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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

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 ...

. 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 species; as well as the ...

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

philosophy 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 ...

and

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

in 1965 at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, 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 term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

(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 (; 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 Croatian literature regardless of po ...

and

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

. His research covers

history of philosophy The history of philosophy is the systematic study of the development of philosophical thought. It focuses on philosophy as rational inquiry based on argumentation, but some theorists also include myth, religious traditions, and proverbial lor ...

Ancient Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics ...

, 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),

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(1970), Kolo (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 generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

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

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 ...

works such as

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 ...

's ''Osnovne crte jedne metafizike spoznaje '' (Zagreb, 1976), Eugen Fink's ''Nietzscheova filozofija'' (Zagreb 1981) and Adam Schaff'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 (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...

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 Scholars of contemporary philosophy 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