AHUM 14A00 - The Philosophical and Historical Roots of the Idea of Europe

One could say of Europe what Milan Kundera said of Central Europe: it is “not a state: it’s a culture or a fate. Its borders are imaginary and must be drawn and redrawn with each new historical situation.” The European federal project, as we know it today, was built in opposition to fascist and Nazi totalitarianism, as shown in particular by the Ventotene Manifesto, written in 1941 by three Italian philosophers, which states: “Modern civilization has taken the principle of freedom as its basis, a principle which holds that man must not be a mere instrument to be used by others but an autonomous centre of life.”

Certainly, Europe is currently experiencing a multifaceted crisis that is unfolding on several fronts. The abrupt return of war to the continent, in the form of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, has revived memories that the European project had hoped to lay to rest. At the very moment when Europe is still struggling to come to terms with its often unspoken colonial past, assertive and aggressive imperialisms—American, Russian, and Chinese—are challenging the former centrality of the Old Continent, which has become a periphery, or even a province, within an international order undergoing profound transformation. At the same time, ideological attacks on Europe—whether stemming from internal efforts to undermine it or from external interference—thrive on the European Union's institutional vulnerabilities and the still imperfect functioning of democracy at the Union level.

Does Europe truly possess distinctive qualities worth defending? This course will explore the philosophical, political, religious, and anthropological sources of the idea of Europe—sources that, depending on the historical context, serve to justify or shed light on the concrete European project of the Union. The idea of individual liberty protected by law—considered essential to “the good life”—seems to serve as a guiding thread, despite all the historical contradictions, embodied notably by colonization and wars, which have forced a constant rethinking of the meaning of this entity. This tradition of liberty has its roots in ancient Greece and in republican systems. Even when Europe was ruled by kings, two principles prevailed: subjects were not the personal property of the sovereign, and rulers were subject to a higher legal order (natural or divine law). These ideas limited the power of monarchs and paved the way for the revolutions of the late 18th century, which fostered the emergence of more republican systems. Far from being an ideology, “Europe” is a dynamic idea that, in keeping with its historical and intellectual roots, deserves to be reexamined, critiqued, and pursued.

Final exam.