Abstract
This article is the result of a study investigating the philosophy of happiness in poetry, social and political essays and in “The Letters of a Russian Traveller” by N.M. Karamzin. The research concentrates on the main stages in the development of Karamzin’s concept of happiness and its peculiarities connected with genre specifi cities of literary works. Karamzin formulated the basic ideas of the concept of happiness under the infl uence of masonic philosophy and preromantic poetry while living in Moscow in the 1780s. Earthly happiness is considered as a shadow of true celestial bliss. After breaking up with masons and going abroad Karamzin in “The Letters of a Russian Traveller” (1791–1792) offers readers a variety of viewpoints on happiness. These points of view cannot be arranged in a strict system: the author narrates a story in a manner which makes it absolutely open for a reader’s perception, i.e. profound philosophic reasoning is counterbalanced with author’s irony and naïve stories of everyday life about happiness. In his philosophic and journalistic essay “About the Happiest Time in Life” (1803) Karamzin strenuously argues with ancient and contemporary philosophers over happiness, proving that it cannot exist on the earth and catching philosophers in a deception. Karamzin’s philosophy of happiness is based on a synthesis of ancient and European conceptions of the Age of the Enlightenment. The main tenet underpinning his philosophy is the concept of ethic origin, yet true happiness and bliss are left for heaven.
Keywords
The Enlightenment, Karamzin, “The Letters of a Russian Traveller”, masonry, the philosophy of happiness, earthly happiness
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