International Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina Cover Image

Uz 30. obljetnicu smrti Gaje Petrovića
International Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Lino Veljak
Subject(s): Cultural history, Contemporary Philosophy, Marxism
Published by: Srpsko narodno vijeće, Arhiv Srba u Hrvatskoj
Keywords: Gajo Petrović; Praxis; freedom; man; revolution; practice; allienation; socialism; falsifying;

Summary/Abstract: Gajo Petrović (1927 — 1993) is without any doubt one of the most significant thinkers originating from our part of the world. He belongs to both Croatian and Serbian, as well as Yugoslav (by selfdetermination and self-understanding) philosophy. But, what is perhaps his most precise description – by the reach of his thinking he is a world philosoper. Revolution – as the title of one of his works indicates – is one of the key concepts of his philosophy (or, more precisely: metaphilosophy). In addition, his philosophical profile is framed also with concepts such as praxis, allienation, de-allianation, socialism and freedom. If we take into account that this concept (revolution, which Gajo Petrović used in Marxist and socialist context) has after the end of so called “real socialism” being stigmatised, one can understand that many now reject this thinker as an ideologue or at least as a follower of a failed project. In this paper we show that such a rejection is not justifiable and that is inspired by bad ideological intentions. It is incompatible with essentially onto-anthropological character of Petrović's concept of revolution, already defined as the key concept of freedom. It is exactly the thinking of revolution as the essence of Being (or, as our thinker formulates: of continuous Being), that enables the merciless critique of all existing, the key component of historical character of the spirit that was formed within Praxis journal and at the Korčula Summer School, to both of which Petrović significantly contributed.

  • Issue Year: 6/2023
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 139-147
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Croatian
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