Version: v1, Published online: 2004
Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/vianu-tudor-1897-1964/v-1
Article Summary
In his fertile activity in the fields of aesthetics, philosophy of culture, theory of values, stylistics, literary history and criticism, Vianu integrated the academic philosophical style with the exigencies of independent research. His philosophical works, covering aesthetics, philosophy of culture and the theory of values, designed to serve as a basis for the lectures he delivered at the University of Bucharest, stand out as a series of rich and personal syntheses that speak of a multi-faceted philosophical attitude. Central to this attitude is the image of man as creative being par excellence - man as author of a work in which he comes fully to manifest his freedom by galvanizing his conscious and rational resources, and thus enriches reality with new spiritual meanings. Championing a distinctly personal position within the pre-war Romanian cultural debate, advocating faith in the individual’s creative energies and in his willingness freely to share life with his fellow beings, Vianu ran counter to contemporary Romanian trends such as the ‘ethnic soul’ theory (N. Crainic) or the ‘state mystique’ theory (P. Marcu-Balş): to him, the state was simply a regulator of social mechanisms and had a representative role in international law. Thus, apart from his specialized intellectual expertise, Vianu was acknowledged as a true man of the polis, fighting for a liberal society built on justice, order and the power of reason.
Alexandrescu, Vlad. Vianu, Tudor (1897–1964), 2004, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-N112-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/vianu-tudor-1897-1964/v-1.
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