The Influence of Austrian Humanism in Theodor Herzl's Vision of a Jewish State

Theodor Herzl's thought was a product of an Austrian political and humanist culture. His political values were formed within a multinational, cameralist tradition, which at its best bred a tolerance for differing persons and cultures but isolated the private individual from a responsible role in his or her own governance. The problem of governmental power in relation to the members of its society became for Herzl a conundrum whose solution was a redistribution of that power downwards. Herzl's depiction of the future Jewish state in his 1896 The Jewish State and in his 1902 novel Old-New Land offers the vision of a privatized society in which each citizen may eventually become a cooperative owner. An examination of Herzl's vision reveals a thread of Austrian humanistic concept and value, which has characterized social- economic thought in Austria since the Enlightenment