Original scientific paper
The Social Conceptions of Franjo Rački
Tomislav Markus
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The author analyses the social conceptions of Croatian historian and publicist Franjo Rački (1828-1914) – his ideas about science, “historical progress,” culture, education, church and religion. As a nineteenth-century European intellectual, Rački firmly believed in progress in history and in the “enlightening” mission of Western civilisation. He founded his idea of social progress on the idea, at that time modern, of nationality, but also on Christianity, the main characteristic of which, in his opinion, is the equality of all men. He supported the spreading of the Slavonic liturgy and the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius, in the hope of overcoming the ecclesiastical schism between East and West. He pleaded for the foundation and development of “popular science,” which was to contribute, through the work of the Academy and the University, to the enlightenment of wider social circles. Rački advocated an anthropocentric posture and looked at nature as a repository of raw materials, which has to be mastered in order to facilitate human “progress.” In his epistemology, he differentiated between the practical side of the sciences, which contributes to the “conquest of nature,” and its theoretical side, which augments human knowledge about the world.
Keywords
Franjo Rački; science; civilisation; Christianity; Europe; progress
Hrčak ID:
62619
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2010.
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