CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Pap, Botond Rudolf |
|---|---|
| Title | Masons and the Nation: Political Languages and Community Concepts in Janos Nagyvathy's 1790 Pamphlets and Rival Constitutional Programs Contesting the Freemasonic Space of the Kingdom of Hungary |
| Summary | This thesis examines János Nagyváthy’s political pamphlets as interventions in the constitutional debates preceding the Hungarian coronation diet of 1790. Written within the ritual, symbolic and ethical world of freemasonry, it is argued that Nagyváthy’s political writings contested Péter Balogh’s ancient constitutional political language and echoed Ferenc Széchényi’s argument that the serf-question lay at the heart of constitutional matters. Through juxtaposing a number of political languages, primarily the language of ancient constitution, and the language of enlightened government, Nagyváthy articulated a vision of community grounded in moral equality and the common good and thereby advocated for the inclusive interpretation of the object of politics. It is argued that short of advocating for a radical egalitarianism, he nonetheless positioned equality as an issue central to the constitution, and hence the political community. |
| Supervisor | Kontler, László; Trencsényi, Balázs |
| Department | Historical Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/pap_botond.pdf |
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