Kostas Papaioannou on the relationship of Greek philosophy with the European Renaissance and the Enlightenment

Abstract

This article explores Kostas Papaioannou's philosophical analysis of the shifting relationship between nature and history from Greek antiquity through the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. The author highlights how ancient Greek thought integrated man entirely within an eternal, indestructible cosmos, whereas the Judeo-Christian tradition and subsequent modernity introduced a linear, messianic historical time that seeks to subjugate nature. The study examines the Renaissance as a temporary "liberation" of nature and man, which quickly evolved into Cartesian instrumental rationalism and the "deification of history". Karabelias discusses Papaioannou’s critique of the Enlightenment's machine-centric paradigm and the resulting technological heteronomy that threatens the very essence of humanity. Ultimately, the paper advocates for a "new historical contract" with nature—a synthesis of Romanticism and Enlightenment—that rejects messianism in favor of a tragic, balanced "return" to the ancient Greek equilibrium between world and history.