Sopov A.V. Political views of the first Italian humanist. Francesco Petrarca

Abstract: The subject of this article is the sociopolitical ideas of the Italian humanist Francesco Petrarca, determination of their theoretical potential and impact upon the development of the New European political thought. The goal of this work consists in the analysis of political ideas, genesis, and logic of evolution of the political-philosophical views of the thinker. In F. Petrarca’s works, we can clearly observe the motives of the value and importance of individuality in social life, which in extremely relevant the modern conditions of establishment of the civil society. The circumstances of spiritual transformation of the Russian society based on patriotism and national unity substantiate the undoubtful importance of this research. In methodological aspect, the author was trying to adhere to the fundamental principles of dialectical logic and specific historical methods of studying and processing of this material. The scientific novelty primarily consists in revelation of the sociopolitical content of F. Petrarca’s synthetic worldview. The author believes that the political-philosophical works of Petrarca reflect the drastic transformation of the sociopolitical life of Italy in transition from the Medieval period to Modern period, when the political knowledge became a relatively autonomous area of human worldview.

Keywords: