Branko Despot (born July 6, 1942,

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

) is

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

. He is the son of Miroslava Despot, a prominent economic and cultural

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

. After finishing gymnasium in Zagreb in 1961, he graduated in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

in 1965 at the

Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb ( Croatian: ''Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu'') is one of the faculties of the University of Zagreb. History The Faculty of Philosophy is the oldest fac ...

, where he also received his PhD in 1975 with a thesis on the philosophy of Vladimir Dvorniković. He worked as a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy since 1968, and since 1971 at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, at first as an assistant, as a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

(1979–84) and then as a professor at the Chair of History of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy. He is a member of the

Croatian Writers' Association Croatian Writers' Association ( hr, Društvo hrvatskih književnika; abbreviated DHK) is the official association of Croatian writers. It was founded in 1900 in Zagreb with the goal "to unite writers and help them support one another, and promote ...

and

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. His research covers

history of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Ancient Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...

, German classical and contemporary philosophy as well as Croatian contemporary thought. He published treatises and papers in journals and periodicals such as Vidici (1968), Filosofija (1969–70),

Praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...

(1969–71), Problemi (1969–90),

Kamov JSC Kamov (russian: Камов) is a Russian rotorcraft manufacturing company based in Lyubertsy, Russia. The Kamov Design Bureau ( design office prefix Ka) has more recently specialised in compact helicopters with coaxial rotors, suitable for n ...

(1970),

Kolo Kolo may refer to: Places Poland *Koło *Koło, Łódź Voivodeship * Koło, Lublin Voivodeship * Koło, Lubusz Voivodeship Other places * Kolo, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Kolo, Central African Republic * Kolo (Tanzanian ward), Kondoa district, Dod ...

(1970), Pitanja (1971), Dijalog (1977), Polja (1978), Gordogan (1979, 1982, 1983, 1985), Filozofska istraživanja (1984, 1986, 1988), Godišnjak za povijest filozofije (1984, 1990), Synthesis philosophica (1986) and others. He published two

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s that deal with the history of philosophy of Đuro Arnold and Vladimir Dvorniković. He translated from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

works such as

Nicolai Hartmann Paul Nicolai Hartmann (; 20 February 1882 – 9 October 1950) was a Baltic German philosopher. He is regarded as a key representative of critical realism and as one of the most important twentieth-century metaphysicians. Biography Hartmann was ...

's ''Osnovne crte jedne metafizike spoznaje '' (Zagreb, 1976),

Eugen Fink Eugen Fink (11 December 1905 – 25 July 1975) was a German philosopher. Biography Fink was born in 1905 as the son of a government official in Germany. He spent his first school years with an uncle who was a Catholic priest. Fink attended a gra ...

's ''Nietzscheova filozofija'' (Zagreb 1981) and

Adam Schaff Adam Schaff (10 March 1913 – 12 November 2006) was a Poles, Polish Marxist philosopher. Life Of Jews, Jewish origin, Schaff was born in Lemberg (Lwow, Lviv) into a lawyer's family. Schaff studied economics at the ''Ecole des Sciences Polit ...

's ''Komunistički pokret na raspuću'' (Zagreb 1985). He is a regular member of the

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...

since 2010.

Works

* ''Filozofija Gjure Arnolda'', 1970, Zagreb * '' Vidokrug apsoluta. Prilog indiskutabilnoj dijagnostici nihilizma.'', 1972¹, 1989², 1992² * ''Filozofiranje Vladimira Dvornikovića'', 1975, Zagreb * ''Logički fragmenti'', 1978, Zagreb * ''Filozofski dnevnik'', 1982, Zagreb * ''Uvod u filozofiju'', 1988, Zagreb * ''Sitnice'', 1991, Zagreb * ''Filozofiranje?'', 1995 * ''Filozofija kao sistem?'', 1999 * ''Filozofija?'', 2000, * ''Filozofijom kroz nefilozofiju'', 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Despot, Branko 20th-century Croatian philosophers Historians of philosophy Scholars of contemporary philosophy Croatian scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Academic staff of the University of Zagreb 1942 births Living people Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts