Re-interpretation of the Philosophical Thought of Benjamin Constant :: Philosophy Psychological Psychology Essays

Re-interpretation of the Philosophical Thought of Benjamin agelessABSTRACT The liberal french thinker Benjamin Constant develops a conception of human temper which shows the triplicity of being human. Such triplicity manifests itself in the close connection between emotion, rationality, and animality. He also develops an idea of liberty which treats it only as a real, historically conditioned minimalization of external limitations. Liberty thus understood enjoys metaphysical rootedness in human nature.1. Introductory remarksBenjamin Constant (1767-1830), the French aristocrat, politician, one of the fathers of the French liberalism and, at the same time, the then well-known man of letters is also the author of a voluminous and almost unknown work about righteousness. It appeared in the years 1824-1833 in Paris in seven volumes, five of which are entitled De la religion consideree dans sa source, ses formes et ses developpements, and two Du Polytheisme romain considere dans ses ra pports avec la philosphie grecque et la religion chretienne. Constant wrote this work through all his life, changing the fundamental theses and supplementing them as his theoretical knowledge about religion increased and as a result of his person-to-person experiences connected with religion. Although the huge volume of the work is rather perceived as unattractive today and most of the historical material is out of date, it contains interesting philosophical theses which are the crowning achievement of the whole intellectual life of the author. These theses allow us to understand and interpret better the philosophical foundations of Constants liberalism which are created, among others, by a certain understanding of the human nature i.e. a certain philosophical anthropology, whereas the latter induces an understanding of liberty, peculiar for the Constantian liberalism.2. The human nature.Constantian theses contained in the work on religion and refering to the human nature can be fo rmulated as follows 1. A man is not entirely the product of society in which he lives and its culture, entirely he is a being that can be defined by his stable and unchangeable nature. 2. What the human nature is like can be judged by examining the behaviours common to all people and their creations, for example religion. 3. The human nature is unchangeable . However, the forms change, through which it manifests it self in various periods of the development of humanity. In peoples religious behaviour, for example, there is manifested something which is the permanent source of every religion and is inherent in human nature.