NATIONALISM IN THE THOUGHT OF JOHANN GOTTFRIED HERDER

Abstract

Herder, who lived between 1744 and 1803, was a significant Enlightenment thinker. He made considerable contributions to history of philosopy, philosophy of politics and philosophy of history thanks to his ideas he put forward. Showing a critical attitude toward the general perception of his age, he stressed the thought of nationalism in the seek of a solution for the problems he had seen and conributed to nationalism significantly. The Enlightenment project, along with the development of the idea of nation-state, actually revealed a conception of nationalism for changing and transforming societies. Thus, this conception does not mean that societies exhibit their own selves; it is rather an expression of the West’s definition regarding its superiority and setting its boundaries with other nations. Therefore, the understanding of nationalism within this project presents an inappropriate comprehension of the content of nationalizm. Nationalism is also confused with racism. For this reason, the main purpose of our work is to propound a more correct definition of nationalism based on Herder’s thoughts