The concept of reason elaborated by Enlightenment has been the subject of an intense debate in the framework of the recovery of interest that contemporary philosophy has shown for 18th century thought and art. Philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century have wondered if the ethical and political crisis of contemporary world could be attributed to Enlightenment (to the "poverty of experience" produced by the valorization of reason) or not rather to the eclipse of Enlightenment, even among those who considered themselves his heirs. Did the crisis arise from the renonciation of the eighteenth-century rational project or vice versa from its being left incomplete? Analyzing some texts by Jürgen Habermas, Michel Foucault, Jean Starobinski, the paper discusses the way Enlightenment was thought to be the moment of the coming of idea that the civilization that must be promoted is a civilization that bears its own permanent crisis, thanks to the use of the most alerted and independent reason. A reason capable of understanding the real world – that is, civilization as a fact acquired – to which however it would be able to propose the project of a civilization more in line with the need for a real universality.

«Il più commovente dei tradimenti»? Critica ed etica nel dibattito contemporaneo sulla ragione illuminista

Carmelo Colangelo
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2020-01-01

Abstract

The concept of reason elaborated by Enlightenment has been the subject of an intense debate in the framework of the recovery of interest that contemporary philosophy has shown for 18th century thought and art. Philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century have wondered if the ethical and political crisis of contemporary world could be attributed to Enlightenment (to the "poverty of experience" produced by the valorization of reason) or not rather to the eclipse of Enlightenment, even among those who considered themselves his heirs. Did the crisis arise from the renonciation of the eighteenth-century rational project or vice versa from its being left incomplete? Analyzing some texts by Jürgen Habermas, Michel Foucault, Jean Starobinski, the paper discusses the way Enlightenment was thought to be the moment of the coming of idea that the civilization that must be promoted is a civilization that bears its own permanent crisis, thanks to the use of the most alerted and independent reason. A reason capable of understanding the real world – that is, civilization as a fact acquired – to which however it would be able to propose the project of a civilization more in line with the need for a real universality.
2020
978-88-6887-086-7
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/4752832
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