Hegel’s Tale in Romania

Abstract

Romanian thinkers first began to study Hegel after his influence had waned in Germany. As a nation, Romania emerged only in 1856, when the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia first came under the influence of the West through the Treaty of Paris. These were united in 1861 and received a constitution in 1866. Transylvania remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of the First World War. By the late 1860s, notable members of the soon to emerge new political and cultural elite were spending their student years in Vienna or Berlin, manifesting a strong interest in German philosophy, including Hegel. On the occasion of Hegel’s centennial commemoration in 1931 in Romania, it was even claimed: Hegel’s influence upon us Romanians manifested itself through the writings of those publicists who played a role in the creation of our political parties. Titu Maiorescu borrowed from Hegel’s philosophy, which he became acquainted with as a student in Berlin, the theories which were to form the doctrine of the conservative Romanian party. Also as a student in Berlin, Mihail Kogălniceanu attended lectures by professors belonging to the Hegelian school, thus forming his liberal views. Equally, Ion Heliade-Rădulescu, a publicist and politician of great prestige during the age of our political rebirth, stood under the indirect influence of Hegelianism, the Hegelianism represented by the Frenchman Proudhon.1 KeywordsGerman PhilosophyAbsolute IdealismHouse ArrestGreat PrestigeRomanian PhilosopherThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.