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This book is a rediscovery and examination of the thinking of Vasile B¿ncil¿, a philosopher forbidden by the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceaüescu. The philosopher Lucian Blaga saw B¿ncil¿ as a threat to the spirit of the highest Romanian culture. It is estimated that B¿ncil¿'s work extends to 32 volumes, 17 of which have been published so far. With such a significant opus, Vasile B¿ncil¿ is, indisputably, a key figure in contemporary Romanian culture, particularly in the sphere of philosophy.
The book has eleven chapters and is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the hermeneutics of the author's youthful works. His reflections on the purpose of philosophy for life are important, about the role of this discipline in the education of adolescents and students, the relationship between irony and education, his thoughts of one of the greatest Romanian poets, Mihai Eminescu, and the philosophy of Descartes and of Schopenhauer. In the second part, the book looks at B¿ncil¿'s aim of structuring a possible system of philosophy; more precisely, an ethnic-spiritualist metaphysics which, when it was elaborated, contradicted the official ideology of the totalitarian regime. Finally, the book covers the philosopher's work, analysing step-by-step the relation between the part and the whole (pars pro toto), as well as between existence and metaphysics, and the philosopher's conclusions about Romanian existence.
About the author
Professor Ion Dur, PhD, teaches in the Doctoral School of Philosophy at the Baia Mare Northern University Centre, Romania. During his academic career, he has been the recipient of numerous literary awards including the "Mircea Florian" prize for philosophy awarded by the Romanian Academy and seven awards for published books from the National Writers Union of Romania. Professor Dur has published extensively in his field including The Third Meaning (2014), Cioran. According to the original (2016), Critique of Judgement of Taste (2017) and Domestic journal. Note of an in-former (2018). He has also produced translations of Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (Humanitas Publishing House, 1994; a collaboration with Mircea Iv¿nesc) and The Crisis of the Republic, (Humanitas Publishing House, 1999; a collaboration with D.-I. Cenüer). His areas of research interest are the History of Philosophy the History of Romanian Culture, Aesthetics, Literary and Philosophy Criticism, Media Critique, and Romanian Media and Collective Mentality in the 19th and 20th centuries.
