The Invention of Humanism : and the Reconfiguration of the Concept of Nature in the 19th Century / edited by Raffaele Carbone.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Carbone, Raffaele., Editor.

Series:

Philosophy, 3155-0681 ; 73

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy.

Local Subjects:

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0, 286 p.).

Edition:

1st ed. 2026.

Place of Publication:

Sesto San Giovanni : MIM Edizioni srl : Imprint: Mimesis International, 2026.

Summary:

In the second half of the eighteenth century, in an article by Quesnay that appeared in <i>Éphémérides du citoyen</i>, the word “humanism” first entered the European philosophical- cultural lexicon with the meaning of “general love of humanity”. However, it was the nineteenth century that marked a decisive turning point for the concept, thanks to the publication of a work by the philosopher and educationalist Friedrich I. Niethammer, <i>Der Streit des Philanthropinismus und Humanismus in der Theorie des Erziehungs-Unterrichts unsrer Zeit</i> (1808). Nevertheless, it seems significant, if not paradoxical, that in the very century in which the term “humanism” gained usage in philosophical, pedagogical, and literary contexts, a radically new conception of nature – and, consequently, of the link between man and nature – emerged. This conception called into question, on new foundations, the teleological vision and stylised image of nature as a set of resources and instruments that human beings could exploit for their own fulfilment and for the improvement of their living conditions. To address these issues, the chapters in this volume reconstruct the history of the concept of humanism in the nineteenth century and discuss various aspects of the relationship between humanism and a new (Darwinian) vision of nature that, ona scientific basis, entails a biological decentralisation of the human being.

Contents:

Cover

Half-Title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: THE INVENTION OF HUMANISM AND THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE CONCEPT OF NATURE IN THE 19TH CENTURY

WHAT IS HUMANISM? HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES

WILHELM VON HUMBOLDT: HUMANISM AND THE 'COSMOPOLITANISM OF DIFFERENCES' CHALLENGED BY THE NEW WORLD

INVENTING THE RENAISSANCE: JACOB BURCKHARDT AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE INDIVIDUAL

MARX'S CONCEPTION OF HUMAN NATURE

HUMANISM AND NATURALISM IN MARX'S 1844 MANUSCRIPTS: NOTES ON KOHEI SAITO'S ECOLOGICAL READING

ROUSSEAUIST PERFECTIBILITY AND DARWINIAN EVOLUTION: CROSSED ISSUES AND METHODOLOGIES

LEOPARDI'S SCEPTICAL HUMANISM BETWEEN DARWINISM AND NIHILISM

MAN AS AN EXCEPTION TO NATURE IN THE REFLECTIONS OF ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE

PROUST IN DARWIN'S GARDEN UNDERSTANDING HUMANS THROUGH NATURE

'NULLUM HOMINEM A ME ALIENUM PUTO': THE AGONIC HUMANISM OF MIGUEL DE UNAMUNO

UNSETTLING THE LAND: HENRY DAVID THOREAU AND THE HUMAN-NATURE ENTANGLEMENT

NIETZSCHE, NATURE AND ITS DOUBLE

HOW FAR PHILOSOPHERS DARE: THE ANSWER TO FEARS OF THE FUTURE BY F. C. S. SCHILLER

THE AUTHORS

INDEX.

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from title screen.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9788869775635