On 30th Anniversary of Death of Gajo Petrović

Gajo Petrović (1927. — 1993.) predstavlja, nedvojbeno, jednoga od najznačajnijih mislilaca poniklih na ovim prostorima, on se može definirati i kao hrvatski (po prostoru u kojem je djelovao, ali i po majčinom porijeklu), i srpski (po očevom porijeklu), i jugoslavenski (po samoopredjeljenju i samorazumijevanju), ali i – što je možda najpreciznije određenje – svjetski (po dometima njegova mišljenja) filozof. Jedan od ključnih pojmova njegove filozofije (ili, preciznije, metafilozofije) jest pojam revolucije (pored pojmova poput prakse, otuđenja, razotuđenja, socijalizma i slobode), na što ukazuje i naslov jednoga od njegovih središnjih djela. Imamo li u vidu da je taj pojam (što ga je Gajo Petrović koristio u marksističkom i socijalističkom kontekstu) već odavno došao na loš glas (najevidentnije u razdoblju nakon propasti tzv. realnog socijalizma), moći ćemo razumjeti kako mnogi otpisuju ovog našeg mislioca kao ideologa ili barem sljedbenika jednoga propalog projekta. U ovom prilogu pokazat će se u kojoj je mjeri takvo otpisivanje neopravdano (a i vođeno lošim ideologijskim namjerama) i koliko je ono inkompatibilno s bitnim onto-antropologijskim značenjem Petrovićevog pojma revolucije, nipošto svodljivoga na socijalnu i političku dimenziju revolucije, već definiranoga ključnim pojmom slobode. Upravo mišljenje revolucije kao smisla bitka (ili, kako to naš mislilac formulira, bivstvovanja) omogućuje utemeljenje bespoštedne kritike svega postojećega, ključne sastavnice povijesnog značenja onoga duha koji se formirao u okružju časopisa Praxis i Korčulanske ljetne škole, a čiji je protagonist bio upravo Gajo Petrović.Gajo Petrović (1927 — 1993) is without any doubt one of the most significant thinkers originating from our part of the world. He belongs to both Croatian and Serbian, as well as Yugoslav (by selfdetermination and self-understanding) philosophy. But, what is perhaps his most precise description – by the reach of his thinking he is a world philosoper. Revolution – as the title of one of his works indicates – is one of the key concepts of his philosophy (or, more precisely: metaphilosophy). In addition, his philosophical profile is framed also with concepts such as praxis, allienation, de-allianation, socialism and freedom. If we take into account that this concept (revolution, which Gajo Petrović used in Marxist and socialist context) has after the end of so called “real socialism” being stigmatised, one can understand that many now reject this thinker as an ideologue or at least as a follower of a failed project. In this paper we show that such a rejection is not justifiable and that is inspired by bad ideological intentions. It is incompatible with essentially onto-anthropological character of Petrović\u27s concept of revolution, already defined as the key concept of freedom. It is exactly the thinking of revolution as the essence of Being (or, as our thinker formulates: of continuous Being), that enables the merciless critique of all existing, the key component of historical character of the spirit that was formed within Praxis journal and at the Korčula Summer School, to both of which Petrović significantly contributed