Abstract
Philosophical trends such as the philosophy of religion, especially Thomism, existentialism, and phenomenology emerged in Lithuanian philosophy during the 20th century. The article discusses the chief preconditions of the spread of existentialism, in particular the dominant Christian existentialism, in Lithuania and its influence on Lithuanian culture. The best known representatives of this philosophical trend were J. Girnius and A. Maceina. There are two periods of existentialism and its development in Lithuania: the first one includes the independence years and the second covers the time of the Soviet occupation. The author discusses its influence on Lithuanian literature and introduces the main problems of existential philosophy.
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Notes
A. Maceina (1908–1987) studied philosophy and pedagogy at the universities of Kaunas, Leuven, Freiburg, Strasbourg and Brussels. In 1934 he defended his doctoral thesis and returned to Lithuania. Beginning in 1935 he worked at Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University. Maceina’s main works are “The Excessive Importance of Prometheism in Today’s Culture” (1935), “Introduction to Philosophy of Culture” (1935), “Social Justice” (1938), “The Collapse of Bourgeoisie” (1940). In 1944 Maceina left Lithuania. In 1956 he became a professor at Freiburg University. From 1959 until 1970 he had lectured in various philosophical disciplines including Marxism at the University of Münster. Maceina published “The Philosophy of Religion” (1976), “The Origin and the Meaning of Philosophy” (1978), “The Great Inquisitor” (1946), “The Drama of Job” (1950), “The Secret of Evil” (1969) in both Lithuanian and German. Some of his books are translated into Russian.
J. Girnius (1915–1994) graduated from the gymnasium of Utena. He studied philosophy at Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University. During his studies Girnius was interested in a new trend of philosophy, i.e., existentialism. In 1936 he defended a graduation thesis in which he analyzed the philosophy of Heidegger. On this basis Girnius prepared a book “The Foundations of M. Heidegger’s Philosophy.” Then he set out to the West. Girnius studied at the Universities of Leuven, Freiburg and Paris. In 1938 he came back to Lithuania. Here, during the first year of occupation, Girnius worked in the library at Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University and as a teacher at the Institute for the Blind. In 1944 he emigrated from Lithuania to the West. He closely associated with K. Jaspers. In 1949 Girnius arrived in the USA. In 1951 he defended his doctoral thesis at the University of Montreal. As of 1953 Girnius edited “The Lithuanian Encyclopaedia” in Boston. Starting in 1965 and until 1980 he was editor-in-chief of the Lithuanian journal “Aidai” (The Echos). Girnius’ main works are “Freedom and Being” (1953), “Nation and National Fidelity” (1961), “A Man without God” (1964), “Ideal and the Time” (1966), “Pranas Dovydaitis” (1975).
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Genzelis, B. Existentialism in Lithuania. Stud East Eur Thought 61, 43–52 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-008-9070-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-008-9070-y