Influențe și originalitate în manuscrisele filosofice ale lui Simion Bărnuțiu. Remarci despre terminologie

While teaching philosophy in Blaj (1839–1845) and then in Iași (1855–1864), Simion Bărnuțiu focused his lectures on ontology (metaphysics), logic, the theory of knowledge, and legal science. All of these subjects bear the obvious influence of I. Kant (1724–1804) and W. T. Krug (1770–1842), the latter of whom was considered an authority on philosophical education throughout Europe. For scholarly purposes, Bărnuțiu mainly used Krug’s Handbuch der Philosophie und der Philosophischen Literatur, a very popular book of its kind. Contrary to popular belief, Bărnuțiu’s philosophical papers are not merely faithful translations of Krug’s work, lacking originality. However, the influence of Krug’s ideas was more in spirit than in letter: philosophical transcendental synthetism entails political liberalism with an openness to criticism and anti-dogmatism. Thus, Bărnuțiu found a way to use Krug’s ideas to support his own views on social and political issues in Transylvania. In this way, the Romanian professor recognised and emphasised the connections permitted by Krug’s philosophy between metaphysics, epistemology, ontology, ethics and pedagogy. He often adapted Krug’s original text to support his arguments and provide examples concerning the problems of Transylvanian society at the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern era. The references to Bărnuțiu’s terminology in the text of the study are accompanied at the end by a glossary of terms used by Bărnuțiu, compiled by Prof. Eugen S. Cucerzan. These terms appear in the philosophical manuscripts of the illustrious intellectual, being indicative of the effort undertaken by him in order to compile a specialized local vocabulary.