Excerpts on the History of the Concept of Development of the Autonomous Subject: Plato and Aristotle as Forerunners of Kant and Hegel

摘要

The paper looks at concepts of Plato and Aristotle according to which reason is a common feature in regard to autonomy of the subject. It shows the role of the state and society towards autonomy of the subject. Plato preferred a society organized in the ideally efficient way but Aristotle favored government which, in his opinion, had to represent some combination of different types of authority. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that an autonomous subject can be viewed both in absolute and relative mode of existence. Theoretical and practical significance of the study is in the understanding of the further history of the important for us idea of autonomy of the subject, which leads, among other things, to research of Kant and Hegel, because autonomy of the subject is in the centre of reflection of these German classical thinkers.