The concept of civic humanism: Polemics about the “Baron thesis” in the Renaissance studies

Introduction. The paper brings the analysis of the history of the theory of “civic humanism”. In his early works (1930–1940) H. Baron proposed a new vision of humanistic political philosophy as a republican worldview linked to contemporary political and social life of Italian citystates. This vision gained a wide popularity as well as his monographs of 1950s. At the same time the so-called “Baron thesis” was accepted as a new paradigm of the Renaissance studies and – on the other hand – was exposed to a detailed scrutiny and critics. Theoretical analysis. Baron’s opponents argued that his theory was chronologically incorrect, and his reasons for linking “civic humanism” to Florentine politics lacked weight. Nevertheless in fact they accepted Baron’s statements about the content of the political philosophy of humanists. The proponents of the “Baron thesis” (e.g. J. Pocock) revised his concept of civic humanism as a frame of the development of political philosophizing from medieval patterns to the Modernity. Conclusion. A revised version of the theory of civic humanism provided a useful tool for studies of Early Modern philosophy. Its further development should be directed to new fields of research such as utopian studies, comparative studies of monarchical and republican ideologies and national traditions of political and philosophical thought.