THE CONCEPT OF GNOSTICISM IN THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF E. VOEGELIN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26565/2226-0994-2020-62-6Keywords:
Voegelin, political philosophy, ideology, modernity, GnosticismAbstract
The article discusses the concept of political Gnosticism, developed by the philosopher Eric Voegelin. This concept is one of the main elements of Voegelin’s political philosophy, in which he answers the question about the essence of modern politics. Voegelin believes that modernity is the result of the historical victory of the ideology of “Gnosticism”. The historical roots of Gnosticism, says Voegelin, should not be sought in late antiquity, but in the Middle Ages. Based on the ideas of Christian mystics, such as Joachim of Flore, an ideology of Gnosticism was formed, which spread in the Western world and became a powerful political force. This force accomplished the “great Gnostic revolution” and shaped modern society. Examples of modern Gnostic regimes are progressivism, positivism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, communism, fascism, National Socialism. Modern political science is not able to give a critical understanding of Gnosticism, since it itself is a product of Gnostic ideology. Therefore, modern political science needs to restore its fundamental principles, which were established by ancient philosophers, the founders of the philosophy of politics. Voegelin calls this the reteoretisation of political science. The author of the article analyzes the theoretical and historical grounds of Voegelin’s concept and concludes that one of the sources of his theory of political Gnosticism is Hegel’s doctrine of unhappy consciousness. The article also proves that Voegelin’s concept of Gnosticism is not identical with historical Gnosticism. The author also analyzes the reasons why political science of the twentieth century did not accept this concept and did not draw conclusions from criticism of political science in the work “New Science of Politics” by Voegelin. The article concludes that the changes that are taking place in the modern world force us to reconsider and overestimate Voegelin’s concept, which, in our opinion, has great heuristic potential.
References
Arendt, H. (1953). The Origins of Totalitarianism: A Reply. The Review of Politics, 15(1), 76–84.
Cooper, B. (2011). Eric Voegelin and the Foundations of Modern Political Science. Columbia & London: University of Missouri Press.
Hegel, G. W. F. (2004). The Phenomenology of Spirit. (P. Tarashhuk, Trans.). Kyiv: “Osnovy”, Solomiia Pavlychko’s Publishing House. (Original work published 1807). (In Ukrainian).
Jardine, M. (1995). Eric Voegelin’s Interpretation(s) of Modernity: A Reconsideration of the Spiritual and Political Implications of Voegelin’s Therapeutic Analysis. The Review of Politics, 57(4), 581–605. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500018647.
Jonas, H. (1934). Gnosis und Spätantiker Geist (Teil I: Die Mythologische Gnosis). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. (In German).
Kelsen, H. (2004). A New Science of Politics: Hans Kelsen’s Reply to Eric Voegelin’s “New Science of Politics”. A Contribution to the Critique of Ideology. Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110327717.
McAllister, T. V. (1996). Revolt against Modernity: Leo Strauss, Eric Voegelin, and the Search for a Postliberal Order. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Voegelin, E. (1952). The New Science of Politics: An Introduction (Charles R. Walgreen Foundation Lectures). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Voegelin, E. (1990). On Hegel: A Study in Sorcery. In E. Voegelin, Published Essays 1966–1985. The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin (Vol. XII, pp. 213–256). Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
Voegelin, E. (2011). Autobiographical Reflections (Revised Edition with Glossary). Columbia & London: University of Missouri Press.
Webb, E. (1981). Eric Voegelin: Philosopher of History. Seattle & London: University of Washington Press.
Williams, M. (1996). Rethinking “Gnosticism”: An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400822218.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication of this work under the terms of a license Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
3.gif){kind=logo}
