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Constantin Noica (; – 4 December 1987) was a
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
n philosopher,
essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal an ...
and
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...
. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from
epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...
, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
to
ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities ...
and
logics Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, from the history of philosophy to systematic philosophy, from ancient to contemporary philosophy, from translating and interpretation to criticism and creation. In 2006 he was included to the list of the 100 Greatest Romanians of all time by a nationwide poll.


Biography

Noica was born in Vitănești,
Teleorman County Teleorman County () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria. The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic (Turkic) origin. It literally means ''crazy forest'' ( ...
. He studied at the Dimitrie Cantemir and Spiru Haret
lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the ...
s, both in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...
. At Spiru Haret his math teacher was
Dan Barbilian Ion Barbu (, pen name of Dan Barbilian; 18 March 1895 –11 August 1961) was a Romanian mathematician and poet. His name is associated with the Mathematics Subject Classification number 51C05, which is a major posthumous recognition reserved ...
(
pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...
Ion Barbu, poet and mathematician). His debut was in ''Vlăstarul'' magazine, in 1927. Between 1928 and 1931 he attended courses of the
University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princ ...
's Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, where he graduated in 1931 (thesis: "Problema lucrului în sine la Kant" / "The matter of
thing-in-itself In Kantian philosophy, the thing-in-itself (german: Ding an sich) is the status of objects as they are, independent of representation and observation. The concept of the thing-in-itself was introduced by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, an ...
in
Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
's philosophy"). Here he met as a teacher philosopher Nae Ionescu. He worked as a librarian at the History of Philosophy Seminar and attended the courses of the Faculty of Mathematics for one year (1933). He was a member of the ''Criterion'' Association (1932–1934). Along his friends there, including
Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...
,
Mihail Polihroniade Mihail Polihroniade (September 17, 1906 – September 22–23, 1939) was a Romanian historian and journalist. Born in Brăila, he graduated from the law faculty of the University of Bucharest and worked as a lawyer. Initially a communist sympathiz ...
, and Haig Acterian, he later supported the fascist
Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strong ...
. After attending courses in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
between 1938 and 1939 on a French government scholarship, he returned to Bucharest where in 1940 he earned his doctor's degree in philosophy (thesis: ''Sketch on the history of How is it that there is anything new'', published the same year). After General
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and '' Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who ma ...
installed his
dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...
in collaboration with the Iron Guard in September 1940, Noica served as editor-in-chief of ''Buna Vestire'', the official newspaper of the Iron Guard. In his articles during the period he extolled the organization and its leader,
Horia Sima Horia Sima (3 July 1906 – 25 May 1993) was a Romanian fascist politician, best known as the second and last leader of the fascist paramilitary movement known as the Iron Guard (also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael). Sima was ...
. According to historian Zigu Ornea, his allegiance to the fascist organisation continued after the Iron Guard was suppressed following their failed
rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
. In October 1940 he left for
Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
as a reviewer at
Sextil Pușcariu Sextil Iosif Pușcariu (4 January 1877 – 5 May 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist and philologist, also known for his involvement in administrative and party politics. A native of Brașov educated in France and Germany, he was ...
's Romanian-German Institute. After the war, the Soviet army remained in Romania, backing the establishment of a communist regime. Noica was harassed by the new regime. In 1949 he was sentenced by the communist authorities to 10 years of forced residence in Câmpulung-Muscel, remaining there until 1958. In December of that year, after making public the book '' History and Utopia'' by Emil Cioran (who had left for France), he was sentenced to 25 years of forced labor in the Jilava prison as a political prisoner, and all his possessions confiscated. He was pardoned after 6 years as part of a general amnesty and released in August 1964. From 1965 he lived in Bucharest, where he was the principal researcher at the
Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its by ...
's Center of Logics. In his two-room apartment, located in Western Drumul Taberei, he held seminars on
Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
's,
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...
's and
Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
's philosophy. Among the participants there were
Sorin Vieru Sorin may refer to any one of the following: People *Sorin (given name), a Romanian masculine name *Edward Sorin (1814–1893), American priest, founder of the University of Notre Dame and St. Edwards University *Herbert I. Sorin (1900–1994), New ...
(his colleague at the Center of Logics), Gabriel Liiceanu and Andrei Pleșu. In 1975 he retired and went to live in
Păltiniș Păltiniş (german: Hohe Rinne; hu, Szebenjuharos) is a mountain resort in Transylvania, Romania, 35 km south-west from Sibiu in the Cindrel Mountains. It is situated at 1440 m altitude, being the highest resort in Romania. It lies in a c ...
, near
Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...
, where he remained for the next 12 years, until his death on 4 December 1987. He was buried at the nearby hermitage, having left behind numerous philosophical essays. In 1988 Constantin Noica was posthumously awarded the Herder Prize, and in 1990, after the fall of communism in Romania, he was accepted as a posthumous member of the
Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its by ...
.


Philosophy

The 20th century is thought to be dominated by
science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
. The model of scientific knowledge, which means transforming reality into formal and abstract concepts, is applied in judging the entire environment. This kind of thinking is called by Noica "the logic of Ares", as it considers the individual a simple variable in the Whole. The existence is, for this scientific way of considering things, a statistical fact. In order to recover the individual senses, the sense of existence, Noica proposes, in opposition with "the logic of Ares", "the logic of Hermes", a way of thinking which considers the individual a reflection of the Whole. The logic of Hermes means understanding the Whole through the part, it means identifying in a single existence the general principles of reality. This way of thinking allows one to understand the meaning of the life of a man oppressed by the quick present moment. Noica appreciated Greek and German philosophers, as well as several Romanian writers. He recommended to read philosophy, to learn classical languages, particularly ancient Greek, and modern languages, particularly German.Iţu, Mircia, "Conceptul de spirit la Constantin Noica raportat la Mircea Eliade" ("The Concept of Spirit in Constantin Noica's and in
Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...
's Vision"), in Manole, Georgică (2010), ''Lumină lină'', ''Luceafărul'', Botoşan

Retrieved on 7 June 2016. ISSN 2065-4200: "Noica talked to me about Greek philosophy, particularly
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...
and
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...
and about German philosophy, particularly
Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aes ...
and
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
. I remember that philosopher Noica highlighted that one cannot have a personality if one does not read these authors. He said it, then he referred to
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
. His face brightened when I had mentioned his name. The readings on Romanian culture are important, as well. Noica drove my attention towards writers, such as:
Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active membe ...
, Titu Maiorescu and Lucian Blaga, and particularly to authors who had been forbidden during the communist regime, such as the following:
Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...
, Emil Cioran and Mircea Vulcănescu. He insisted on the need for learning languages, emphasizing on the study of classical languages and especially ancient Greek, as well as modern languages, out of which he warmly recommended German".


Books

* 1934 – '' Mathesis or simple pleasances'' ("Mathesis sau bucuriile simple") * 1936 – ''Open concepts in the history of philosophy in Descartes,
Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mat ...
and
Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
'' ("Concepte deschise în istoria filozofiei la Descartes, Leibniz și Kant") * 1937 – ''De caelo. Essay around knowledge and the individual'' ("De caelo. Încercare în jurul cunoașterii și individului") * 1937 – ''Life and philosophy of René Descartes'' ("Viața și filozofia lui René Descartes") * 1940 – ''Sketch for the history of How is it that there is anything new'' ("Schiță pentru istoria lui Cum e cu putință ceva nou") * 1943 – ''Two introductions and a passage to idealism'' ("Două introduceri și o trecere spre idealism") * 1944 – ''Philosophical journal'' ("Jurnal filosofic") * 1944 – ''Pages on the Romanian soul'' ("Pagini despre sufletul românesc") * 1962 – ''" Phenomenology of Spirit" by
G.W.F. Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
narrated by Constantin Noica'' ("''Fenomenologia spiritului'' de G.W.F. Hegel istorisită de Constantin Noica") * 1969 – ''Twenty-seven levels of the real'' ("Douăzeci și șapte trepte ale realului") * 1969 – ''Platon: Lysis'' * 1970 – ''The Romanian philosophical utterance''The title is built on a word game: "rost" = ''sense'', ''meaning'', but "a rosti" = ''to pronounce'', translated here by ''to utter''. ("Rostirea filozofică românească") * 1973 – ''Creation and beauty in Romanian utterance'' ("Creație și frumos în rostirea românească") * 1975 – '' Eminescu or Thoughts on the complete man of Romanian culture'' ("Eminescu sau Gânduri despre omul deplin al culturii românești") * 1976 – ''Parting with
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
'' ("Despărțirea de Goethe") * 1978 – ''The Romanian sense of being'' ("Sentimentul românesc al ființei") * 1978 – ''Six maladies of the contemporary spirit. The Romanian spirit at the conjuncture of time'' ("Șase maladii ale spiritului contemporan. Spiritul românesc în cumpătul vremii") * 1980 – ''Narrations on man'', after
Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
's " Phenomenology of Spirit" ("Povestiri despre om") * 1981 – ''Becoming in-to Being'',Noica uses the old Romanian word "întru" (< Lat. ''intro''), now rarely used and substituted in the current use of the language by "în" (= Eng. ''in''). See here how Noica explains its use:
"If a nourishing plant, that we can not find elsewhere, would grow on the Romanian soil, we should have to answer for it. If words and meanings that can enrich man's soul appeared in our language, but they didn't appear in others speech or thought, we should also have to answer for them.
Such a word is ''întru''; such a meaning appears to be that of beingness. Actually, our peculiar understanding of beingness is, maybe, the result of the peculiar meanings of ''întru'', that came to seemingly express the beingness ''from within'', suggesting that «to be» means «to be into /''întru''/ something», that is to be, but not fully, in something, to rest but also to aspire, to close oneself but also to open oneself. In this way the beingness was pulled out from stillness and shook. But if it wouldn't be shaking, would it still be truly? What kind of beingness is the one that has no place for neither a vibration, nor an advance?".
vol. 1: ''Essay on traditional philosophy'', vol. 2: ''Treatise of
ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities ...
'' ("Devenirea întru ființă", vol. 1: "Încercare asupra filozofiei tradiționale", vol. 2: "Tratat de ontologie") * 1984 – ''Three Introductions to Becoming in-to Being'' ("Trei introduceri la devenirea întru ființă") * 1986 – ''Letters on the Logic of Hermes'' ("Scrisori despre logica lui Hermes") * 1988 – ''De dignitate Europae'' (in
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 ...
) * 1990 – ''Pray for brother Alexander!'' ("Rugați-vă pentru fratele Alexandru") * 1991 – ''Journal of Ideas'' ("Jurnal de idei") * 1992 – ''Sunday essays'' ("Eseuri de duminică") * 1992 – ''Simple introductions to the kindness of our time'' ("Simple introduceri la bunătatea timpului nostru") * 1992 – ''Introduction to the Eminescian miracle'' ("Introducere la miracolul eminescian") * 1997 – ''Cîmpulung manuscripts'' ("Manuscrisele de la Cîmpulung") * 1998 – ''The spiritual equilibrium. Studies and essays (1929–1947)'' ("Echilibrul spiritual. Studii și eseuri (1929–1947)")


References


External links

* Noica's page at the
Humanitas publishing house Humanitas ( ro, Editura Humanitas) is an independent Romanian publishing house, founded on February 1, 1990 (after the Romanian Revolution) in Bucharest by the philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu, based on a state-owned publishing house, Editura Politi ...
br>
* Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba
Filosofia lui Noica între fantasmă și luciditate
Ed. E&B, 1992 * Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba
In labirintul răsfrângerilor. Nae Ionescu prin discipolii săi: Petre Țuțea, Emil Cioran, Constantin Noica, Mircea Eliade, Mircea Vulcănescu si Vasile Băncilă
cu o prefață de Ion Papuc, Slobozia, 2000, * Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba
Pelerinaj la Păltinișul lui Noica
* Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba
Himericul discipolat de la Păltiniș, pretext de fină ironie din partea lui Noica
* Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba
An adventure beyond which everything is possible, except repetition
* ''Doing Time''. An anthology of Noica's works "for the benefit of the students that Noica was never allowed to have", with the volume ''Brother Alexander'' translated into English by his wife, Katherine Muston, and an introductory essay (''Atitudinea Noica'') by
C. George Sandulescu Constantin George Sandulescu (11 February 1933, Bucharest – 27 October 2018, Monte Carlo) was a Joycean scholar, but in the first place, he was a linguist with twelve years' experience in the Department of Theoretical Linguistics of th ...
, the Contemporary Literature Press (Bucharest University

* Noica Anthology. Volume Two: ''General Philosophy'', edited by
C. George Sandulescu Constantin George Sandulescu (11 February 1933, Bucharest – 27 October 2018, Monte Carlo) was a Joycean scholar, but in the first place, he was a linguist with twelve years' experience in the Department of Theoretical Linguistics of th ...
, Contemporary Literature Press (Bucharest University

* Noica Anthology. Volume Three: ''Rostirea româneascǎ de la Eminescu cetire'', edited by
C. George Sandulescu Constantin George Sandulescu (11 February 1933, Bucharest – 27 October 2018, Monte Carlo) was a Joycean scholar, but in the first place, he was a linguist with twelve years' experience in the Department of Theoretical Linguistics of th ...
, the Contemporary Literature Press (Bucharest University

* ''Counterfeiting Noica! Controversatul Noica rǎsare din nou!'', edited by
C. George Sandulescu Constantin George Sandulescu (11 February 1933, Bucharest – 27 October 2018, Monte Carlo) was a Joycean scholar, but in the first place, he was a linguist with twelve years' experience in the Department of Theoretical Linguistics of th ...
, Contemporary Literature Press (Bucharest University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noica, Constantin 1909 births 1987 deaths Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously People from Teleorman County Spiru Haret National College (Bucharest) alumni Romanian philosophers Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian philosophers Epistemologists Romanian logicians Ontologists Philosophical anthropology 20th-century essayists Herder Prize recipients Members of the Iron Guard