Yugoslav philosophy parallels the evolution ofphilosophy inEurope, like all European countries claim in general. Yet Yugoslav philosophy first drew upon its own Christianethos andlogos to 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.[1]
Modern philosophy in theYugoslav territories started with the formation ofUniversity of Belgrade in the early 19th century as a liberal court philosophy, replicating theories ofJohn Stuart Mill,Herbert Spencer and 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 Dvorniković obtaining positions in the government. Dvorniković was a prominent advocate of Yugoslavintegral nationalism and his most famous work wasKarakterologija Jugoslovena (Characterology of the Yugoslavs). There was also a strong irrationalist current withAlbert Bazala, who became rector ofUniversity of Zagreb in 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 Tucović andSima Marković, who was later killed in theGreat Purge. AfterWorld War II, socialists took power and rejected all former philosophy as idealistic and bourgeois.Dialectical materialism was introduced, with revolutionary philosophers such asBoris Ziherl orDušan Nedeljković.[2]
This theory later evolved towardsMarxist humanism with thePraxis School, which originated inZagreb andBelgrade during the 1960s.[3] Prominent figures among the school's founders includeGajo Petrović,Milan Kangrga,Mihailo Marković andPredrag Vranicki. From 1964 to 1974 they published the journalPraxis, which was renowned as one of the leading international journals in Marxist theory.[4]
Apart from Praxis, Yugoslav philosophy was especially strong inSR Slovenia with the MarxistBožidar Debenjak andphenomenological school ofTine Hribar. In the seventies, theLjubljana Lacanian School with 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.
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