WERNER JAEGER: THE CONCEPT OF THE “THIRD HUMANISM”

Abstract

The article examines the development of the classical humanist tradition in German thought of the 20th century and the main figure of this tradition - Werner Jaeger. The authors analyze the situation in German classical studies at the beginning of the 20th century and conclude that the German project of classical philology, Altertumswissenschaft, was in a state of crisis at that time. Jaeger and his associates proposed a way out of this crisis with the help of the concept of "third humanism". "Third humanism" became a significant phenomenon in the spiritual movement of the beginning of the 20th century in Europe. Jaeger calls this humanism "third", because he considers the first humanism of the Renaissance, and the second - German humanism of the 18-19 centuries. The main principle of "third humanism" is the conviction that ancient culture not only had a great influence on the peoples of subsequent eras, but also became an eternal model of culture for all mankind. Humanism is a tradition through which antiquity can give us an impetus to preserve the "immutable values" embodied in Greek culture. Jaeger also analyzes the influence of ancient humanism on medieval Christian thinkers and argues that they drew on ancient political philosophy in their teachings about the church. The authors explain the fact that Jaeger's concept was not widely known for a long time because it was falsely associated with Nazi ideology in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. The article presents arguments against this misunderstanding of the third humanism and all Jaeger's ideas. The final conclusions from the article indicate that the concept of the third humanism is a promising direction in modern classical studies, it can also become an effective strategy of cultural development, education policy, which is oriented towards humanistic goals. The authors also insist that the ideology of the third humanism can become a way to develop a truly humanistic policy in the modern world.