Cosmopolitism and Revolution: Hervás y Panduro’s Dreams

Abstract

This paper invites us to consider the political dimension of Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro’s work as piece of criticism that, from the universalism of Christian philosophy, rethinks the modern reworking of ancient cosmopolitical ideals (of Cynical and Stoic roots). The reader will first discover, thus, the literary, political and scientific debates that explain the careful order used to place the Viaggio estatico within his Idea dell’Universo. Then, it goes on by underlining the distinctive feature of the Viaggio within his Idea, the use of a dialogue where the disciple is called Cosmopolite, that can be used to show how Hervás replies to the ideologization of the term by the Cosmopolite (1751) written by Fougeret de Monbron. Finally, it opposes the reaction of Hervás to the French Revolution to the Stoic turn of cosmopolitism represented by the work of Kant’s critical period developed between 1781 and 1795.