Lucian Blaga: Selected Philosophical Extracts

"Blaga is a significant voice within European philosophy from the inter-war years. Philosophy was at that time – as since – something of a battleground. Modernist sceptical Viennese voices (often in exile) were ringing loudly, whilst more personalist, metaphysical and religiously-informed voices such as those of Mounier in France, Macmurray in the UK, and Blaga in Romania, were less influential. Now, as modernist philosophy shrinks in influence, it is important to listen again to those philosophers who were providing critical alternatives well before modernism was ‘deconstructed’. The academic battles of the 1930s were political as much as philosophical, and the challenges of nationalism and of universalism are well represented in Blaga’s work. Avoiding the unapologetic extremism of Heidegger, whilst recognising the ways in which lives are embedded in traditions of religion and of place, Blaga provides a historicist metaphysics that is as lively and important in the twenty-first century as it was in the middle of the twentieth, one that not only admits but celebrates the mystery, crudely described by Rumsfeld as the known unknowns and the unknown knowns. This careful selection of writings, complemented by a scholarly introduction and notes, will help renew interest in an important philosophical and cultural voice."

Professor Julian Stern,

York St. John University, UK

"The Introduction is helpful, embedding Blaga within the wider philosophical landscape of the 20th century. Blaga was a highly original thinker, in almost all his works. The current extracts are representative of his originality. They will appeal the professional philosophers interested in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of culture, art and history, and also to students and those parts of the general public curious about these areas. The texts collected here are likely to make readers reflect in a more thorough way about the connections between disparate phenomena and between the corresponding philosophical disciplines, thus contributing to a better understanding of the unity of the human spirit."

Dr. Edward Kanterian,

Department of Philosophy, University of Kent, UK

"The chapters selected for translation and the order in which they are presented is very good: they provide a nice overview of Blaga’s thought in a way that’s amazingly cohesive. This must have been a very difficult task: Blaga wrote a lot and choosing what little would best represent his entire corpus is an extremely difficult task. The editors of this volume are to be commended! The inclusion of a glossary and a sort of annotated bibliography of primary sources is nice. Overall the translations are satisfactory. This will be an excellent addition to the small but growing body of Blaga literature available in English."

Michael Scott Jones,

Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Liberty University, USA