Danilo Pejović (6 March 1928 – 4 October 2007) was a Croatian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. Pejović was born in

Ludbreg Ludbreg is a town in Croatia, located halfway between Varaždin and Koprivnica near the river Drava. It has 3,603 inhabitants, and a total of 8,478 in the entire municipality (census 2011). History For centuries Ludbreg has been a popular plac ...

. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1943, Pejović joined the National Liberation Army in its fight against the occupying forces of Yugoslavia. He continued his education after the war, graduating with a degree in philosophy at the University in Zagreb in 1953. He earned his PhD degree at the same university in 1958 with a dissertation about the

ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...

Nicolai Hartmann Paul Nicolai Hartmann (; 20 February 1882 – 9 October 1950) was a 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 born a ...

. Until 1966, Pejović was president of the Croatian Philosophy Society. Pejović was part of the wing of Yugoslav philosophical thought that was defending critical, unorthodox views. When the journal ''Praxis'' was established in 1964, Pejović joined its editorial board, becoming a co-editor of the journal, together with

Gajo Petrović Gajo Petrović. (12 March 1927 – 13 June 1993) was one of the main theorists in the Marxist humanism, Marxist humanist Praxis School in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was the only one among the editors of the ''Praxis'' journa ...

. However, Pejović's cooperation with the Praxis School didn't last too long. After the attacks of the regime politicians against ''Praxis'' in summer 1966, Pejović resigned from his post as a co-editor of the ''Praxis'' and he broke his cooperation with the Praxis School, attacking his former colleagues.Gajo Petrović, ''Čemu Praxis'' (Zagreb, 1972), pp. 43-53. Later, unlike his former colleagues in ''Praxis'', he condemned the Yugoslav student demonstrations in 1968.

Early life

He was born in

, now Croatia. His mother was

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. After his parents divorced, he remained living with his mother in Croatia. He took part in part in WW2 fighting alongside Partisans, while his father did not support the movement and suffered under the new regime. He identified as

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

. The book about his family notes that he broke all bonds with his relatives from

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Major works

*''The French Philosophy of the Enlightenment'' (1957) *''The Real World: the foundations of the ontology of Nikolai Hartmann'' (1960) *''Against the Current'' (1965) *''System and Existence'' (1970) *''Farewell to Modernity'' (1993) *''The Spirit and the Freedom'' (1992) *''The Great Teachers of the Thought'' (2002)

References

External links

Biography of Pejović

1967 Radio Free Europe Research on Praxis School
1928 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Croatian philosophers Yugoslav politicians People from Ludbreg Yugoslav Partisans members University of Zagreb alumni Child soldiers in World War II Croatian people of Serbian descent Croatian people of Montenegrin descent Croatian people of German descent {{Croatia-bio-stub