The Influence of the Enlightenment German Philosophy on the Ideological Formation of N. M. Karamzin

Abstract

The article studies the influence of the German philosophical thought of the Enlightenment on the ideological formation of the Russian thinker, historiographer, and writer — N. M. Karamzin. It is shown that the boarding school of professor of Moscow University Johann Matthias Schaden influenced on fundamental ideas of Karamzin, which we meet in all his works. This applies to such issues as: national identity and its origins, national culture and the limits of external influence on it, education and political freedoms, people and state power, the moral image of state. His trip to Europe was played equally important role in the formation of Karamzin's philosophical and sociopolitical ideas. During his trip Karamzin visited Johann Gottfried Herder and Immanuel Kant, and also witnessed the bloody revolution in France. In the final part of the article, we compare the ideas of N. M. Karamzin and M. M. Spe-ransky and P. A. Vyazemsky about the institutionalization of rights and freedoms in the state and necessity of a constitution in Russia. M. M. Speransky and P. A. Vyazemsky were influenced by the logic of the French thought of the Enlightenment.