Poland’s membership of the European Union as an Expression of the Fulfilment of Enlightenment Concepts Cover Image

Członkostwo Polski w Unii Europejskiej jako wyraz realizacji idei oświeceniowych
Poland’s membership of the European Union as an Expression of the Fulfilment of Enlightenment Concepts

Author(s): Konrad Szocik
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
Keywords: European Union; secularisation; tolerance; progress; science and technology; freedom

Summary/Abstract: The European Union fulfils the philosophical concepts formulated in the European thinking of the 17th and 18th centuries. The importance of the freedom and autonomy of the individual, given prominence in the postulates of numerous philosophers of the Enlightenment, first and foremost in respect of religion and the state, constitutes the European Union’s conceptual foundation. Other aspects which attest to this connection are secularisation, inspired by the notion of tolerance and the freedom of each and every individual, and the emphasis accorded the crucial relevance of science and technology. In acceding to the European Union, Poland had both to accept and unceasingly put into practice its supreme ideas, which were inspired by the philosophical reflections of the Enlightenment.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 30
  • Page Range: 323-343
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish