Kantian Enthusiasm in the Pro-independence Catalan Movement

Apart from Jon Elster, it is virtually impossible to find references to enthusiasm in academic works on psychology or social theory of the 20th and 21st centuries. Enthusiasm, however, is not a new concept. Prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment, such as Hume, devoted considerable attention to it. The most notable case, however, is Kant, who referred to such motivation in several works. For example, as he states in the Critique of the Power of Judgment: ‘The idea of the good with affect is called enthusiasm. This state of mind seems to be sublime, so much so that it is commonly maintained that without it nothing great can be accomplished’. Additionally, in Anthropology, History, and Education, Kant states with regard to the enthusiasm of the French revolutionaries that it ‘shakes everything and goes beyond all bounds’. In the Critique of the Power of Judgment, he moreover adds that ‘enthusiasm, like any other affect, is blind, either in the choice of its end, or, if this is given by Reason, in its implementation; for it is that movement of the mind that makes it incapable of engaging in free consideration of principles’. More recently, Jon Elster has published several relevant works where he argues that enthusiasm is very probably an emotion (incomprehensibly ignored by contemporary literature) and that it plays a key role in important processes of collective action such as revolutions, constituent processes and others. In a similar vein, this paper attempts to argue that enthusiasm, as well as rationality and other emotions such as fear, played a crucial role in the period of the Catalan independence process that culminated in the holding of the referendum on 1 October 2017 and the subsequent failed declaration of independence (which resulted in the imprisonment and flight into exile of the main leaders of the movement). The contribution of this work is manifold. On the one hand, it provides new evidence suggesting that Kantian enthusiasm plays a crucial role in large-scale political processes. Secondly, it provides evidence that enthusiasm may indeed be considered an emotion and, particularly, that enthusiasm can be triggered by anger and frustration.