Romanian philosophy

Romanian philosophy is a name covering either a) the philosophy done in Romania or by Romanians, or b) an ethnic philosophy, which expresses at a high level the fundamental features of the Romanian spirituality, or which elevates to a philosophical level the Weltanschauung of the Romanian people, as deposited in language and folklore, traditions, architecture and other linguistic and cultural artifacts.

The discussion concerning the existence of a Romanian philosophy has known three stages.

Between the two World Wars, after the emergence of Greater Romania, Romanian national identity went through a crisis. Since it was not centered anymore on immediate political goals (national rights, independence, national unity etc.), the idea now had a more pronounced cultural character. Therefore, discussions of "national specificity" in historiography, literature and philosophy became very common. The first history of Romanian philosophy was published in 1922 by Marin Ştefănescu, proving that philosophical thinking in Romania had reached the level of self-reflexivity; in other words, it had become conscious of itself. The general conclusion of interbellum discussions, which involved almost every notable philosopher, was that there is a Romanian philosophy proper, with a distinct profile among other national philosophies. Constantin Noica, who became one of the most prominent Romanian philosophers, thought early on that Romanian philosophy is characterized by paganism, cosmicism (i.e. no acute separation of the world of the man from, transcendence) and determinism (or rather, "fatalism").

During the post-1965 communism period, the existence of a specific Romanian philosophy became an uncontested dogma. The official narratives, heavily influenced by national-communist and so-called protochronistic ideology, spoke even of the "philosophy of the Geto-Dacians". They were affirming a continuity of philosophical vision from Dacians, via folklore, to contemporary authors. Needless to say, the "materialistic" character of Romanian philosophy and other pretensions of the official dogma were inexistent or wildly exaggerated. However, some important non-Marxist authors, like Noica, also insisted on the singularity of Romanian philosophical thinking. Noica even wrote a book titled The Romanian Sentiment of Being.

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