ROMANIAN PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS REGARDING THE NATIONAL STATE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Cristian MĂDUŢA
“Vasile Goldiş” Western University of Arad
Faculty of Humanities, Politics and Administrative Sciences, Arad
Tel: 0040-257-282324 E-mail: cristian_maduta@yahoo.com
Abstract
At the beginning of the twentieth century Romanian people started to acknowledge their identity, their common culture and values, thus shaping the ideal of self-determination and national unity. One certain figure, of major importance in the political process of national unification in 1918, Vasile Goldiş had also a significant contribution from a spiritual point of view, adding further philosophical and cultural support in order to accomplish the consolidation of a common Romanian identity. He was a man of his time, educated in the spirit of the twentieth century ideals, embracing liberal influences, enclosing elements of European civilization in the Romanian national consciousness. More than this, through his all endeavors, Vasile Goldiş never rested in advocating the Romanian spirit and identity thus contributing to the enrichment of the European culture and civilization. The aim of this paper is to argue that the Romanian movement of self-determination and national unity promoted by Vasile Goldiş is a true expression of the larger contextual – historical and political – movement manifested at the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe.
Keywords: Vasile Goldiş, self-determination, Romanian national unity, Romanian identity