Yugoslav philosophy

Yugoslav philosophyparallels the evolution ofphilosophyinEurope,like all European countries claim in general. Yet Yugoslav philosophy first drew upon its own Christianethosandlogosto sustain itself under centuries of Turkish, Venetian, Hungarian and Austrian invasions, then from the broader currents of European philosophy, and in turn contributed to their growth.

History

Modern philosophy in theYugoslavterritories started with the formation ofUniversity of Belgradein the early 19th century as a liberal court philosophy, replicating theories ofJohn Stuart Mill,Herbert Spencerand otherWestern philosophers.They wrote mostly textbook theories about broader subjects such as logic, psychology and pedagogy and the most prominent figure of this period wasAlimpije Vasiljević.

At the end of 19th century, this school was surpassed in popularity byBranislav Petronijević,leading philosopher of theKingdom of Yugoslavia.His idealist rationalist metaphysical system was known as "hypermetaphysics", with his three principal philosophical works beingPrincipi Metafizike(Principles of Metaphysics),O Vrednosti života(On the Value of Life) andIstorija novije filozofije(History of Contemporary Philosophy). Petronijević had many students and followers, among othersKsenija Atanasijević,the first major female Yugoslav philosopher, who slid into more mystic theories of newscholasticism.

After the6 January Dictatorship,Yugoslav philosophy as a whole moved towards the political right, with the thinkers such asVladimir Dvornikovićobtaining positions in the government. Dvorniković was a prominent advocate of Yugoslavintegral nationalismand his most famous work wasKarakterologija Jugoslovena(Characterology of the Yugoslavs). There was also a strong irrationalist current withAlbert Bazala,who became rector ofUniversity of Zagrebin 1932. At the time, universities were under strong religious influence and the most prominent thinker of this school was the SlovenianAleš Ušeničnik,a philosopher ofneo-Thomism.

In parallel, the social democratic movement had its own prominent theoreticians such asDimitrije TucovićandSima Marković,who was later killed in theGreat Purge.AfterWorld War II,socialists took power and rejected all former philosophy as idealistic and bourgeois.Dialectical materialismwas introduced, with revolutionary philosophers such asBoris ZiherlorDušan Nedeljković.

This theory later evolved towardsMarxist humanismwith thePraxis School,which originated inZagrebandBelgradeduring the 1960s. Prominent figures among the school's founders includeGajo Petrović,Milan Kangrga,Mihailo MarkovićandPredrag Vranicki.From 1964 to 1974 they published the journalPraxis,which was renowned as one of the leading international journals in Marxist theory.

Apart from Praxis, Yugoslav philosophy was especially strong inSR Sloveniawith the MarxistBožidar Debenjakandphenomenologicalschool ofTine Hribar.In the seventies, theLjubljana Lacanian Schoolwith the journalProblemi(Problems) was founded by young followers of the theories of the FrenchpsychoanalystJacques Lacan.A specific feature of the Ljubljana School was to connect the Marxist and Hegelian traditions with Lacanian psychoanalysis andstructuralism,with its most famous philosopher beingSlavoj Žižek.

After thebreakup of Yugoslavia,newly formed countries continued their philosophical tradition in various directions, but mostly abandoned the principles of Marxism.