimed humanistic worldview, an ideal person was understood, endowed with very specific qualities, to which each person should strive, now the “real” person came onto the scene, and “humanity” began to be seen in justifying any being, any manifestations of personality, including those who were previously rejected as unworthy of man. In other words, there was a denial not of one or another specific ideal, but of the ideal as such. These trends, as we know, were supported by the philosophy of positivism, which gained particular popularity during this period and significantly influenced the art of the second half of the nineteenth century. It was dominated by a non-judgmental attitude, a cold-blooded “scientific” attitude towards what was depicted, towards evil and pathologies, towards the “underground” of the human soul, which later quite naturally turned into an apology for this underground. As has already been said, these processes had and have a serious social refraction, therefore it is especially important to trace their origins and roots, to identify the reasons that led to such a transformation of the concept of humanism.

At the same time, as is known, in Russian fiction these processes proceeded significantly differently. As already mentioned, the religious-Christian worldview played a special role in its formation. Its interaction with secular culture, with rapidly developing social thought, and the scientific worldview is one of the constantly discussed topics. But almost all authors agree that Orthodox Christian ideas in Russia were creatively rethought on the basis of the best achievements of secular Western and domestic culture and gave rise to a special type of worldview, far from both church-dogmatic Orthodoxy and positivism, popular in Europe. As a result, the development of philosophical thought, art, and culture in general in our country proceeded significantly differently.

This largely explains the phenomenon of the extraordinary popularity of Russian fiction in the West, the deep and ongoing interest in it, which, starting from the end of the nineteenth century, continued for many years. And now, as we know, whole line Russian writers are not just included in the golden fund of world literature, but occupy leading positions in it. First of all, this is due to the truly humanistic potential of Russian literature, with its deep interest in the individual, which is fundamentally different from the positivist-scientific, dispassionate research, “scalping” of the human soul. At the same time, she was far from justifying the “bottom” and opposed moral relativism or individualistic closure in “ ivory tower" Russian writers saw their ultimate task not in blaming the “fallen” but also not in justifying them, but in seeing the “divine spark” in every person and contributing to his moral awakening.

Thus, the basis of the Russian, synthetic type of humanism is precisely the affirmation of the ideals of the individual and society, to which each individual should strive; a call to affirm these ideals in life; conviction in the reality and effectiveness of higher values; humanism in the aspect of goodness, compassion, sacrifice as the central idea of ​​most literary works. Of course, this does not mean that in Russian literature there were no tendencies similar to Western decadence or naturalism, but they were identified much weaker and, most importantly, reflected the same crisis phenomena that gave rise to these tendencies in the West.

Of course, within the framework of one study it was not possible to cover the entire spectrum of aspects of the problem raised and various approaches to solving it. At the same time, I would like to hope that the work will contribute to the understanding of the importance of analyzing the concept of humanism, its manifestations in culture, art and, in particular, in Russian fiction; will be of interest to other specialists working on similar problems.

List of references for dissertation research Candidate of Philosophical Sciences Shulgin, Nikolai Ivanovich, 2006

Please note that the scientific texts presented above are posted for informational purposes only and were obtained through original dissertation text recognition (OCR). Therefore, they may contain errors associated with imperfect recognition algorithms.
There are no such errors in the PDF files of dissertations and abstracts that we deliver.

The 19th century is usually called the century of humanism in literature. The directions that literature chose in its development reflected the social sentiments that were inherent in people during this time period.

What characterized the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries?

First of all, this is due to the various historical events that filled this century of revolution in world history. But many writers who began their work at the end of the 19th century revealed themselves only at the beginning of the 20th century, and their works were characterized by the mood of two centuries.

At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. Many brilliant, memorable Russian poets and writers arose, and many of them continued the humanistic traditions of the last century, and many tried to transform them in accordance with the reality that belonged to the 20th century.

Revolutions and civil wars completely changed the consciousness of people, and naturally, this significantly influenced Russian culture. But the mentality and spirituality of the people cannot be changed by any cataclysms, therefore morality and humanistic traditions began to be revealed in Russian literature from a different perspective.

Writers were forced to raise the theme of humanism in his works, since the amount of violence that the Russian people experienced was blatantly unfair, it was impossible to be indifferent to it. The humanism of the new century has other ideological and moral aspects that were not and could not be raised by the writers of past centuries.

New aspects of humanism in literature of the 20th century

The civil war, which forced family members to fight against each other, was filled with such cruel and violent motives that the theme of humanism was closely intertwined with the theme of violence. The humanistic traditions of the 19th century are reflections on what kind of place true man in a whirlpool life events What is more important: a person or a society?

The tragedy with which nineteenth-century writers (Gogol, Tolstoy, Kuprin) described people’s self-awareness is more internal character than external. Humanism declares itself from the inner side of the human world, and the mood of the 20th century is more connected with war and revolution, which changes the thinking of the Russian people in an instant.

The beginning of the 20th century is called the “Silver Age” in Russian literature; this creative wave brought a different artistic view of the world and man, and specific implementation aesthetic ideal in reality. Symbolists reveal the more subtle, spiritual nature of man, which stands above political upheavals, the thirst for power or salvation, above the ideals that the literary process of the 19th century presents to us.

The concept of “creativity of life” appears; this theme is explored by many symbolists and futurists, such as Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Mayakovsky. Religion begins to play a completely different role in their work, its motives are revealed in a more profound and mystical way, and somewhat different concepts of “male” and “female” principles appear.

Dictionary of medical terms

humanism (lat. humanus human, humane)

a system of views that recognizes the value of a person as an individual, characterized by the protection of his dignity and freedom of development, which considers the well-being of a person to be the main evaluation criterion social institutions, and the principles of equality and justice

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

humanism

humanism, many no, m. (from Latin humanus - human) (book).

Renaissance ideological movement aimed at liberation human personality and thoughts from the shackles of feudalism and Catholicism (historical).

Enlightened philanthropy (obsolete).

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.

humanism

Humanity, humanity in social activities, in relation to people.

The progressive movement of the Renaissance, aimed at liberating people from the ideological enslavement of feudal times.

adj. humanistic, -aya, -oe.

New explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

humanism

1. A historically changing system of views that recognizes the value of a person as an individual, his right to freedom, happiness, development and manifestation of his abilities, which considers the well-being of a person as a criterion for assessing social relations.

m. The ideological and cultural movement of the Renaissance, which contrasted scholasticism and the spiritual domination of the church with the principle of free all-round development of the human personality.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

humanism

HUMANISM (from Latin humanus - human, humane) recognition of the value of man as an individual, his right to free development and manifestation of his abilities, affirmation of the good of man as a criterion for assessing social relations. In a narrower sense, the secular freethinking of the Renaissance, which opposed scholasticism and the spiritual dominance of the church, is associated with the study of the newly discovered works of classical antiquity.

Large legal dictionary

humanism

(humanism principle) - one of the principles of law in a democratic state. In a broad sense, it means a historically changing system of views on society and man, imbued with respect for the individual. The principle of G. is enshrined in Art. 2 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation: “Man, his rights and freedoms are the highest value,” as well as in Art. 7 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 8 Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR and other legislative acts. In criminal law it means that punishment and other measures of a criminal legal nature applied to a person who has committed a crime cannot cause physical suffering or humiliate human dignity.

Humanism

(from Latin humanus ≈ human, humane), a historically changing system of views that recognizes the value of a person as an individual, his right to freedom, happiness, development and manifestation of his abilities, considering the well-being of a person as a criterion for evaluating social institutions, and the principles of equality, justice, humanity the desired norm of relations between people.

G.'s ideas have a long history. Motives of humanity, philanthropy, dreams of happiness and justice can be found in the works of oral folk art, in literature, moral, philosophical and religious concepts of various peoples since ancient times. But G.'s system of views was first formed during the Renaissance. G. emerged at this time as a broad current of social thought, covering philosophy, philology, literature, art and imprinted in the consciousness of the era. Georgia was formed in the struggle against feudal ideology, religious dogma, and the spiritual dictatorship of the church. Humanists, having revived many literary monuments of classical antiquity, used them to develop secular culture and education. They contrasted theological-scholastic knowledge with secular knowledge, religious asceticism with the enjoyment of life, and the humiliation of man with the ideal of a free, comprehensively developed personality. In the 14th-15th centuries. the center of humanistic thought was Italy (F. Petrarch, G. Boccaccio, Lorenzo Balla, Picodella Mirandola, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, etc.), then it spread to other European countries simultaneously with the Reformation movement. Many great thinkers and artists of that time contributed to the development of G. ≈ M. Montaigne, F. Rabelais (France), W. Shakespeare, F. Bacon (England), L. Vives, M. Cervantes (Spain), W. Hutten, A. Dürer (Germany), Erasmus of Rotterdam and others. The history of the Renaissance was one of the main expressions of the revolution in culture and worldview that reflected the beginning of the formation of capitalist relations. The further development of G.'s ideas is connected with the social thought of the period of bourgeois revolutions (17th - early 19th centuries). The ideologists of the emerging bourgeoisie developed the ideas of “natural rights” of man, put forward its correspondence to the abstract “human nature” as a criterion for the suitability of a social structure, tried to find ways to combine the good of the individual and public interests, relying on the theory of “reasonable egoism”, correctly understood personal interest, the French enlighteners of the 18th century P. Holbach, A. K. Helvetius, D. Diderot, and others clearly connected geology with materialism and atheism. A number of principles of philosophy were developed in German classical philosophy. I. Kant put forward the idea of ​​eternal peace and formulated a position that expresses the essence of humanity: a person can only be an end for another person, but not a means. True, the implementation of these principles was attributed by Kant to an indefinite future.

The system of humanistic views created under the conditions of rising capitalism was a great achievement of social thought. At the same time, it was internally contradictory and historically limited, because it was based on an individualistic concept of personality, on an abstract understanding of man. This inconsistency of abstract geography was clearly revealed with the establishment of capitalism - a system where, in direct contrast to the ideals of geography, a person turns into a means of production of capital, submits to the domination of elemental social forces and laws alien to him, the capitalist division of labor, which disfigures the personality and makes it one-sided. The dominance of private property and division of labor gives rise to various types of human alienation. This proves that, on the basis of private property, the principles of government cannot become the norms of relations between people. Criticizing private property, T. More, T. Campanella, Morelli and G. Mably believed that only by replacing it with community property, humanity could achieve happiness and prosperity. These ideas were developed by the great utopian socialists A. Saint-Simon, C. Fourier, and R. Owen, who saw the contradictions of the already established capitalist system and, inspired by the ideals of Germany, developed projects for reforming society on the principles of socialism. However, they could not find real ways to create a socialist society, and in their ideas about the future, along with brilliant guesses, there was a lot of fantastic stuff. The humanistic tradition in the social thought of Russia in the 19th century. represented revolutionary democrats≈ A. I. Herzen, V. G. Belinsky, N. G. Chernyshevsky, A. N. Dobrolyubov, T. G. Shevchenko and others. G.’s ideas inspired the classics of great Russian literature of the 19th century.

A new stage in the development of humanity began with the emergence of Marxism, which rejected the abstract, ahistorical interpretation of “human nature” only as a biological “generic essence” and approved its scientific, concrete historical understanding, showing that “... the essence of man... is the totality of all social relations” (Marx K. and Engels F., Works, 2nd ed., vol. 3, p. 3). Marxism abandoned the abstract, supra-class approach to the problems of humanity and put them on a real historical basis, formulated a new concept of humanity - proletarian, or socialist, humanity, which absorbed the best achievements of humanistic thought of the past. K. Marx was the first to identify real ways to implement the ideals of government, linking it with the scientific theory of social development, with revolutionary movement proletariat, with the struggle for communism. Communism eliminates private property and exploitation of man by man, national oppression and racial discrimination, social antagonism and war, eliminates all forms of alienation, puts the achievements of science and culture at the service of man, creates material, social and spiritual prerequisites for the harmonious and comprehensive development of a free human personality. Under communism, labor turns from a means of subsistence into the first need of life, and the highest goal of society becomes the development of man himself. Therefore, Marx called communism real, practical G. (see K. Marx and F. Engels, From Early Works, 1956, p. 637). Opponents of communism deny the humanistic character of Marxism on the grounds that it is based on materialism and includes the theory of class struggle. This criticism is untenable, because materialism, recognizing the value of earthly life, focuses on its transformation in the interests of man, and the Marxist theory of class struggle as an indispensable means of solving social problems during the transition to socialism is not at all an apology for violence. It justifies the forced use of revolutionary violence to suppress the resistance of the minority in the interests of the majority, in conditions where without it it becomes impossible to solve pressing social problems. The Marxist worldview is revolutionary-critical and humanistic at the same time. The ideas of Marxist capitalism received further concretization in the works of V.I. Lenin, who studied the new era of development of capitalism, the revolutionary processes of this era, as well as the beginning of the era of transition from capitalism to socialism, when these ideas began to be practically implemented.

Socialist G. is opposed to abstract G., which preaches “humanity in general”, without connection with the struggle for the real liberation of man from all types of exploitation. But within the framework of the ideas of abstract geometry, two main trends can be distinguished. On the one hand, the ideas of abstract geography are used to disguise the anti-humanistic nature of modern capitalism, to criticize socialism, to fight the communist worldview, and to falsify socialist geography. On the other hand, in bourgeois society there are layers and groups that take the position of abstract geography. , but are critical of capitalism, advocate peace and democracy, and are concerned about the future of humanity. The two world wars unleashed by imperialism, the misanthropic theory and practice of fascism, which openly violated the principles of democracy, the continuing rampant racism, militarism, the arms race, and the nuclear threat hanging over the world, pose the problems of democracy to humanity very acutely. People who speak out from the position of abstract government against imperialism and the social evil it generates, are to a certain extent allies of the revolutionary socialist state in the struggle for real human happiness.

The principles of Marxist and socialist Georgia are distorted by right-wing and “left-wing” revisionists. Both of them essentially identify socialist geography with abstract geography. But if the former see in abstract humanistic principles the essence of Marxism in general, then the latter reject any geography as a bourgeois concept. In fact, life proves the correctness of the principles of socialist government. With the victory of socialism, first in the USSR and then in other countries of the socialist community, the ideas of Marxist government received real practical reinforcement in the humanistic achievements of the new social system, which chose as its motto further development humanistic principle: “Everything in the name of man, for the good of man.”

Lit.: Marx K., Economic and philosophical manuscripts of 1844, in the book: Marx K. and Engels F., From early works, M., 1956; Marx K., Towards a critique of Hegel's philosophy of law. Introduction, Marx K. and Engels F., Op. , 2nd ed. , vol. 1; Marx K. and Engels F., Manifesto of the Communist Party, ibid., vol. 4: Engels F., Development of socialism from utopia to science, ibid., vol. 19: Lenin V.I., State and Revolution, ch. 5, Poly. collection cit., 5th ed., vol. 33; him, Tasks of youth unions, ibid., vol. 41; CPSU Program (Adopted by the XXII Congress of the CPSU), M., 1969; About overcoming the cult of personality and its consequences. Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee, M., 1956; Gramsci A., Prison notebooks, Izbr. proizv., vol. 3, trans. from Italian, M., 1959; Volgin V.P., Humanism and Socialism, M., 1955; Fedoseev P.N., Socialism and Humanism, M., 1958; Petrosyan M.I., Humanism, M., 1964; Kurochkin P.K., Orthodoxy and humanism, M., 1962; Construction of communism and the spiritual world of man, M., 1966; Konrad N.I., West and East, M., 1966; From Erasmus of Rotterdam to Bertrand Russell. Sat. Art., M., 1969: Ilyenkov E.V., About idols and ideals, M., 1968: Kurella A., One’s own and someone else’s, M., 1970; Simonyan E. A., Communism is real humanism, M., 1970.

V. J. Kelle. humanism.

Utopias fell under the pressure of the world's waves humanism, pacifism, international socialism, international anarchism, etc.

In any case, it was from the second half of the 80s that sharp criticism of traditional American feminism as a manifestation of bourgeois liberalism and humanism by such poststructuralist feminist theorists as Toril Moy, Chris Weedon, Rita Felski, etc.

They took the vicious path leading from humanism to animalism - the path opposite to that taken by Humanity, stimulated by the greatest creative acts of the living history of the Universe.

The idea of ​​internal unity of ethics and culture, the requirement to make humanism and moral development of the individual by the criteria of cultural progress, defense of the principle of equality of all people on earth without distinction of the color of their skin, adamant anti-militarism and anti-fascism in beliefs and practical activities - all these are features of his appearance that give you reason to characterize Schweitzer as outstanding moral phenomenon in the life of bourgeois society in an era of deep crisis of its culture.

The fear of popular movements and lack of understanding of their progressive anti-feudal orientation reflected historical limitations humanism as an essentially bourgeois educational movement.

Second Lieutenant Baranovsky with his search for justice, the never-eradicated illusions of the abstract bourgeois humanism fell victim to his own contradictions, found himself under the wheels of history, inexorable in its course.

I wrote reports three times about the facts of Gusenitsin’s callousness and was beaten three times for my humanism.

Well, if humanism- so with forgiveness, if justice - then instantly, immediately and to everyone.

And there was a vague one there humanism and the dreamy vanity of Tsar Alexander, the shocked Habsburgs of Austria, the angry Hohenzollerns of Prussia, the aristocratic traditions of Britain, still trembling with fear of revolution, on whose conscience was the slave labor of children in factories and the right to vote stolen from ordinary people.

In full accordance with the ideas of the romantic humanism Hawthorne saw in individual consciousness the source of social evil and at the same time a tool for overcoming it.

This is what your policy has led to, - shouted Dessalines, - this is the result of your humanism.

Proclaiming and affirming principles humanism, high morality and morality, glorifying and poetizing nature, Fiedler rightly said that he was trying to be faithful in his work to the traditions of Henryk Sienkiewicz and Stefan Żeromski - Polish classics close to him in spirit.

Despite the fact that just recently humanism was catastrophically devalued by National Socialism, Heidegger now intended to sharply increase its current price.

Hating wars and politics, Deira did not force Kai to change his beliefs and, together with her, devote himself to serving the ideals humanism.

Humanity is one of the most important and at the same time complex concepts. It is impossible to give it an unambiguous definition, because it manifests itself in a variety of human qualities. This is the desire for justice, honesty, and respect. Someone who can be called humane is capable of caring for others, helping and patronizing. He can see the good in people and emphasize their main advantages. All this can be confidently attributed to the main manifestations of this quality.

What is humanity?

There are a large number of examples of humanity from life. These are the heroic deeds of people in wartime, and seemingly insignificant actions in ordinary life. Humanity and kindness are manifestations of compassion for one's neighbor. Motherhood is also synonymous with this quality. After all, every mother actually sacrifices the most precious thing she has - her own life - as a sacrifice to her baby. The brutal cruelty of the fascists can be called a quality opposite to humanity. A person only has the right to be called a person if he is capable of doing good.

Dog rescue

An example of humanity from life is the act of a man who saved a dog in the subway. Once upon a time, a stray dog ​​found itself in the lobby of the Kurskaya station of the Moscow metro. She ran along the platform. Maybe she was looking for someone, or maybe she was just chasing a departing train. But it so happened that the animal fell on the rails.

There were many passengers at the station then. People were scared - after all, there was less than a minute left before the next train arrived. The situation was saved by a brave police officer. He jumped onto the tracks, picked up the unlucky dog ​​under his paws and carried him to the station. This story is a good example of humanity from life.

Action of a teenager from New York

This quality is not complete without compassion and goodwill. Currently in real life there is a lot of evil, and people should show compassion to each other. An indicative example from life on the topic of humanity is the action of a 13-year-old New Yorker named Nach Elpstein. For his bar mitzvah (or coming of age in Judaism), he received a gift of 300 thousand shekels. The boy decided to donate all this money to Israeli children. It's not every day that you hear about such an act, which is a true example of humanity from life. The amount went towards the construction of a new generation bus for the work of young scientists on the periphery of Israel. This vehicle is a mobile classroom that will help young students become real scientists in the future.

An example of humanity from life: donation

No more noble deed than to give your blood to someone else. This is real charity, and everyone who takes this step can be called a real citizen and a person with capital letters. Donors are strong-willed people who have kind hearted. An example of the manifestation of humanity in life is Australian resident James Harrison. He donates blood plasma almost every week. For a very long time he was awarded a unique nickname - “The Man with the Golden Arm”. After all, blood was taken from Harrison's right hand more than a thousand times. And in all the years that he has been donating, Harrison has managed to save more than 2 million people.

In his youth, the hero donor underwent a complex operation, as a result of which he had to have his lung removed. His life was saved only thanks to donors who donated 6.5 liters of blood. Harrison never knew the saviors, but decided that he would donate blood for the rest of his life. After talking with doctors, James learned that his blood type was unusual and could be used to save the lives of newborn babies. His blood contained very rare antibodies that can solve the problem of incompatibility of the Rh factor of the mother’s blood and the embryo. Because Harrison donated blood every week, doctors were able to constantly produce new batches of the vaccine for such cases.

An example of humanity from life, from literature: Professor Preobrazhensky

One of the most striking literary examples of possessing this quality is Professor Preobrazhensky from Bulgakov’s work “The Heart of a Dog.” He dared to challenge the forces of nature and turn a street dog into a man. His attempts failed. However, Preobrazhensky feels responsible for his actions, and tries with all his might to turn Sharikov into a worthy member of society. This shows the highest qualities of the professor, his humanity.

HUMANISM (from Latin humanus human) ideological and ideological movement that arose in European countries during the Renaissance (14th - first half of the 17th century) and became the ideology of the Renaissance. At the center of humanism is a person; the demand for the ideas of humanism is connected with the internal needs of the development of European society. The growing secularization of European life contributed to the recognition of the value of earthly existence, awareness of the importance of man as a being not only spiritual, but also physical, and the importance of his physical existence. The destruction of medieval corporate structures in society as a result of shifts in the economy and social life led to the emergence in the sphere of production, political life, and culture of a new type of personalities who acted independently and independently, did not rely on familiar connections and moral norms and needed to develop new ones. Hence the interest in man as a person and as an individual, his place in society and in the divine universe.
The ideas and teachings of humanism were developed by people who came from different social circles (urban, church, feudal) and represented different professions(school teachers and university teachers, secretaries of the papal curia, royal chancellors and chancellors of city republics and seigneuries). By their existence, they destroyed the medieval corporate principle of organizing public life and represented a new spiritual unity - a humanistic intelligentsia united by a commonality of goals and objectives. Humanists proclaimed the idea of ​​self-affirmation and developed concepts and teachings in which the role of moral improvement, the creative and transformative power of knowledge and culture was high.
Italy became the birthplace of humanism. A feature of its development was polycentrism, the presence in the country of a large number of cities with a level of production, trade and finance that far exceeded the medieval one, with high level development of education. “New people” appeared in the cities: energetic and enterprising figures, mainly from the popolan (trade and craft) environment, who were cramped within the framework of corporations and medieval norms of life and who felt their connection with the world, society and other people in a new way. The new socio-psychological climate in cities found a wider scope than the environment that gave birth to it. The “new people” were also humanists who transformed socio-psychological impulses into teachings and theories at a higher theoretical level of consciousness. The “new people” were also the rulers-signoras established in Italian cities, often coming from ignoble families, from bastards, from condottieri of rootless origin, but interested in establishing a person in society according to his deeds, and not his birth. In this environment, the work of humanists was in high demand, as evidenced by the cultural policies of rulers from the Medici, Este, Montefeltro, Gonzaga, Sforza and others dynasties.
The ideological and cultural sources of humanism were ancient culture, early Christian heritage and medieval writings; the proportion of each of these sources varied in different European countries. Unlike Italy, other European countries did not have their own ancient heritage, and therefore the European humanists of these countries borrowed material from their medieval history more widely than the Italians. But permanent connections with Italy, the training there of humanists from other European countries, translations of ancient texts, and book publishing activities contributed to acquaintance with antiquity in other regions of Europe. The development of the reformation movement in European countries led to greater interest in early Christian literature than in Italy (where there was practically no Reformation) and led to the emergence of the “Christian humanism” movement there.
Francesco Petrarch is considered the first humanist. The “discovery” of man and the human world is associated with it. Petrarch sharply criticized scholasticism, which, in his opinion, was occupied with useless things; he rejected religious metaphysics and proclaimed paramount interest in man. Having formulated human knowledge as the main task of science and philosophy, he redefined the method of its research: not speculation and logical reasoning, but self-knowledge. On this path, human-oriented sciences (moral philosophy, rhetoric, poetry, history) are important, which help to understand the meaning of one’s own existence and become morally higher. By highlighting these disciplines, Petrarch laid the foundations of the studia humanitatis program of humanistic education, which Coluccio Salutati would later develop and which most humanists would follow.
Petrarch, a poet and philosopher, learned about man through himself. His My Secret is an interesting experience in the psychological analysis of one’s own personality with all its contradictions, as is his Book of Songs, where the main character is the personality of the poet with his emotional movements and impulses, and the beloved Laura appears as the object of the poet’s experiences. Petrarch's correspondence also provides remarkable examples of introspection and self-evaluation. He clearly expressed his interest in man in his historical and biographical essay On Outstanding People.
Petrarch saw man, in accordance with the Christian tradition, as a contradictory creature, he recognized the consequences of original sin (the frailty and mortality of man), in his approach to the body he was influenced by medieval asceticism, and perceived passions negatively. But he also positively assessed nature (“the mother of all things,” “the most holy mother”) and everything natural, and reduced the consequences of original sin to the laws of nature. In his work (On remedies against a happy and unhappy fate), he raised a number of fundamentally important ideas (nobility as a person’s place in society, determined by one’s own merits, dignity as a person’s high position in the hierarchy of divine creations, etc.), which will be developed in the future humanism. Petrarch highly valued the importance of intellectual work, showed its features, goals and objectives, the conditions necessary for it, separated people engaged in it from those engaged in other matters (in his treatise On the Solitary Life). Not liking school work, he nevertheless managed to have his say in pedagogy, putting moral education in the forefront in the education system, assessing the mission of the teacher primarily as an educator, proposing some methods of education taking into account the diversity of characters in children, emphasizing the role of self-education, as well as examples and travel.
Petrarch showed interest in ancient culture, one of the first to begin searching for and collecting ancient manuscripts, sometimes rewriting them with his own hand. He perceived books as his friends, talked with them and their authors. He wrote letters to the past to their author (Cicero, Quintilian, Homer, Titus Livy), thereby awakening readers' interest in antiquity in society. Italian humanists of the 15th century. (Poggio Bracciolini and others) continued the work of Petrarch, organizing a wide search for books (in monasteries, city offices) not only Latin, but also Greek. They were followed by Giovanni Aurispa, Guarino da Verona, Francesco Filelfo and others to Byzantium. The collection of Greek books, the value of which was already realized even by Petrarch and Boccaccio, who did not truly know the Greek language, entailed the need to study it and invite a Byzantine scholar and public and church figure Manuel Chrysolor, who taught in 13961399 in Florence. The first translators from Greek came from his school, the best of whom was Leonardo Bruni, who translated the works of Plato and Aristotle. Interest in Greek culture increased with the move to Italy of Greeks from Byzantium besieged by the Turks (Theodore of Gaza, George of Trebizond, Vissarion, etc.), and the arrival of Gemistus Pletho at the Ferrara-Florentine Cathedral. Greek and Latin manuscripts were copied and preserved in the libraries that emerged during this period, the largest of which were the papal, the Medici library, Federigo Montefeltro in Urbino, Niccolo Niccoli, Vissarion, who became a cardinal of the Roman church.
Thus, an extensive fund of ancient classics and early Christian authors was created, necessary for the development of humanistic ideas and teachings.
15th century was the heyday of Italian humanism. Humanists of the first half of the century, occupied with practical issues of life, had not yet revised the foundations of traditional views. The most common philosophical basis for their ideas was nature, the requirements of which were recommended to be followed. Nature was called divine (“or god”, “that is, god”), but humanists did not have developed ideas of pantheism. Understanding nature as “good” led to the justification of human nature, the recognition of good nature and man himself. This displaced the idea of ​​the “sinfulness” of nature and led to a rethinking of ideas about original sin. Man began to be perceived in the unity of soul and body; the contradictory understanding of this unity, characteristic of early humanism, was replaced by the idea of ​​harmony. To the high appreciation of the body that appeared in humanism (Lorenzo Valla, Gianozzo Manetti, etc.), a positive perception of the emotional and sensory sphere departing from asceticism was added (Salutati, Valla, etc.). Feelings were recognized as necessary for life, knowledge and moral activity. They should not be killed, but transformed by reason into virtuous actions; directing them to good deeds with the help of will and reason is a titanic effort, akin to the exploits of Hercules (Salyutati).
A radical revision in humanism of the traditional attitude to issues of emotional and volitional life helped to establish the image of a strong-willed person, deeply attached to the world. This created a new psychological orientation for man, not medieval in spirit. Attuning the psyche to an active and positive attitude towards the world affected the general feeling of life, the understanding of the meaning of human activity, and ethical teachings. The idea of ​​life, death and immortality changed. The value of life (and the value of time) increased, death was perceived more acutely, and immortality, a topic that became widely discussed in humanism, was understood as memory and glory on earth and as eternal bliss in paradise with the restoration of the human body. Attempts at a philosophical substantiation of immortality were accompanied by fantastic descriptions of pictures of heavenly bliss (Bartolomeo Fazio, Valla, Manetti), while the humanistic paradise retained whole person, made earthly pleasures more perfect and refined, including those of an intellectual nature (speaking all languages, mastering any science and any art), that is, he continued earthly life indefinitely.
But the main thing for humanists was the affirmation of the earthly purpose of human life. She thought differently. This includes the maximum perception of the goods of the world (Valla’s teaching on pleasure) and its creative development (Leon Batista Alberti, Manetti), and civil service (Salutati, Bruni, Matteo Palmieri).
The main area of ​​interest of humanists of this period were issues of practical life behavior, which were reflected in the development by humanists of ethical and related political ideas and teachings, as well as educational ideas.
The paths of ethical searches of humanists differed depending on the following of one or another ancient author and on public demands. A civic ideology has developed in the city-republics. Civil humanism (Bruni, Palmieri, Donato Acciaiuoli, etc.) was an ethical and at the same time socio-political movement, the main ideas of which were considered the principles of the common good, freedom, justice, legal equality, and the best state system is a republic, where all these principles can be implemented in the best possible way. The criterion of moral behavior in civil humanism was service to the common good; in the spirit of such service to society, a person was brought up, subordinating all his actions and deeds to the good of the fatherland.
If the Aristotelian-Ciceronian orientation was dominant in civil humanism, then the appeal to Epicurus gave rise to the ethical teachings of Valla, Cosimo Raimondi and others, in which the principle of personal good was the moral criterion. It was derived from nature, from the natural desire of every person for pleasure and avoidance of suffering, and the desire for pleasure became at the same time a desire for one’s own benefit; but this desire for Valla did not come into conflict with the good and benefit of other people, for its regulator was the correct choice of a greater good (and not a lesser one), and they were love, respect, trust of neighbors, more important for a person than the satisfaction of transitory personal material interests. The attempts observed in Valla to reconcile Epicurean principles with Christian ones testified to the humanist’s desire to root the ideas of individual good and pleasure in contemporary life.
The principles of stoicism that attracted humanists served as the basis for the internal strengthening of the individual, her ability to endure everything and achieve everything. The inner core of personality was virtue, which served as a moral criterion and reward in Stoicism. Virtue, a very common concept in the ethics of humanism, was interpreted broadly, meaning both a set of high moral qualities and a good deed.
So ethics discussed norms of behavior demanded by society, which needed both strong personalities and the protection of their interests, as well as in the protection of civil interests (in city-republics).
The political ideas of humanism were associated with ethical ones and, to a certain extent, were subordinated to them. In civil humanism, the priority among the forms of government of the republic was based on the best protection by this state system of the ideas of the common good, freedom, justice, etc. Some humanists (Salutati) offered these principles and the experience of the republic as a guide to action even for monarchs. And among the humanist defenders of autocracy (Giovanni Conversini da Ravenna, Guarino da Verona, Piero Paolo Vergerio, Titus Livius Frulovisi, Giovanni Pontano, etc.), the sovereign appeared as the focus of humanistic virtues. Instructing people in proper behavior, showing what humane states should be, making their well-being dependent on the personality of the humanistic ruler and on compliance with a number of principles of an ethical and legal nature in the republics, the humanism of this time was essentially a great pedagogy.
Pedagogical ideas themselves received an unusual flowering during this period and became the most important achievement of the entire Renaissance. Based on the ideas of Quintilian, Pseudo-Plutarch and other ancient thinkers, having adopted their medieval predecessors, humanists (Vergerio, Bruni, Palmieri, Alberti, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, Maffeo Veggio) developed a number of pedagogical principles, which together represented a single concept of education. The famous Renaissance teachers Vittorino da Feltre, Guarino da Verona and others put these ideas into practice.
Humanistic education was considered secular, socially open, it did not pursue professional goals, but taught “the craft of man” (E. Garin). The individual was instilled with hard work, a desire for praise and glory, a sense of self-esteem, and a desire for self-knowledge and improvement. Brought up in the spirit of humanistic harmony, a person had to receive a diverse education (but based on ancient culture), acquire high moral qualities, physical and mental fortitude and courage. He must be able to choose any business in life and achieve public recognition. The process of education by humanists was understood as voluntary, conscious and joyful; associated with it were the methods of a “soft hand”, the use of encouragement and praise, and the rejection or limitation of corporal punishment. The natural inclinations and character traits of the children were taken into account, and the methods of education were adapted to them. The family was given serious importance in education; the role of a “living example” (father, teacher, virtuous person) was highly valued.
Humanists consciously introduced such an ideal of education into society, affirming the purposeful nature of education, the inextricable connection between education and upbringing and the priority of educational tasks, subordinating education to social goals.
The logic of the development of humanism, associated with the deepening of its ideological foundations, led to the development in it of questions relating to the relationship to the world and God, to the understanding of man’s place in the hierarchy of divine creations. Humanism as a worldview seemed to be built to the top, now capturing not only vital and practical spheres (ethico-political, pedagogical), but also issues of an ontological nature. The development of these issues began with Bartolomeo Fazio and Manetti in their writings, where the topic of human dignity was discussed. In this theme, posed back in Christianity, dignity was expressed in the image and likeness of God. Petrarch was the first of the humanists to develop this idea, give it a secular character, highlighting the reason that allowed man, despite all the negative consequences of the Fall (weakness of the body, illness, mortality, etc.) to successfully arrange his life on earth, conquering and putting animals into his service , inventing things to help him live and overcome bodily weakness. Manetti went even further, in his treatise On the Dignity and Superiority of Man, he consistently discusses the excellent properties of the human body and its purposeful structure, the high creative properties of his soul (and above all the rational ability) and the dignity of man as a physical-spiritual unity as a whole. Based on a holistic understanding of man, he formulated his main task on earth - to cognize and act, which constitutes his dignity. Manetti initially acted as a collaborator with God, who created the earth in its original form, while man cultivated it, decorated it with arable land and cities. Carrying out his task on earth, through this man simultaneously comes to know God. There is no sense of traditional dualism in the treatise: Manetti’s world is beautiful, man acts intelligently in it, making it even better. But the humanist only touched on ontological problems, raising the question of the world and God. He didn't revise the fundamentals traditional worldview.
The humanists of the Florentine Platonic Academy, Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, approached these issues more radically. Florentine Neoplatonism became a logical development of previous humanism, which needed a philosophical justification for its ideas, built mainly on the old ontology. Now dealing with the problems of the relationship between the world and God, God and man, humanists entered into areas hitherto unknown, which were the subject of attention of theologians. With the help of the ideas of Plato and the Neoplatonists, they moved away from the ideas of the creation of the world from nothing and the traditional ideas of dualism (world matter, God spirit) and began to interpret general philosophical issues differently. Ficino understood the emergence of the world as the emanation (outflow) of the One (God) into the world, which led to its pantheistic interpretation. Filled with the light of divinity, which imparts unity and beauty to the world, it is beautiful and harmonious, animated and warmed by the heat emanating from light - the love that permeates the world. Through deification the world receives its highest justification and exaltation. At the same time, the person who receives his place in this world is elevated and deified. Based on the ancient ideas of the microcosm, humanists expressed thoughts about the universality of human nature as a connection between everything created or about its participation in everything created by God. Ficino in the essay Plato's Theology on the Immortality of the Soul defined man through the soul and spoke of his divinity, which constitutes the dignity of man and is expressed in his immortality. In Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man, the universal human nature, which gives him superiority over all created things, serves as the basis for free choice, which constitutes the dignity of man and is his destiny. Free choice, carried out by the free will given to a person by God, is the choice of one’s own nature, place and destination, it occurs with the help of moral and natural philosophy and theology and helps a person to find happiness both in earthly life and after death.
Florentine Neoplatonism gave man and the world the highest justification, although it lost the sensory perception of the world and the harmonious understanding of man as a bodily-spiritual unity characteristic of previous humanism. He brought to its logical conclusion and philosophically substantiated the tendency towards the elevation and justification of man and the world contained in previous humanism.
In an effort to reconcile Neoplatonism and Christianity, Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola developed thoughts about a “universal religion”, inherent in humanity from time immemorial and identical with universal wisdom; Christianity was thought of as a particular, although the highest, manifestation of it. Such ideas, contrary to revealed religion, led to the development of religious tolerance.
Florentine Neoplatonism, whose influence on the humanistic and natural philosophical thought and art of Italy and all of Europe was very strong, did not exhaust all humanistic quests. Humanists (such as Filippo Beroaldo, Antonio Urceo (Codrus), Galeotto Marzio, Bartolomeo Platina, Giovanni Pontano and others) were also interested in the natural consideration of man, which they included within the framework of natural laws. In man, they studied what was amenable to natural comprehension - the body and its physiology, bodily properties, health, quality of life, nutrition, etc. Instead of admiring the boundlessness of human knowledge, they talked about the difficult path of searching for truth, fraught with errors and misconceptions. The role of non-moral values ​​(work and ingenuity, healthy lifestyle, etc.) has increased; the question was raised about the development of human civilization, about the role of labor in the movement of humanity towards a more perfect life (Pandolfo Collenuccio, Pontano). Man was not raised to heaven, remembering his mortality, while the awareness of the finitude of existence led to new assessments of life and death, and a weak interest in the life of the soul. There was no glorification of man; they saw both good and bad sides in life; both man and life were often perceived dialectically. Humanists, especially university ones, focused mainly on Aristotle and considered him as a representative of ancient natural science, showing interest in natural philosophy, medicine, astrology and using the data of these sciences in the study of man.
The diversity of humanistic searches shows that humanistic thought tried to cover all areas human existence and study them, relying on various ideological sources Aristotle, Plato, Epicurus, Seneca, etc. In general, Italian humanism of the 15th century. had a positive assessment of man and his existence in the world. A number of humanists (Valla, Manetti, etc.) are characterized by an optimistic view of life and man, others looked at him more soberly (Alberti) and although the original qualities of a person were considered excellent, but comparing them with the practice of life, they denounced human vices. Still others continued to be influenced by the traditional idea of ​​miseria (the miserable fate of man in the world), deriving from it all troubles and misfortunes.
16th century turned out to be a time of difficult trials for humanism. The Italian wars, the threat of the Turkish invasion, the movement of trade routes to the West due to the fall of Byzantium and the decline in trade and economic activity in Italy influenced the moral and psychological climate in the country and reduced its vitality. Deception, betrayal, hypocrisy, self-interest, which had spread in society, did not allow the former hymns to be composed for a person whose life impulses turned out to be baser than previously imagined. At the same time, an increasing discrepancy between reality and humanistic ideals, their utopianism and bookishness was revealed. Faith in man was questioned, his nature was rethought as absolutely good and a more sober understanding of the essence of man arose, and the departure from abstract sublime ideas was accompanied by an appeal to the experience of life. There was a need to consider the existing order of things, on the basis of a new understanding of man (real, not imaginary), formed and changing under the influence of life practice. Thus, with the help of a new method, Machiavelli’s political teaching was built, which diverged from the previous ideas of his humanist predecessors. Machiavelli's ruler is not the embodiment of humanistic virtues, he acts, showing or not showing, depending on the circumstances, good qualities, for his action must be successful (and not virtuous). Machiavelli saw strong rulers as a guarantee of ordering social life for the common good.
Traditional ideas and approaches (anthropocentrism, the idea of ​​dignity, the good nature of man, etc.) continued to be discussed in humanism, sometimes retaining their attractiveness (Galeazzo Capra, Giambattista Gelli). But from now on they were not indisputable and were discussed with reference to the practice of life, with the desire to give high ideas a concrete and purely earthly expression (discussion in B. Castiglione and G. Capra of the topic of dignity in men and women). These approaches were combined with attempts to move away from the anthropocentric vision of man, both with the help of Neoplatonism (the rejection of the anthropomorphic understanding of God and the recognition of higher forms of life in space compared to human ones in Marcellus Palingenius in the Zodiac of Life), and by comparing man with animals and doubting justice human dimension of values ​​(Machiavelli in The Golden Ass, Gelli in Circe). This meant that humanism was deprived of its main ideas and positions, its core. In the 16th century Along with humanism, actively influencing it, science (Leonardo da Vinci and others) and natural philosophy (Bernardino Telesio, Pietro Pomponazzi, Giordano Bruno, etc.) are developing, in which the subject of discussion increasingly became topics considered humanistic (problems of man, ethics, social structure of the world, etc.). Gradually giving way to these areas of knowledge, humanism as an independent phenomenon left the historical stage, turning into philology, archeology, aesthetics, and utopian thought.
In other European countries, humanism developed from the end of the 15th century. until the beginning of the 17th century. He was able to perceive a number of ideas of Italian culture, as well as fruitfully use the ancient heritage discovered by the Italians. The life conflicts of that time (wars, the Reformation, Great geographical discoveries, the tension of social life) had a strong influence on the formation of the ideas of humanism and its features. The worldview of humanism turned out to be more closely connected with the problems of national life; humanists were concerned about the problems of the political unification of the country (Ulrich von Hutten) and the preservation of state unity and strong autocracy (Jean Bodin); they began to respond to social problems poverty, deprivation of producers of the means of production (Thomas More, Juan Luis Vives). Sharply criticizing the Catholic Church and publishing works of early Christian literature, humanists contributed to the preparation of the Reformation. The influence of Christianity on humanism in the rest of Europe was stronger than in Italy, which led to the formation of “Christian humanism” (John Colet, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More, etc. .). It was an ethical teaching, which was based on love for one's neighbor and the active transformation of society on the basis of the teachings of Christ, and which was not in conflict with the requirements of nature and was not alien to ancient culture.
Humanism was characterized by a critical attitude not only towards the Catholic Church, but also towards society, public institutions, the state and its policies (Mohr, Francois Rabelais, Sebastian Brant, Erasmus, etc.); in addition to moral vices - the object of constant humanistic criticism (especially in Germany in the literature about fools), humanists denounced new and hitherto unprecedented vices that appeared during the period of acute religious struggle and wars, such as fanaticism, intolerance, cruelty, hatred of man, etc. (Erasmus, Montaigne). It is no coincidence that it was during this period that the ideas of tolerance (Louis Leroy, Montaigne) and pacifism (Erasmus) began to be developed.
Interested in the development of society, the humanists of that time, unlike the early ones who considered human improvement and moral progress to be the basis for the development of society, paid more attention to science and production, believing them to be the main engine of human development (Bodin, Leroy, Francis Bacon). Man now appeared not so much in his moral quality, but in the omnipotence of thought and creation, and in this there were, along with gains, losses - the loss of morality from the sphere of progress.
The view of man also underwent changes. His idealization and exaltation, characteristic of early humanism, disappeared. Man began to be perceived as a complex, constantly changing, contradictory creature (Montaigne, William Shakespeare), and the idea of ​​kindness was called into question human nature. Some humanists tried to view man through the prism of social relations. Even Machiavelli considered laws, the state and power to be factors that could curb people’s desire to satisfy their own interests and ensure their normal life in society. Now More, observing the order in contemporary England, raised the question of the influence of social relations and state policy on a person. He believed that by depriving the producer of the means of production, the state thereby forced him to steal, and then sent him to the gallows for theft, so for him a thief, a tramp, a robber is a product of a poorly structured state, certain relations in society. Among the Utopians, More's fantasy created such social relations that allowed a person to be moral and realize his potential, as humanists understood them. Formulated in a humanistic spirit the main task Utopian states that provide a person with a happy life: provide citizens with the greatest amount of time after physical labor (“bodily slavery”) for spiritual freedom and education.
Thus, starting from man and placing on him responsibility for the structure of social life, humanists came to a state responsible for man.
By including man in society, humanists even more actively included him in nature, which was facilitated by natural philosophy and Florentine Neoplatonism. The French humanist Charles de Beauvel called man the consciousness of the world; the world looks into his mind in order to find in it the meaning of his existence; knowledge of man is inseparable from knowledge of the world, and in order to know man, one must begin with the world. And Paracelsus argued that man (microcosm) consists in all its parts of the same elements as the natural world (macrocosm), being part of the macrocosm, it is known through it. At the same time, Paracelsus spoke about the power of man, his ability to influence the macrocosm, but human power was asserted not along the path of the development of science, but on magical-mystical paths. And although humanists did not develop a method of understanding man through nature, the inclusion of man in nature led to radical conclusions. Michel Montaigne, in his Experiments, deeply questioned the idea of ​​man's privileged place in nature; he did not recognize the subjective, purely human standard, according to which a person ascribed to animals such qualities as he wanted. Man is not the king of the Universe; he has no advantages over animals, which have the same skills and properties as humans. According to Montaigne, in nature, where there is no hierarchy, everyone is equal, a person is neither higher nor lower than others. Thus, Montaigne, by denying man the high title of King of the Universe, crushed anthropocentrism. He continued the line of criticism of anthropocentrism outlined by Machiavelli, Palingenia, Gelli, but did it more consistently and reasonedly. His position was comparable to the ideas of Nicolaus Copernicus and Bruno, who deprived the Earth of its central place in the Universe.
Disagreeing with both Christian anthropocentrism and the humanistic elevation of man to God, Montaigne included man in nature, life in accordance with which does not humiliate man, being, according to the humanist, a truly human life. The ability to live humanly, simply and naturally, without fanaticism, dogmatism, intolerance and hatred constitutes the true dignity of a person. Montaigne’s position, preserving the primary interest in man inherent in humanism and at the same time breaking with his exorbitant and unlawful exaltation, including man in nature, turned out to be at the level of problems of both his time and subsequent eras.
Subjecting a revaluation of man, humanists of the 16th century. retain faith in the power of knowledge, in the high mission of education, in reason. They inherited the most fruitful ideas of Italian principles of education: the priority of educational tasks, the connection between knowledge and morality, the ideas of harmonious development. The peculiarities that emerged in their pedagogy were associated both with the new conditions in which humanism developed, and with the revaluation of man. In humanistic writings on education, there was a strong criticism of family education and parents, as well as schools and teachers (Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne); thoughts appeared about a school under the control of society to exclude all cases of cruelty and violence against the individual (Erasmus, Vives). The main path of education, according to humanists, lay through education, which was enriched by them with the concept of “game”, visualization (Erasmus, Rabelais), observation natural phenomena and acquaintance with various crafts and arts (Rabelais, Eliot), through communication with people and travel (Montaigne). The understanding of knowledge has expanded, which includes various natural disciplines and the works of humanists themselves. Ancient languages ​​continued to be the main tools of education, but at the same time knowledge of the Greek language deepened. Some humanists criticized teachers (“pedants”) and schools, where the study of the classical heritage became an end in itself and the educational nature of education was lost (Montaigne). Interest in studying the native language grew (Vives, Eliot, Esham); some humanists proposed teaching in it (More, Montaigne). The specifics of childhood and the peculiarities of child psychology were comprehended more deeply, taking into account which Erasmus, for example, explained the game used in teaching. Erasmus and Vives spoke about the need to improve the education and upbringing of women.
Although humanism of the 16th century. became more mature, and the writings of significant humanists (Machiavelli, Montaigne) paved the way for the next era, humanism as a whole, due to the rapid development of production and technical progress, gave way to science and new philosophy. Having fulfilled his mission, he gradually left the historical stage as an integral and independent teaching. There is no doubt about the value of the humanistic experience of a comprehensive study of man, who for the first time became an independent object of attention for researchers. The approach to man as a generic being, as a simple person, and not a member of a corporation, not a Christian or a pagan, independent or free, opened the way to new times with its ideas about rights and freedoms. Interest in personality and ideas about human capabilities, actively introduced by humanists into people’s consciousness, instilled faith in human creativity and transformative activity and contributed to this. The fight against scholasticism and the discovery of antiquity, coupled with the education of educated and creatively thinking people in humanistic schools, created the preconditions for the development of science.
Humanism itself gave rise to a whole series of sciences: ethics, history, archeology, philology and linguistics, aesthetics, political teachings, etc. The emergence of the first intelligentsia as a certain layer of the population is also associated with humanism. Self-affirming, the intelligentsia substantiated its importance through high spiritual values ​​and consciously and purposefully asserting them in life, did not allow the society of beginning entrepreneurship and initial accumulation of capital to descend into the abyss of greed and the pursuit of profit.
Nina Revyakina