Herald of
Culturology

Reading Amiel's diary

Vizgin V.P.

Abstract

In Russia, Henri-Frederic Amiel (1821–1881) was known due to Leo Tolstoy, who published some passages from his diary. But we have practically no research of his diary. The author of this article tries to fill this gap by giving a psychological sketch of the personality of Amel and revealing the basics of its Genesis in philosophy and culture of the 18th–19th centuries. At the same time, the author reveals the type of his philosophical worldview, which, according to the author of the article, can be designated as near-Christian humanism. According to him, it is Amiel who can be considered as an exemplary embodiment of the dreamer-idealist, “extra person” in the context of Western culture of the mid-19th century. Based on the analysis of the diary of the Swiss philosopher, the author attempts to characterize the structure of the Western mentality of the 19th century with its conventions and stamps of consciousness and, at the same time, with its depth and dynamism of the search for the truth about the world and man.

Keywords

A.-F. Amiel; moral philosophy; idealism; ideal; absolute; infinite; romanticism.

DOI: 10.31249/hoc/2020.01.13

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