The Idea of Civil Society in the Enlightenment Age

Abstract

The authors emphasise two necessary conditions for civil society: the existence of a public space and a social activism culture that protects personal autonomy. The last condition was substantially developed in the Enlightenment Age, when the belief that civil society was a counterbalance to the state became widespread. In this article the authors justify point of view according to which the connection between the state and the civil society is subject to the dialectics of unity and struggle of opposites. The formation of civil society is closely linked to the development of the bourgeois class under the aegis of the state during the industrial revolution, which was the main focus of Enlightenment thinkers from T. Hobbes to H. Hegel. The social structures growing complexity and the bourgeois society conflict potential was reflected in the liberal constitutionalism which was the basis for diverse political changes leaded to formation of the civil society institutions. The authors conclude that a contemporary civic culture is all the more likely to be successful the deeper Enligtenment’s ideological potential, which includes the pluralism values, the free and self-governing citizen associations ideological diversity is realised .