Eminescu et l’État: un pacte social sur des fondements schopenhaueriens
Eminescu and the State: a Social Pact on Schopenhauerian Foundations

Summary/Abstract: Part of Eminescu’s political thought still needs to be elucidated. In this paper, I strongly qualify the (received) opposition between his theory of ”the natural State” and the concept of ”the social contract”, which he rejects. While Eminescu does not subscribe to the contract’s democratic and liberal premises, the notion of ”a social pact” – if not the word itself – is definitely one he resorts to when expounding his theory of the ”social compensation”. He combines recent theoretical developments in economy with philosophical theories taken from the works of Spinoza, Locke, Rousseau, and last but not least, Schopenhauer. A comparative reading of his writings shows that Eminescu borrows whole passages from the German philosopher, whose influence on Eminescu's political philosophy should be strongly reassessed. The metaphysics of ”the will to live” provided him with the foundation for his own original version of the social pact which he developed within the evolutionary framework of Junimea, after Maiorescu encouraged him to move in this direction.

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