Thomas Carlyle (also Carlisle, English Thomas Carlyle)

• Ecclefechan[d], Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, Great Britain

Start of activity

Born into a simple peasant family; destined by his parents - strict Calvinists for a spiritual career, at the age of 14 he entered the University of Edinburgh. Not wanting to be a priest, after completing his course at the university, he became a mathematics teacher in the provinces, but soon returned to Edinburgh. Here, living on casual literary earnings, for some time he intensively studied law, preparing for the practice of law; but he quickly abandoned this too, becoming carried away by German literature.

Essays on German Literature

"Prophetic grief, as deep as Dante" disguised in "sunny and refined Goethe", Carlyle considered accessible only to a few mortals.

He gave a course of lectures on German literature, in 1838 - on European literature, in 1839 - on the topic "Revolution in modern Europe". The last time I read the course was in 1840. It was the only published and therefore extant course on the role of the hero in history. The list of heroes itself: Dante, Shakespeare, Luther, Rousseau, Napoleon, Cromwell, and others. These lectures brought some income to Carlyle, and after 1840 he no longer needed money and was rarely able to move him to speak.

A book about the French Revolution. Historical and philosophical views

The same originality as these works is distinguished by the “History of the French Revolution” (“French Revolution, a history”, ), the caustic pamphlet “Chartism” (), lectures on heroes and the heroic in history (“On Hero worship”, ) and historical and philosophical reflections "Past and present" ().

Not suited to any of the established political parties, Carlyle felt lonely and thought for some time about publishing his own magazine to preach his "believing radicalism". All these works of Carlyle are imbued with the desire to reduce the progress of mankind to the life of individual outstanding personalities-heroes (according to Carlyle, world history is a biography of great people, see The Theory of Great People), to put exclusively moral duty at the basis of civilization; his political program is limited to the preaching of labor, moral feeling and faith. An exaggerated appreciation of the heroic in history and distrust of the power of institutions and knowledge led him to a formal cult of times past, more favorable to heroic people. His views are brighter than anywhere else, reflected in the twelve "Latter-day pamphlets" ("Latter-day pamphlets",); here he laughs at the emancipation of the Negroes, at democracy, philanthropy, political and economic doctrines, etc. Not only did the former enemies resent Carlyle after these pamphlets, but many admirers also ceased to understand him.

Other historical writings

Throughout the 1840s, Carlyle's views shifted towards conservatism. Gradually, in the works of Carlyle, criticism of capitalism sounded more and more muffled, and his statements directed against the actions of the masses became more and more sharp. In the book Before and Now, he painted idyllic pictures of medieval society, where simple noble customs allegedly reigned, a good monarch ensured the well-being and freedom of his subjects, and the church baked about high moral values. It was a romantic utopia that brought Carlyle closer to the feudal socialists.
Of all Carlyle's writings, the Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (1845-46), with commentaries, is of the greatest historical importance; the latter are far from impartial towards the "hero" Cromwell. Carlyle showed in a new way the role of Cromwell in the history of the country, in particular, his merits in the rise of the sea power of England and in strengthening its international prestige. The work was innovative for its time. Until that time, English historians ignored this figure, seeing in him only a “regicide” and a “tyrant”. Carlyle made an attempt to reveal the true motives and significance of Cromwell's state activities. He also tried to understand the nature of the revolution itself, but proceeded from the fact that the English Revolution, unlike the French, was of a religious nature and had no "earthly goals."
Carlyle's most extensive work is "History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great II" (1858-65), which forced him to take a trip to Germany. With many brilliant qualities, it suffers from great prolongation. Carlyle sings of this "hero-king" and admires the order of feudal Prussia.

In 1841, being dissatisfied with the policy of the British Library, he initiated the creation of the London Library.

In 1847 his Historical and Critical Essays (a collection of journal articles) appeared, in 1851 a biography of his friend of his youth, the poet Sterling. From until 1870, Carlyle was busy publishing a complete collection of his works ("Library edition", in 34 volumes). This edition was followed the following year by a cheap "People's edition", which was repeated many times. He then published a series of essays entitled "The First Norwegian Kings" (

Thomas Carlyle - was born on December 4, 1795, in the city of Ecclefehan. British (Scottish) writer, historian and philosopher. The author of books - "History of the French Revolution", "Historical and critical experiments", "Heroes and the heroic in history", "Nibelungs" and others. He died on February 5, 1881 in London.

Aphorisms, quotes, sayings, phrases Thomas Carlyle

• Don't be a slave to words.
• History is the quintessence of gossip.
• If a person knows the measure, he knows everything.
• The present is the sum of the past.
• The history of the world is the biography of great people.
• The book is the purest essence of the human soul.
• Anything can be proven with numbers.
• Metaphysics is the mind's attempt to rise above the mind.
• The most terrible disbelief is disbelief in oneself.
• Each crown of glory is also a crown of thorns.
• Cash is not the only connection between man and man.
• As far as a person conquers fear, so much is he a person.
• Life is a very short time between two eternities.
• No one knows what the crowd will do, especially the crowd itself.
• A healthy person is the most precious product of nature.
• Silence is deep as eternity; conversations are shallow, like Time.
• The worst feeling is the feeling of powerlessness.
• Of all the nations in the world, the English are the dumbest in conversation and the smartest in action.
• Man lives only in hope; hope, in fact, is his only property.
• A person cannot be irreparably bad if he laughed heartily at least once.
• The greatness of a great man is revealed in the way he treats small people.
• There is no more sad proof of the insignificance of a person than disbelief in great people.
• As soon as we feel anger during an argument, we are already arguing not for the truth, but for ourselves.
• There is always a dark spot in our radiant sky, and this is our own shadow.
• In the field of literature, they will even go so far as to pay writers for what they did not write.
• The main organ of the human body, the unshakable foundation on which the soul rests, is the wallet.
• A person who does not know how to keep his opinions to himself is not capable of anything outstanding in any business.
• Become an honest person, and then you can be sure that there is one less rogue in the world.
• Each person has his own theater under his hat, where dramas unfold, often more complex than those given in theaters.
• Music with its melody brings us to the very edge of eternity and gives us the opportunity to comprehend its greatness within a few minutes.
• Two or three is already a Society. One will become God, the other the devil, one will speak from the pulpit, the other will hang under the crossbar.
• The ideal is in yourself. The obstacles to achieving it are in you. Your position is the material from which you must realize this ideal.
• If you want to keep a person from doing something, make him talk about it: the more people talk, the less they have the inclination to do.
• It is impossible to take a single step on this earth without coming into contact with the responsibility and duty that must be fulfilled.
  Our destiny is not to try to see clearly what is remote from us and hidden in the fog, but to work on what we have at hand.

Thomas Carlyle

Carlyle, Thomas (1795-1881), English publicist, historian and philosopher. He put forward the concept of the "cult of heroes", the only creators of history.

Carlyle Thomas (1795/1881) - English philosopher and historian, author of journalistic works. Carlyle created the theory of the "cult of heroes", who, in his opinion, are the only creators of history.

Guryeva T.N. New literary dictionary / T.N. Guriev. – Rostov n/a, Phoenix, 2009 , With. 122.

Carlyle Thomas (1795-1881) English bourgeois philosopher and historian. He propagated German idealistic philosophy and reactionary romanticism, close to pantheism. Carlyle applied Fichte's doctrine of active activity of the subject as the creative beginning of the world to society, substantiating the "cult of heroes". The history of society, according to Carlyle, is the biography of great people. Carlyle is a supporter of the historical cycle of theory. His critique of capitalism is close to "feudal socialism". Modern bourgeois philosophers and sociologists use the legacy of Carlyle to fight Marxism-Leninism. Major works: "Sartor Revartus" (1834), "Heroes, the veneration of heroes and the heroic in history" (1840), "Past and Present" (1843), "History of the French Revolution" (vols. 1-3, 1837), " Modern Pamphlets" (1850).

Philosophical Dictionary. Ed. I.T. Frolova. M., 1991 , With. 182.

Philosopher

Carlyle Thomas (December 4, 1795, Ecclefehan, Dumfries, Scotland - February 5, 1881, London) - British philosopher, writer, historian and essayist. Born in the family of a bricklayer. He was brought up in the spirit of severe puritanism, in respect for a sense of duty and worship of work. From the age of 5 he studied at the local village school, starting from 1805 - at the "Latin school" in Annan. In 1809 he entered the University of Edinburgh. After completing the preparatory course (which included the study of languages, philosophy and mathematics), he abandoned the plan to take a course in theology. In 1814 he became a mathematics teacher at Annan. Here Carlyle became interested in literature, studied the German language. In 1816 he became friends with the later famous preacher E. Irving; headed a boys' school in Kirkkaldy. From December 1819 he lived in Edinburgh, studied law at the university, gave private lessons. In 1818-20 he collaborated in Brewster's Encyclopedia of Edinburgh, and in 1822 he received a job as a home teacher. The first significant publications were devoted to German literature: in 1822, Carlyle's article on Goethe's Faust appeared in the New Edinburgh Review, and in 1823-24 in the London Magazine, a series of articles entitled Schiller's Life (separate ed. 1825). In 1818-21 he experienced a spiritual crisis, which he explained by the fact that the spirit of research, driven by love for the truth, inspired him with knowledge that was contrary to the faith of childhood. Carlyle characterized his condition as a loss of hope and faith, which is everything in a person's life. The whole universe, including his own "I", seemed to him a mechanism that did not know freedom. Carlyle was tormented by his weakness, which, as he understood, could only be overcome by action, while action required awareness of one's strength, the ability to resist the necessity of a dead nature. In June 1821, Carlyle experienced a spiritual rebirth, overcoming the "nightmare of unbelief", getting rid of fear and acquiring contempt for evil. In the 1820s actively engaged in German philosophy and poetry, was fond of Goethe , Schiller , Novalis , Fr. Schlegel , Fichte And Schelling. I saw my mission in the promotion of German culture. Carlyle's worldview took shape in the era of associationist psychology, utilitarianism in ethics, and individualistic political economy dominating the spiritual life of England. Carlyle called this kind of philosophy "the mechanical philosophy of profit and loss." Carlyle rejected systems in philosophy; mysticism, romanticism, subjectivism and activism in worldview were close to him. In the 1820s recognized the logical impeccability of Holbach's "System of Nature", believed that the world is an insensitive mechanism hostile to the human "I" as a source and bearer of freedom, rebelling against the world. Recognizing the correct materialistic view of the world, Carlyle understood that it is based on the thesis of the reality of matter in time and space. Acquainted through Novalis and Fr. Schlegel with Kant's teaching on the phenomenality of space and time, Carlyle changed his views on the natural world. However, unlike Kant, he is convinced of the substantiality of the soul as a source of strength and creativity. The inner strength of the soul is manifested in the spiritual and bodily existence of a person, but Carlyle now considers the entire material world as a form of manifestation of the highest internal power - God, deifies matter as the garment of God. The eternity of God is manifested in the eternity of the past and the eternity of the future, the meeting of which constitutes the present. All history for Carlyle is a continuous revelation, and every person who seeks God and preaches about him to others is a prophet. Both nature and history, Carlyle believes, deserve reverence and an "eternal Yes." October 17, 1826 Carlyle marries Jane Walsh, until 1828 lives in Edinburgh. Publications in the 1820s devoted mainly to German literature: in 1823 his translation of Wilhelm Meister was published (Carlyle sent it to Goethe, a correspondence began, which became more and more meaningful; it was subsequently published; Carlyle's Life of Schiller was published in German with a preface by Goethe), in 1827 - article on German literature, in 1828 - articles on Goethe, Hein and Burns, in 1829 - essays on Voltaire, Novalis and the article "Signs of the Times", in 1830 - an article on history, in 1832 - three articles on Goethe, in 1833 - three articles about history, the novel "Sartor Resartus". In the years 1828-1834, due to financial difficulties, he lived on the Kregenpattock estate, where he worked on the Sartor Resartus. In 1831, while in London in connection with the troubles surrounding the publication of the novel, Carlyle met J. S. Millem. In 1833 he met R. W. Emerson, an American philosopher influenced by Carlyle; thanks to Emerson, the book "Sartor Resartus" was published as a separate edition in America (1836, in England - 1838). In 1833-34 the novel was published in Fraser's Magazine.

The novel Sartor Resartus. The Life and Thoughts of Herr Teufelsdrock is a complex literary work, replete with symbols and allegories. In the image of the protagonist, who wrote the work "Clothing, Its Origin and Philosophy", Carlyle traces the development of the human soul to freedom. In the chapters "Eternal No", "Center of Indifference" and "Eternal Yes", he depicts his own spiritual experience of the years of crisis. Carlyle argues that God and his own soul are the only support of man. Everything that exists is related to our spiritual being and, like it, comes from God. Therefore man must love the whole creation. The novel outlines Carlyle's thoughts about the world, about eternity and time, about nature, man and mind, about society, religion, the Church, symbols, ideals, immortality, past and future, etc. The philosophy of "clothing" turns into a real worldview. Space, time and everything that is in them are only symbols of God, behind which one must see the Divinity itself. But the world, the dress of God, is not dead, it is his living garment, and everything that happens in the world symbolizes the eternal activity of God. The spirit of each age burns in the flame that devours it, but instead of the end of things, the phoenix is ​​reborn. Behind the smoke we see the Divine. Therefore, a person's attitude to the world cannot be purely contemplative, he must contribute to the birth of a new phoenix. At the end of the book, Carlyle satirically depicts a modern society that has lost its inner essence, having degenerated into symbols, both on the part of the ruling classes and on the part of the proletariat.

Since 1834 Carlyle has been living in London. Here he is working on the "History of the French Revolution" (publ. 1837). In 1835 he met D. Sterling, who in 1839 wrote an essay on Carlyle's worldview - the best, according to Carlyle, of everything written about him (published in the appendix to the Russian edition of Sartor Resartus). Sterling emphasizes in Carlyle's worldview the requirement of a reverent attitude towards the world and man, treating them as a miracle; the assertion that the highest form of a person's relationship to the world is religion, which is based on a sense of the divine; this latter is itself the highest form of the divine in human existence. Carlyle also highly appreciates poetry. The main task of a person is not so much knowledge as work, creativity, which reward noble efforts. Through the confusion of past and present, one must be able to consider the foundations of human actions. Reverent observation, however, will horrify a person from evil, untruth, weakness, collisions. The moral support of a person in such a situation should be labor, courage, simplicity and truthfulness.

After the publication of Sartor Resartus, Carlyle gradually loses interest in literature, which he had not previously considered as a goal in himself, seeing in it a way to comprehend the world and man. Carlyle's worldview is developing in the direction of the philosophy of history. In the works “Signs of the Times” (1829) and “Characteristics of Our Time”, his critical position was expressed in relation to public institutions, contemporary social philosophy; Carlyle considers modern society to be sick, argues that people are too preoccupied with their "I", too worn with their problems; the most serious disease of society is the excessive wealth of some and the poverty of others. The current situation is worse than before because of the lack of faith and ideals. People do nothing intuitively, from the depths of their essence, everyone is guided by hardened recipes. They have lost faith in themselves, in the effectiveness of their own efforts, they care not about internal improvement, but about external adaptation, they are chasing external transformations. Meanwhile, reforms are premature without self-improvement, without achieving freedom, not only in the political sense. In the essay "Chartism", which had a huge public outcry, Carlyle does not speak from party positions, he considers Chartism as a symptom of social life, deeply rooted in the dissatisfaction of the workers with their position. Exploring the general causes of Chartism, Carlyle dwells in detail on various aspects of the social life of England at that time, argues with modern economists, does not accept the thesis about the temporary nature of the disasters of the working people, which supposedly will disappear by itself, does not agree with the principle of complete non-intervention of the state in economic life. In 1843, in the book "Past and Present", starting from one medieval chronicle, Carlyle compares the current situation with the past; he argues that the former strong ties between people have been replaced by a bond in the form of a monetary contract, and the current formal freedom of people has only worsened the situation, since it completely removed the responsibility for their situation from the masters. According to Carlyle, only a strong man, a genius, can properly manage a society. In The Last Day Pamphlets (1850), Carlyle criticizes modernity even more sharply, talking about slavery, government institutions, parliament, exemplary prisons (where the life of prisoners is better than the life of workers), double morality (the English profess two religions: on Sundays Christianity, in weekdays - political economy), etc. In his journalism, Carlyle speaks from the standpoint of morality, conscience and duty, pessimistically assessing the current state of society.

In 1837-40, Carlyle repeatedly spoke in London with public lectures. The last course was published under the title On Heroes, the Cult of Heroes, and the Heroic in History (1840). According to Carlyle, world history is the history, the biography of great people: educators, patrons, creators. All things existing in the world are the embodiment of their thoughts and aspirations. Great people - prophets, poets, preachers, writers, rulers. Contrary to the then prevailing tendencies, Carlyle sees in great people a miracle, something supernatural, prophets through whom there is a continuous revelation of God. Their souls are open to the divine content of life, their qualities are sincerity, originality, a sense of reality. In 1845, Carlyle published Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, and in 1851, a biography of D. Sterling. Carlyle's last major work is The Life of Frederick the Great (vols. 1-5, 1858-65). While working on the book, Carlyle visited Germany twice (1852, 1858). During the Franco-Prussian War, Carlyle published in the Times on the side of Germany, for which Bismarck awarded him the Order of Merit. Carlyle exerted a tremendous moral and literary (in particular, on Dickens, Ruskin, and others) influence on his contemporaries, defending moral values ​​in an age of revolution and change.

I. V. Borisova

New Philosophical Encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy RAS. Scientific ed. advice: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Huseynov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Thought, 2010 , vol. II, E - M, p. 218-219.

Historian

Carlyle, Carlyle, Thomas (4.XII.1795 - 4.II.1881) - English publicist, historian, philosopher. The son of a rural mason. Graduated from the University of Edinburgh (1814). The philosophical and historical views of Carlyle were formed under the strong influence of the German idealist philosophers and reactionary romantics, and partly of Saint-Simon. Engels defined Carlyle's worldview as pantheism (see K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 1, p. 589). In Carlyle's pamphlets "Chartism" ("Chartism", L., 1840), "Now and Before" (L., 1843; Russian translation - M., 1906) and other works of the 30s - early 40s, sympathy for the working people , a deep, sometimes revolutionary criticism of capitalism was combined with the apotheosis of the Middle Ages and calls for the restoration of feudal-hierarchical social relations, which brought Carlyle closer to feudal socialism. In Carlyle's best historical work, The French Revolution (L., 1837; Russian translation - St. Petersburg, 1907), along with the justification of the overthrow of rotten absolutism by the masses of the people, an extremely subjectivist idealistic concept of the "cult of heroes" is already outlined in the series of lectures "Heroes, veneration of heroes and the heroic in history" (L., 1841; Russian translation - St. Petersburg, 1908), read in 1837-1840. This concept is the basis of "Letters and speeches of Oliver Cromwell" ("Oliver Cromwell's letters and speeches", L., 1845-46). real creators of history (“the history of the world is the biography of great people”), and the masses are “the crowd, the tool in their hands”; the heroic principle in society periodically weakens, and then the blind destructive forces hidden in the crowd break out until society again discovers in "true heroes" - "leaders" (for example, Cromwell, Napoleon). Such, according to Carlyle, is the vicious circle of history. As the class struggle of the proletariat developed, Carlyle's petty-bourgeois philosophical and historical conception became more and more reactionary. (See, for example, "Pamphlets of the Last Day" (L., 1850; Russian translation - St. Petersburg, 1907), etc.) Prussian militarism "History of Friedrich II of Prussia" ("History of Friedrich II of Prussia", v. 1-13, 1858-65) testified to the deep crisis of Carlyle's historical work. The concept of Carlyle's "cult of heroes" was taken up by bourgeois historiography and is widely used by the ideologists of imperialist reaction.

I. N. Nemanov. Smolensk.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 7. KARAKEEV - KOSHAKER. 1965 .

Compositions: The works, v. 1-30, L., 1896-1905; letters. 1826-1836, v. 1-2, L.-N. Y., 1888.

Literature: Engels F., The situation of England. Thomas Carlyle. "Past and Present", K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 1; Marx K. and Engels F., Thomas Carlyle. "Modern pamphlets. No 1. The modern era. No 2. Exemplary prisons", ibid., vol. 7; Lenin, V.I., Notebooks on Imperialism, Soch., 4th ed., vol. 39, p. 509; Nemanov IN, The subjectivist-idealistic essence of T. Carlyle's views on the history of society, "VI", 1956, No 4; Froude J. A., Thomas Carlyle, N. Y., 1882; Wilson D.A., Life of Thomas Carlyle, v. 1-6, N. Y., 1923-34; Young L. M., Thomas Carlyle and the art of history, L., 1939; Gascoyne D., Thomas Carlyle, L.-N. Y., 1952.

Carlyle, Carlyle Thomas (December 4, 1795, Ecclefehan, Scotland - February 5, 1881, London), English philosopher, writer and historian. Carlyle's worldview was formed under the influence of Goethe, Fichte, Schelling and the German romantics. Opponent of French materialism and Scottish utilitarianism.

In the philosophical novel Sartor Resartus (1833-34, Russian translation, 1902), in the mythological spirit traditional for romanticism, he created a philosophical picture of the world, "dressed" in a kind of symbolic cover-emblems that hide the transcendent reality of nature and society. Following Fichte, he considered space and time as an illusion of feelings, which hides from man the divine order of the universe. Philosophy, according to Carlyle, is called upon to "unravel" the presence of the pantheistic spirit in the visible forms of the perceived world by the symbols-emblems. Cosmism is inherent in Carlyle's romantic naturalism - the desire to unite the microcosm of "appearing" nature with universal nature and eternity, identical with spirit. Carlyle's subjectivism sometimes led him to solipsism. The spiritualistic philosophy of Carlyle was used by representatives of Theosophy.

Carlyle's pantheistic symbolism extended to society and culture. He sharply criticized the Anglican Church and the whole system of bourgeois spiritual values. In the philosophy of history, Carlyle acted as the herald of the "cult of heroes" - the bearers of the divine destiny and the spiritual creators of the historical process, towering above the "average" mass. Some features of Carlyle's sociology give reason to compare it with the ideology of Nietzsche's "superman". Developing the concept of "kinship relations" between landowners and the lower classes of feudal society, he idealized the corporate structure of feudalism, passing it off as socialism. The feudal socialism of Carlyle was criticized in the "Manifesto of the Communist Party" by K. Marx and F. Engels.

Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ch. editors: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. 1983 .

Compositions: Works..., v. 1-30, L., 1899-1923; in Russian per. - Historical and critical experiments, M., 1878; Ethics of life, St. Petersburg, 1906; Franz. revolution, St. Petersburg, 1907; Heroes, the veneration of heroes and the heroic in history, St. Petersburg, 1908.

Read further:

Philosophers, lovers of wisdom

Historians (biographical guide).

Historical Persons of England (Great Britain) (biographical guide).

Compositions:

Works, v. 1-30. L., 1899-1923, in Russian. trans.: Novalis. M., 1901; Sartor Resartus. The Life and Thoughts of Herr Teufelsdrock, Vol. 1-3. M., 1902; Ethics of life. Work hard and don't give up! St. Petersburg, 1906; Now and before. M., 1906; Pamphlets of the last day. St. Petersburg, 1907; Heroes, hero-worship, and the heroic in history. St. Petersburg, 1908; Historical and critical experiences. M., 1978; French revolution. Story. M 1991.

Literature:

Yakovenko V. I. T. Carlyle, his life and literary activity. SPb., 1891; Hansel P. T. Carlyle. St. Petersburg, 1903; Kareev N. I. Thomas Carlyle. His life, his personality, his works, his ideas. Pg, 1923; Simone D. Carlyle. M., 1981; Froude J.A. Thomas Cairlyle: A History of the First Forty Years of Life, 1795-1835. L., 1882; Idem. Thomas Carlyle: A History of His Life in London, 1834-81. L., 1884; Hood E. P. T. Carlyle. Philosophic Thinker, Theologian, Historian and Poet. N.Y., 1970; Campbell I. T. Carlyle. L., 1974.

Thomas Carlyle, one of the most famous English writers and publicists of the 19th century, was born in 1795, in Puritan the family of a village bricklayer. Young Thomas attended a rural school. In 1809, Carlyle went on foot to Edinburgh, entered the university, after which he taught. In 1826, he married Jane Welsh, who stood out for her intelligence, to whom he treated, however, rather selfishly. From 1828 to 1834, Carlyle lived on her estate, devoting himself to literary pursuits. Then he moved to London, where he gave public lectures on German literature, became one of the most influential writers, and in 1865 was appointed rector of the University of Edinburgh. Thomas Carlyle died in 1881.

Carlyle began his literary career by popularizing German literature, translated Wilhelm Meister (1824, hence his correspondence with Goethe: Correspondence between Goethe and Carlyle, 1887), wrote a biography of Schiller (1825), published an anthology of works German romantics(German Romance, 1827). He was, in his philosophical views, an ill-conceived and confused follower of German idealist philosophy (see his Sartor resartus). Carlyle moved from literature to history, wrote a history of the French Revolution (in which he saw the judgment of God), a work on Cromwell (Letters and Speeches, 1845) and Frederick II (1858 - 1865). In history, Thomas Carlyle saw the product of the creativity of great people - an idea that he developed in detail in lectures, later published in the book On Heroes and the Heroic in History (1841).

As the Chartist movement grew and the revolution of 1848 approached, Carlyle devoted more and more time and attention to the social question, devoting three works to it: "Chartism" (1840), "Now and Before" (1843) and "Pamphlets" (Latter-Day Pamphlets, 1850). In his social pamphlets, Thomas Carlyle sharply criticized bourgeois society with its "mechanical" and "utilitarian" culture, the cult of the natural sciences and political economy, with its literature, which serves to entertain well-fed magnates, with its base interests, reduced to concerns about food and comfort. , with his admiration for Mammon, who supplanted God, with his economic doctrine of laissez aller (free competition), which led to "crop failures, the Chartist movement, the proclamation of a red republic", in a word, to "chaos". Rebelling against the bourgeoisie, Carlyle armed himself even more sharply against the working class, which sought to seize political power through universal suffrage (Chartism), since God created the universe, and therefore society, on the basis of "domination" and "subordination", and not "equality ".

Thomas Carlyle. Photo 1854

Carlyle believed that only a new aristocracy, "new aristoi" could save England from the reigning "chaos" and turn life into "space" again. This class should include capitalists who have understood that their purpose is not to hunt for profit, “like the Indians for scalps”, that supply and demand are not the only law of life, and wages are not the only link that connects people - and the intelligentsia , who realized that her vocation was not to “entertain” (engage in literature), but to “educate”. If these "leaders of industry" who are correctly aware of their social duties become at the head of society, the workers will willingly submit to them, as children submit to their fathers. On such principles of paternal guardianship of the upper classes and voluntary subordination of the lower classes, according to Carlyle, a feudal society was built, which he opposed, as an ideal, and offered, as a model, to his contemporaries (in "Now and Before".).

The social philosophy of Carlyle had a great influence on such writers as Dickens, Kingsley, Mrs. Gaskell, Disraeli, Ruskin and others, and was to a certain extent put into practice by the English bourgeoisie in the era of "social peace" that reigned in England after the Chartist uprisings until the 1880s. The collected works of Carlyle in 37 volumes were published in 1871 (People's Edition).

Literature on Thomas Carlyle

Masson, Carlyle. Personality and works

Garnett, Life of Thomas Carlyle

Macpherson,

Schulze-Gevernitz, Carlyle. His view of the world and society

"Democracy is the need to put up with the fact that we are not ruled by heroes"

"I don't believe in the collective wisdom of ignorant individuals"

Thomas Carlyle

Scottish writer, translator, historian.

The author believed that: “In every era of world history, we find a Great Man who can be called its savior, that spark from which a flame flares up. The history of the world has been the biography of great men." He referred to these as: Napoleon, Cromwell, Frederick II, Schiller, Goethe. And the masses Not must be seduced by false heroes and must be led by men of a higher order. If the heroic principle in society weakens, the destructive forces of the people, manifested in uprisings and revolutions, inexorably begin to act (he had a negative attitude towards the French Revolution: “Romantics conceive every revolution, fanatics carry it out, and inveterate scoundrels use its fruits”), until society again finds the true heroes in himself.

With this book, Thomas Carlyle greatly contributed to the formation of the "Cult of Heroes" in history and literature.

“The life of a great man is not a happy holiday, but a battle and a campaign, a struggle with rulers and entire principalities. His life is not an idle walk through fragrant orange groves and green flowering meadows, accompanied by singing muses and ruddy mountains, but a severe pilgrimage through hot deserts, through countries covered with snow and ice. He wanders among men; he loves them with an inexplicable tender love, mixed with compassion, a love that they cannot answer him, but his soul lives in solitude, in the distant regions of the universe.

Thomas Carlyle, Now and Before, M., "Republic", 1994, p. 337.

His collected works include 34 volumes.

By the end of life, having become famous, Thomas Carlyle refused honors. Why?

“He was not afraid of need. He wrote to his mother: “One French writer, D "Alamber(belonging to a small circle of people who really deserve the honorary title of honest), argues that everyone who devotes his life to science should take as his motto the following words: "Freedom, truth, poverty", since he who fears poverty can never achieve anything. freedom, no truth. AND Carlyle accepted poverty as inevitable. […]

The great man remained firm and indestructible, like a diamond rock, in his beliefs, and the world came to him and offered his various insignia. Queen Victoria expressed deep condolences to Carlyle on the unexpected death of his wife, and two years later she wished to meet him personally. The German emperor granted him an order, which was given only for real merit, in view of which Carlyle did not refuse to accept him. Disraeli, who was then the first minister, for his part, wanted to reward the great man by all means and offered him the choice of a baronetcy or the Order of the Garter.

But the stern puritan respected only two titles: the title of laborer and the title of thinker, sage, which no one can "give"; besides, he was childless. He renounced both the baronetcy and the Order of the Garter, and to the end of his days he maintained his simple, modest way of life. Despite all his severity, despite the philippics with which he burst out against public philanthropy, he was an extremely sensitive and sympathetic person, never refusing those who turned to him for help. In recent years, he was especially besieged by petitioners, and he helped some with money, others with recommendations; most of all, people turned to him young or worn out by life with the eternal question “what to do?” He did not refuse advice to anyone and always answered letters.

Yakovenko V.I., Thomas Carlyle: his life and literary activity / Cervantes. Shakespeare. J.-J. Rousseau. I.-V. Goethe. Carlyle: Biographical Narratives (reprint of the biographical library of F.F. Pavlenkov), Chelyabinsk, Ural, 1998, p. 424 and 487-488.

In 1898, the Germans A. Kühn and A. Kremer published a selection of statements from the works Thomas Carlyle titled: The Ethics of Life.

Thomas Carlyle was a follower of ideas I. G. Fichte And F. V. Schelling(and even published a biography of the latter).