Oświecenie na mieliźnie
The Enlightenment runs aground

In search of the ideological sources of contemporary populism

Author(s): Krzysztof Kowaluk
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Political Theory, Political Sciences, Security and defense
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Enlightenment; emancipation; populism; anti-elitism
Summary/Abstract: The philosophy of the Enlightenment tried to reconcile two significant concepts: the idea of rational knowledge, obtained through scientific cognition, and the project of maximal approximation of reflective wisdom to human experience. However, this reconciliation failed, as demonstrated by such thinkers as David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud. Though in conflict with each other, both concepts have nevertheless become important myths stimulating the aspirations of people living in contemporary Western societies. In this perspective, the message of the populist movements should be treated instead as an expression of rebellion of one part of the Enlightenment tradition against another rather than a frontal attack on the message of the Age of Reason.

• Details
• Contents