Abstract
The article examines the reception of Western philosophy in Lithuanian philosophy of religion. The purpose is to show how the discourse of philosophy of religion came about in Lithuania. This branch of philosophy has been not only culturally and socially important in Lithuania, it has been significant as well for the formation and maintenance of national identity. By the same token, it also was the most developed and controversial theoretically. The first part of the article lays out the genesis of the autonomous Lithuanian philosophy of religion, though strongly influenced by the transformations in the broader context of European philosophy. For that reason it will be useful to present the ideas of the most prominent Lithuanian thinkers in the field who have successfully adopted and adapted vital trends in Western philosophy into the Lithuanian cultural and intellectual context. The second part of the article is less historical and more problematic as it deals with specific issues concerning faith, God, anthropological problems as reflected in the works of contemporary Lithuanian philosophers of religion. Only after having explored certain affiliations of Lithuanian philosophy of religion with Western thought can we state that, although the latter was the necessary precondition of the former, Lithuanian philosophy of religion does substantiate its sovereign status while correlating in an original way major cultural transformations with the changes in theoretical context, according to the specific concerns of Lithuanian society. In addition, this historical and philosophical examination aims to look at the formation of Lithuanian identity, mentality, values, their roots in the Christian tradition as well as the capacity to respond at critical historical moments.
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Notes
Protestantism in its modern existential form is definitely more attractive to contemporary Lithuanian philosophers than Catholicism [Kačerauskas (2007), Briedis (2007b), Šerpytytė (2003)]. A rare exception is the work of A. Plantinga who is a Catholic, not a Protestant thinker and subscribes to analysis rather than hermeneutics [Briedis (2006)].
This reasoning can be called “Girnius’ version of the ontological argument’’.
Inorganic nature is most independent and “calm,” because it does not owe its existence to any other stratum of reality, and the pain of limitation here is “frozen,” it never reaches the level of expression.
Note that for Šliogeris the contrary of this proposition is not acceptable, hence although he definitely is not an atheist, he clearly speaks as antitheist.
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Briedis, M. The reception of western philosophy in the Lithuanian philosophy of religion. Stud East Eur Thought 61, 15–30 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-008-9072-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-008-9072-9