Gabriel Liiceanu

Gabriel Liiceanu (b. May 23 1942, Râmnicu-Vâlcea) is a Romanian philosopher.

He graduated from University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy in 1965, and from Faculty of Classical Languages in 1973. He earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Bucharest in 1976.

Between 1965 and 1975, Liiceanu was a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, and between 1975 and 1989 at the Institute of Art History. He received a fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation between 1982 and 1984.

He is the manager of Humanitas publishing house since 1990. He is the professor at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy since 1992.

Liiceanu is also a founding member of the Group for Social Dialogue (1990), President of the Romanian Publishers' Association (since 2000), and member of the scientific council of New Europe College. Between 1998 and 2001, he was a member of the Romanian National Television's Administrative Board.

He was greatly influenced by his mentor, Constantin Noica, especially during the time spent at Păltiniş (experience that he evokes in his famous "Jurnalul de la Păltiniş" - "The Păltiniş Diary"). Noica, a Romanian philosopher known abroad as well as in the country, used to take his most valuable students and followers to his small house at Păltiniş, where he would teach them what they afterwards called "not philosophy lessons, but spiritual experiences". Another Noica follower that was invited to Păltiniş was Andrei Pleşu (Liiceanu and Pleşu are still friends today). Liiceanu refers to that experience in his books as to the "Păltiniş School" and the term began to be widely accepted and used in Romanian, as well as European philosophy.

Work

Books

* "Tragicul. O fenomenologie a limitei şi depăşirii" ("The Tragic - A Phenomenology of limit and overtaking"), 1975
* "Încercare în politropia omului şi a culturii" ("Introduction to the polytropy of men and culture"), 1981
* "Jurnalul de la Păltiniş. Un model paideic în cultura umanistă" ("The Paltiniş Diary: A Paideic Model in Humanist Culture"), 1983
** "Le Journal de Păltiniş", La Decouverte, Paris, 1998
** "Paltiniş Diary", CEU Press, Budapest and New York, 2000
* "Epistolar" ("Epistolary"), 1987, coauthor and editor
* "Apel către lichele" ("Appeal to knaves"), 1992
* "Cearta cu filozofia. Eseuri" ("Quarrel with philosophy. Essays"), 1992
* "Despre limită" ("On limit"), 1994
** "De la limite", Ed. Michalon, Paris, 1997
* "Itinerariile unei vieţi: EM. Cioran urmat de Apocalipsa după Cioran. Trei zile de convorbiri - 1990", 1995
** "Itineraires d'une vie: E.M. Cioran suivi de Les Continents de l'insomnie", Ed. Michalon, Paris, 1995
** "Apocalypsen enligt Cioran", Dualis Forlags, Ludvika, Suedia, 1997
* "Declaraţie de iubire" ("Love declaration"), 2001
* "Uşa interzisă" ("The Forbidden door"), 2002
* "Om şi simbol. Interpretări ale simbolului în teoria artei şi filozofia culturii" ("Man and Symbol. Interpretations of the symbol in art theory and culture philosophy"), 2005
* "Despre minciună" ("On lie"), 2006
* "Despre ură" ("On hate"), 2007

Translations

from Greek and German:
* Plato, Aristotelic commentators, German philosophers (Heidegger, Schelling)

Movies

* "Exerciţiu de admiraţie" ("Exercise of Admiration"), 1991, with Constantin Chelba (coauthor)
* interview with Eugène Ionesco, 1992
* "Apocalipsa după Cioran" ("Apocalypse according to Cioran"), 1995, with Sorin Ilieşiu (coauthor)

Audiobooks

* "Uşa interzisă" ("The Forbidden Door"), 2003
* "Noica", 2003, with Andrei Pleşu (coauthor)
* "Apel către lichele" ("Appeal to knaves"), 2006
* "Declaraţie de iubire" ("Love declaration"), 2006
* "Sebastian, mon frère. Scrisoare către un frate mai mare" ("Sebastian, mon frère. Letter to an elder brother"), 2006
* "Strategii ale seducţiei. De la Romeo şi Julieta la sărutul cioranian" ("Strategies of seduction. From Romeo and Juliet to Cioranian kiss"), 2006

Awards

* Romanian Writers' Union Prize, 1983, for "Păltiniş Diary"
* Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 1992
* Great Prize of the Romanian Film-makers Union, 1992, ex-aequo, for "Exercise of Admiration"
* Cross of Merit, First class, of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2006, for promotion of German language and culture in Romania