On The Ideology Of Herder's National Culture

Herder is one of the most important thinkers in the late 18 th century of German,he is known as the "father of cultural nationalism",also is known as a pioneer of " Sturm und Drang".He put the developmental culture as a national chain and a source of national community belonging,criticized the Unigram of philosophy of French enlightenment.When French culture became an indicator of world civilization because of the success made by France on the political and economic in the 18 th century,many poor countries and regions appreciated it blindly,especially in Germany,even to deny it?s our national culture.In the face of the deep crisis of national culture,herder rethought the French enlightenment ideas,explored the origins of the national culture historically and logically,to seek out the unification of German.About the origins of history and culture,herder thought that Besonnenheit ——the combination of people's emotional power and rational thinking——is the essential property of human being,which made the difference between animals and human beings.He thought that the Besonnenheit gave the birth to human language,mythology,religion,literature and art,so this is the natural expression of human,also provided a living organic force of history.Also because people lived in the different regions,gradually each nation had its own national culture style,as a result,become distinct property of each nation,is also the source of the nation-state identity,so it cannot be judged by any subjective value.Thus he criticized the idea of absolute rational of the enlightenment,abandoned their mechanical progressive view of history and self-centered political nationalism and Unigram.So we can say that on the reflection of enlightenment philosophy,herder formed a very private cultural nationalism thought,namely the historical and cultural nationalism of organic and multiple value,thus opened the German romanticism,triggered a major trend of thoughts in European,also provided ideas to the nations of underdeveloped regions such as Asia,Africa and Latin America.