Idolatria, liberdade cívica e consciência moral: interrogações críticas em torno do conceito carlyleano de heroísmo

Abstract

In On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History (1841), Thomas Carlyle produces an apology for exceptional individuals, pinnacles of energy in society and history, who crush ordinary people and elude the criteria of conscience. As he defines six types of heroism, Carlyle propounds a demoralization of political relationships, in theses that outrage contemporaneous readers as shown by reviews. William Thompson, for instance, ruled that On Heroes is not a Christian book. Indeed, Carlyle offers an axiology in which the discourse of duty is merged with the discourse of power under a simple principle: some individuals are meant to do and lead, others to accept and worship, without freedom of choice. In his theory of the heroes, these are justified under a privilege of self-determination, exempt from the chains of moral questioning. It is their task to be true to themselves, making up their own absolute