Reason and will: Dante and Kraśinski, a comparison

The topics of evil, action, will, and free will are present in the works by these two authors and history is represented as an intellectual adventure, guided by forces that reveal the spirit of God in the world. Social palingenesis is accompanied by a strong drive towards transcendence, which in fact represents the only possibility of redemption. In Krasiński’s so-called “progressive traditionalism” and also in Dante’s providentialism, human events consisting of injustice and violence are narrated passionately and man’s actions are highlighted as is his rational capacity to freely and ethically choose the way forward. The aim of this paper is to follow Krasiński’s intellectual journey by analyzing the philosophical notions of “reason” and “will” present in some of his works, in order to demonstrate how, from an initially pessimistic view of the future, the Polish writer eventually prophesies the redemption of humanity, in a historiosophical summary matured in a tight dialogue with coeval philosophical thinking and Dante’s universe.