Rado Riha (born 8 October 1948) is a Slovene philosopher. He is a senior research fellow and currently the head of th
Institute of Philosophy
Centre for Scientific Research at the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members o ...

, and coordinator of the philosophy module at the post-graduate study programme of the

University of Nova Gorica The University of Nova Gorica, UNG ( sl, Univerza v Novi Gorici), is the fourth university in Slovenia. It is located in the towns of Nova Gorica, Gorizia (in Italy), Vipava, and Ajdovščina. History The University of Nova Gorica grew out of ...

. Born in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

, he studied philosophy at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

. In the 1980s, he was part of what was known as the Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was member of the

League of Communists of Slovenia The League of Communists of Slovenia ( sl, Zveza komunistov Slovenije, ZKS; sh, Savez komunista Slovenije) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989. It was establis ...

. He left the party in October 1988, together with 32 other

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

intellectuals, as a protest against the arrest by Yugoslav military intelligence of the

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...

Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...

and three other journalists critical of the regime. During the so-called

JBTZ trial The JBTZ trial or the JBTZ affair ( sl, afera JBTZ), also known as the Ljubljana trial () or the Trial against the Four () was a political trial held in a military court in Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia in 1988. The defendants, Janez Janša, ...

in 1988, he was an active member of the

Committee for the Defence of Human Rights The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights ( sl, Odbor za varstvo človekovih pravic) was a civil society organization in Slovenia, which functioned during the so-called Slovenian Spring between 1988 and 1990. It was founded in Ljubljana on 31 ...

, the largest non-Communist civil society platform in the

Socialist Republic of Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...

. Riha's research topics include

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

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 ...

, contemporary French philosophy, the

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and pu ...

, and the philosophy of

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 ...

. From 1996 to 2003 he has been the editor-in-chief of the journal ''

Filozofski vestnik ''Filozofski vestnik'' is a philosophy journal published by the Institute of Philosophy of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. It covers issues like contemporary political philosophy, history of philosophy, history of political thought, phi ...

'', and since 1993 a member of its editorial board. He is married to the philosopher

Jelica Šumič Riha Jelica Šumič Riha (born 1958) is a Slovenian philosopher, political theorist, and translator, associated with the Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis. Biography Riha studied philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, graduating in 1983. Initial ...

Books

*''Filozofija v znanosti : prispevki k razrednemu značaju marksistične teorije'', (Analecta). Ljubljana: Univerzum, 1982. *''Problemi teorije fetišizma'', (Filozofija skozi psihoanalizo, 2), (Analecta). Ljubljana: Univerzum, 1985 (with

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek (, ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New Y ...

). *''Pravo in razsodna moč : od avtoritete brez jamstva do pravila brez opore'', Ljubljana: Študentska organizacija Univerze, 1993 (with

), . *''Reale Geschehnisse der Freiheit : zur Kritik der Urteilskraft in Lacanscher Absicht'', (Wo es war, 3). Wien: Turia & Kant, 1993, . *''Kant in drugi kopernikański obrat v filozofiji''. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2012, . *''Kant in Lacan'scher Ansicht : die kopernikanische Wende und das Reale''. Wien, Berlin: Turia + Kant, 2018, .

Selected articles

*“Plurale Subjekte als konkrete Endlichkeiten : oder Wie Laclau mit Kant gelesen werden kann”, in: Oliver Marchart (ed.),

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...

, ''Das Undarstellbare der Politik : Zur Hegemonietheorie Ernesto Laclaus''. Wien: Turia + Kant, 1998. *“Kritika razsodne moči kot zadnja Kantova kritika”, in: ''Immanuel Kant. Kritika razsodne moči'', (Philosophica, Series Classica). Ljubljana
Založba ZRC
ZRC SAZU, 1999. *“Die Romantik im Gefecht des Symbolischen, Imaginären und Realen”, in:

Wolfgang Müller-Funk Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...

, (ed.), Franz Schuh, (ed.). ''Nationalismus und Romantik''. Wien: Turia + Kant, 1999. *“La philosophie comme noeud de l'universel, du singulier et du sujet”, in: Jelica Šumič-Riha (ed.), ''Universel, singulier, sujet'', (Collection "Philosophie - épistémologie"). Paris: Éditions Kimé, 2000. *“Politics as the real of philosophy”, in:

Simon Critchley Simon Critchley (born 27 February 1960) is an English philosopher and the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York, USA. Challenging the ancient tradition that philosophy begins in wonder, Critchley ...

, (ed.), Oliver Marchart (ed.), ''Laclau: a critical reader''. London; New York: Routledge, 2004. *"Kommunismus als Gemeinschaft 'für alle'", in: ''Indeterminate! Kommunismus: Texte zu Ökonomie, Politik und Kultur'', Münster: Unrast, 2005 (with J. Šumič Riha) *“Kantova moralna filozofija za naš čas”: introductory study. In: Immanuel Kant, ''Utemeljitev metafizike nravi'', (Philosophica, Series Classica). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 2005. *“Um v zgodovini: introductory study”, in: Immanuel Kant, ''Zgodovinsko-politični spisi'', (Philosophica, Series Classica). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 2006. *“La política como lo real de la filosofía”, in: Simon Critchley (ed.), Oliver Marchart (ed.), ''Laclau : aproximaciones críticas a su obra''. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2008. *"Does science think?", in:

Frank Ruda Frank Ruda is a German philosopher. He is senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Dundee. He is also a visiting professor at the Institute of Philosophy, Scientific Research Centre in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Professor at the European G ...

(ed.), Jan Voelker (ed.), ''Science and Thought''. Ljubljana: Filozofski vestnik, 2010. *"Kant und die Frage des Realismus", Ljubljana: Filozofski vestnik, no. 3, 2018. *"Europa als Fall der Idee", in: Jelica Šumič-Riha (ed.), "Rethinking the idea of Europe". Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2019. Filozofski vestnik, vol. 40, no. 2.

External links

dr. Rado Riha, Institute of Philosophy, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riha, Rado 1948 births Living people 20th-century Slovenian philosophers University of Ljubljana alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Academic staff of the University of Nova Gorica 21st-century Slovenian philosophers