Teodicea e filosofia della storia in "La morte di Danton" di Georg Büchner

The main theme of Danton's Death, the first play written by Georg Büchner, is the question of political action and more specifically of the use of violence for political purposes. Behind this issue lies, however, a dense network of references to a purely 'metaphysical' problem, regarding the very constitution of the world, man's position within it and the role of the individual in the context of the historical and natural evolution. In his drama Büchner denounces the anti-humanistic and nihilistic nature inherent in every theodicy, that is to say in any justification of suffering and evil in the world. At the same time he unmasks philosophy of history as a continuation and radicalization of the same thought. In doing so he reviews critically the evolution of philosophical reflection from the 18th through to the 19th century in its transition from theodicy to philosophy of history. To the dehumanizing functionalization of man inherent to both schools of thought he opposes the individual's inalienable right to happiness and a realistic conception of art based on com-passion.