Chateaubriand's philosophy of history

The article analyzes Chateaubriand’s philosophical ideas about the causes of the French Revolution, the direction of history and the immediate political prospects of mankind. Sharing the Enlightenment ideology in his «Essay on Revolutions», Chateaubriand came to criticize it in «Genius of Christianity», trying to show its limitations. He contrasted the Enlightenment approach with providentialism, disbelief - with Christian wisdom. Chateaubriand’s method of comprehension of the past assumed as a starting point an appeal to the state of mores and the level of culture of various peoples. Reflecting on the issue of the revolution was Chateaubriand’s way of talking about the future of mankind. A certain outcome of Chateaubriand’s philosophy of history is his position that the future is variable but impossible without religion. The motif of «repetition» in history retains its significance throughout all Chateaubriand’s work, although its expressions vary and its understanding gradually gains numerous limitations.