Data di Pubblicazione:
2022
Citazione:
Julien Benda’s political Europe and the treason of intellectuals / D. Cadeddu. - In: HISTORY OF EUROPEAN IDEAS. - ISSN 0191-6599. - (2022). [Epub ahead of print] [10.1080/01916599.2022.2121303]
Abstract:
Whenever the problem of the relationship between culture and politics is
addressed, Julien Benda undoubtedly remains the most frequently
mentioned author at the international level. His indictment of the
intellectuals’ betrayal is as famous as his speeches to the European
nation, published in 1933, about !ve years later than his widely difused
La Trahison des clercs. Throughout the Discours à la nation européenne,
the author explicitly addresses the intellectuals already mentioned in
his previous essay and asks them to assume responsibility – becoming
protagonists of a new moral revolution. His intention was to reply to
Fichte’s well-known Reden an die deutsche Nation. The idea of Europe
could be built to transcend nations, manifesting itself as the individual’s
renunciation of himself. In this way, the idea of Europe might appear as
a ‘moral act’: renouncing the distinct and the finite and turning to unity
and infnity. Benda was aware of the possible rise of a type of ‘Europhile
nationalism’. To prevent this, he saw it necessary to avoid the closure of
the nation and prolong this movement of association so that it might
increase its tendency to be inclusive. The political vision of Europe that
Julien Benda hoped for should not generate European sovereignty. But,
by prompting intellectuals to follow practical and political methods, he
consciously exploits their role – stated in La Trahison des clercs – with
the hope of building the moral and political framework of a united
Europe.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
Julien Benda; Europe; nations; intellectuals; French culture
Elenco autori:
D. Cadeddu
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