Lucian Blaga
Optional Course for BA and MA students
Dr. Michael S. Jones
msjones2@liberty.edu or jones@ub-filosofie.ro
University of Bucharest
Faculty of Philosophy
Spring 2015
"The heart has its reasons which reason does not know." -Blaise Pascal
"With man, instinct and reason avoid each other with adversity, yet, by repudiating each other they lure each other to reach mutual
correction." -Lucian Blaga
Course Description: This course will be an interactive introduction to and discussion of the
philosophical work of Lucian Blaga, who is perhaps Romania’s greatest philosopher. It will involve
two hours of lectures each week and two hours of seminars wherein the students will present their
own work. The lectures will cover Blaga’s entire philosophical system and will be based upon
readings assigned from the professor’s book on Blaga. The reading assignments are, in general,
intentionally short so that the students will be able to read them before coming to class. This will
encourage the classes to become discussions of the ideas presented in the texts rather than merely
lectures presented by the professor.
One goal of this class is to give the students the experience of an American-style classroom, with the
interactive lectures and learning assessment tools that are common in the United States. However,
the professor will endeavor to grade the students as would a typical member of the Faculty of
Philosophy of the University of Bucharest.
Rationale: The internationally renowned Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade called Lucian Blaga “The
most gifted and critical original thinker” in the history of Romanian philosophy. Strangely, few
Romanians actually read his philosophical writings. Although many read his poetry, Blaga viewed
himself foremost as a philosopher. The purpose of this course is to help Romanian philosophy
students to appreciate the beauty and insight of Blaga’s philosophy, which will help them to have a
greater appreciation of their own cultural and philosophical heritage. Since Blaga’s writings cover
almost every area of philosophy, this course will also provide a broad survey of philosophical issues
and positions that should be useful to philosophy students.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:
1. Relate the main details of Blaga’s background and life.
2. List the 14 books making up Blaga’s systematic philosophy, locating them in their respective
trilogies and give a very brief summary of each.
3. Outline in broad terms Blaga’s philosophical system.
4. Critically discuss in an informed fashion Blaga’s key philosophical insights and how these
relate to classical and contemporary philosophy.
Successful achievement of these outcomes will be evaluated via in-class discussions, in-class
presentations, a term paper, and a final exam.
Location and Time:
Lectures: Tuesdays 16:00 to 18:00
Discussions: Thursdays 16:00 to 17:00
Textbooks:
 Blaga, Lucian. Fiinta istorica. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Dacia, 1977.
 Jones, Michael S. The Metaphysics of Religion: Lucian Blaga and Contemporary Philosophy.

Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickenson University Press, 2006.
----- Metafizica religiei: Lucian Blaga și filosofia contemporană. Geo Săvălescu și Dominic
Georgescu, trans. Bucharest: Editura Self Publishing, 2014.
The readings for this class will be placed in the library of the Faculty of Philosophy. Both the
lectures and the seminars will involve discussions based upon these texts, so reading the assigned
texts before coming to class is very important.
Assignments and Grading:
1. Attendance (30 points): the attendance grade is based on a simply calculation of the
percentage of classes that the student attends out of the total number of actual classes held.
For example, if there are 14 lectures and 14 seminars, then the total number of classes is 28.
If the student attends 20 out of these 28 classes (78% of the classes), then the student will
receive 21 points out of the total 30 points possible for attendance.
2. Term Paper (30 points): in place of a traditional term paper, in this class each student will
be required to translate into English one chapter from Blaga’s final book, Fiinta istorica (The
Historical Being).
 This translation must be made from the Editura Humanitas version of 1997. It must
be typed, double-spaced, and the page numbers from the Romanian version should
be indicated in parentheses.
 Graduate students must precede there translation with a four-page essay placing the
chapter in its context within Fiinta istorica and within the context of Blaga’s
philosophical system.
 The grade of any term paper turned in late will decrease one point (out of ten) per
day late (week day, including weekends), so please get your papers in on time.
 See additional information below under “Details for the Term Paper.”
3. Seminar (20 points): each student will be required to lead, in English, one class discussion
of the chapter from Fiinta istorica that he or she is working on translating. During the
second week of class the students will be asked to sign up for the chapter that each of them
will translate and the day on which they will present their work.
 In leading the discussion one should aim to clarify the central issues presented in
the text and relate them to a broader understanding of these issues in Blaga’s
system and in contemporary philosophy.
 The presenter should attempt to capture the attention of the other students by
making the presentation interesting and applicable while drawing the students into
an active discussion of the issues.
 Since many philosophy students may go into teaching or other vocations that
require public speaking, it is important that they have opportunities to speak on
philosophical topics as part of their education. This assignment is designed to
provide such an opportunity.
4. Final Exam (20 points): an oral final exam will be conducted in English during finals week.
It will involve two parts: a discussion of the student’s research, especially as it relates to his
or her term paper for the class, and a discussion of the meaning of central terms used in
Blaga’s philosophy. The professor will distribute a list of terms that the students should
study in preparation for the latter part of the exam.
 Your course grade will be calculated by totaling the above points and dividing that sum by
ten. Then the usual mathematical procedure for rounding to the nearest whole number will
be followed in order to arrive at a whole-number grade between one and 10. No work will
be accepted after the final exam so that the professor can calculate and submit the final
grades in a timely manner.
Suggestions for the seminar presentation:
1. Your presentation is to be on the chapter of Fiinta istorica that you are translating. During
the first or second week of class the professor will ask the students to sign up for specific
chapters. You may choose any chapter from five through twelve that has not already been
selected by someone else. (Some duplication of chapters may be necessary, of course. If two
students present on the same chapter, their work should be completely independent of each
other. If it’s not, that will negatively affect their grades.)
2. The day that you make your presentation will depend on the chapter that you select. The
schedule of chapter presentations is found toward the end of this syllabus.
3. Your presentation could discuss the philosophy of the chapter, how it fits into the rest of the
book, into Blaga’s philosophical system, and into the Western philosophical tradition. It
could involve a critical appraisal of Blaga’s philosophy found in your chapter, or a
comparison of Blaga’s philosophy to the work of other philosophers. It could also include a
discussion of issues that you have encountered in trying to translate Blaga in to English.
Sometimes there is no word-for-word translation from Romanian to English, but discussing
such challenges with the class may help you to find a good solution to difficult passages.
4. Try to make your teaching style engaging: try to get the class involved in a discussion of
Blaga’s thought. Everyone should have read the assigned chapter before coming to class,
which should facilitate this.
5. Use of audio-visual aids (PowerPoint, Prezi, the chalk board, etc.) is permitted.
6. Allow your own teaching style to show through: relax and have fun with this opportunity!
Details for the term paper:
1. As stated above, in place of a traditional term paper you will be translating a chapter of
Fiinta istorica. The chapter must be the same chapter on which you make your seminar
presentation. Writing on the same subject will save you time and may also improve the
quality of the seminar presentations.
2. Please utilize either the Chicago Manual of Style or Turabian as your style guide.
3. Use 12-point Times New Roman font and one inch margins, double-spaced, with footnotes.
Please include a title page, table of contents, and bibliography.
 For undergraduate students the table of contents may be quite simple, containing
nothing more than the translation, the bibliography, and an indication of the pages
on which these begin. For master’s degree students the table of contents should also
mention the introductory essay and the page on which that begins.
 For undergraduate students the bibliography may contain nothing but the entry for
Fiinta istorica (properly formatted). Master’s students’ bibliographies should
contain additional sources.
4. Regarding the Master’s Students’ introductory essay: please keep in mind that the style in
which you write anything, be it a term paper, article, or book, depends on who your
intended audience is. For this paper, your audience is one person, your professor. Please
write accordingly. Do not write as if this is an email: this is a formal research paper. It
should not contain slang, poor grammar, informal language, improper punctuation,
storytelling, or sermonizing. It also should not contain a general introduction to your
subject: assume that your audience already has a general familiarity with your topic. This
will save you space and time, enabling you to get right into the meat of the issue so that you
can better sustain your argument and prove your point.
5. Plagiarism is immoral and will not be tolerated. If anyone is caught plagiarizing s/he will fail
the class. There will be no warnings for first time offenses and no exceptions: if you are
caught plagiarizing, you fail. If you are not sure what plagiarism is, it is your responsibility
to find out. Ignorance is no excuse.
6. There are two distinct due dates for this paper: the date on which the original term paper is
due, and the date on which the revised term paper is due. The term paper is due at the
beginning of the lecture on week 10. At this time the professor will grade your work and
return it to you as quickly as possible. If you receive a lower grade than you would like, you
may revise the paper and resubmit it at the beginning of the lecture during week 13. I have
set up the course this way to help you produce a quality translation and to maximize the
likelihood of getting a good grade.
 When you turn in your paper I would like you to both 1. Email your paper to me, and
2. Bring a hard copy to class for me. Both of these are due at the same time, and if
one is late, the whole project is late. I will grade your hard copy, write comments on
it, and return it to you.
 The grade that your paper receives at this time will count for half of the final grade
of the paper. If you wish, you may revise your paper and turn in a new printout of
the revised version together with the original graded version on the date that
revised term papers are due. I will re-grade the paper, and the average of the first
grade and the grade on the revised paper will be your final paper grade.
 If you elect not to revise your paper, the grade that you got on the version you
turned in on the first due date will be your final paper grade.
7. If you would like to discuss your paper with me while it is in process, that would be quite
welcome. Please see me to set up an appointment.
8. I expect these papers to be befitting of university students. Please “put your best foot
forward.”
Attendance Policy:
Attendance will be recorded each time the class meets. As per the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy,
any student who fails to attend a minimum of 50% of the classes will not be permitted to take the
final exam. Additionally, students who do not attend the class on a regular basis will not be assigned
a passing grade in the class regardless of how well they do in the seminar, on the term paper, and
on the final exam. The reason for this is the following. This course is not intended merely as a test of
your knowledge of the material covered, but rather as a learning experience that involves, among
other things, an American-style university classroom and interaction with your classmates and the
professor. As such, the classes themselves are the center of this learning experience, and missing
the classes necessarily and unavoidably results in missing the learning experience.
Course Calendar:
16.02.2015 - 08.04.2015


Activitate didactică
090.4.2015 – 15.04.2015
Vacanţă de Pasti
16.04.2015 – 30.05.2015
Activitate didactică
31.05.2015 – 27.06.2015
Sesiune de examene
Students in their final year finish their classes 02.05.2015 rather than 30.05.2015 and have
their final exams from 03.05.2015 to 30.05.2015. Hence such students must take care to
schedule their seminar presentations earlier in the semester. The due dates for the term
paper are unchanged, though students in their final year may turn in their papers early if
they wish. Those wishing to do so are asked to discuss it with the professor first.
The official University of Bucharest calendar can be found at

http://www.unibuc.ro/n/studii/calendar_academic.php.
Each week this course will include a lecture and a seminar oriented around discussing the
assigned texts. The assigned texts are to be read before coming to class according to the
schedule below. The weekly reading assignments are indicated in light blue.
As you are reading the assigned texts, think about the following things:
-What main issue or issues is the author of the text dealing with?
-Why is this issue important?
-What solution is being proposed?
-Your critical analysis: why is this or is this not a good solution?
WEEK I
Lecture: Introduction to the professor and the course. Assigned reading: the syllabus.
Seminar: Assigning the students to a seminar hour; student presentation selections. Come to class
with a topic selected.
WEEK II
Lecture: Blaga’s background, work, and system. Jones, The Metaphysics of Religion chapters 1 and 2.
Seminar: Blaga, Fiinta istorica chapter 1, “Concerning Historiography.”
WEEK III
Lecture: Blaga’s philosophy of philosophy. Jones, Metaphysics ch. 3.
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 2, “The Historical Phenomenon.”
WEEK IV
Lecture: Blaga’s metaphysics: Jones, Metaphysics 58-74 (Săvălescu 81-106).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 3, “The Permanence of Prehistory.”
WEEK V
Lecture: Blaga’s metaphysics: Jones, Metaphysics 74-87 (Săvălescu 106-125).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 4, “Organism and Society.”
WEEK VI
Lecture: Blaga’s epistemology: Jones, Metaphysics 88-102 (Săvălescu 126-148).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 5, “Stylistic Fields.” Nița Liviu Mihai
WEEK VII
Lecture: Blaga’s epistemology: Jones, Metaphysics 102-118 (Săvălescu 148-172).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 6, “Styles and Dialectic.”
WEEK VIII
Lecture: Blaga’s philosophy of culture: Jones, Metaphysics 119-136 (Săvălescu 173-199).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 7, “The Duration of Stylistic Factors.”
WEEK IX
Lecture: Blaga’s philosophy of culture: Catherine Lovatt, “The Mioritic Space: Romanian National
Identity in the Work of Lucian.” Central European Review 1:18, October 1999 http://www.cereview.org/99/18/lovatt18.html.
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 8, “Stylistic Interferences.”
WEEK X
Lecture: Blaga’s philosophy of religion: Jones, Metaphysics 137-152 (Săvălescu 200-224).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 9, “The Idea of Progress in History.”
Term paper due.
WEEK XI
Lecture: Blaga and philosophy of religion: Jones, Metaphysics 155-181 (Săvălescu 225-265).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 10, “Phenomena, Knowledge, Censorship Lines.” A. Bogdan
Dumitrescu
WEEK XII
Lecture: Blaga and philosophy of religion: Jones, Metaphysics 182-206 (Săvălescu 266-305).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 11, “Oswald Spengler and the Philosophy of History.”
WEEK XIII
Lecture: Blaga and philosophy of religion: Jones, Metaphysics 207-226 (Săvălescu 306-336).
Seminar: Fiinta istorica chapter 12, “The Metaphysics of History.” Anca Rosu
Revised term paper due.
WEEK XIV
Lecture: Blaga and philosophy of religion: Jones, Metaphysics 227-247 (Săvălescu 337-368).
Seminar: Closing remarks. Jones, Metaphysics 248-251 (Săvălescu 369-374).
Select Bibliography:
Blaga, Lucian. Fiinta istorica. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Dacia, 1977.
Borcila, Mircea. Eonul Blaga: Întâiul veac. Bucharest: Editura Albatros, 1997.
Botez, Angela, and Argentina Firuță, ed. Dimensiunea metafizică a operei lui Lucian Blaga.
Bucharest: Editura Științifică, 1996.
Diaconu, Florica, and Marin Diaconu. Dicționar de termeni filosofici ai lui Lucian Blaga. Bucharest:
Univers Enciclopedia, 2000.
Flonta, Mircea. “Blaga, Lucian.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online, E. Craig, ed.
London: Routledge, 2004, http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/N109.
Jones, Michael S. “Blaga, Lucian.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (24 April 2011),
http://www.iep.utm.edu/lucian-blaga/.
----- The Metaphysics of Religion: Lucian Blaga and Contemporary Philosophy. Madison, NJ:
Fairleigh Dickenson University Press, 2006.
---- Metafizica religiei: Lucian Blaga și filosofia contemporană. Geo Săvălescu și Dominic Georgescu,
trans. Bucharest: Editura Self Publishing, 2014.
Lovatt, Catherine. “The Mioritic Space: Romanian National Identity in the Work of Lucian Blaga.”
Central European Review 1:18, October 1999.
An extensive bibliography of Blaga’s works and research on Blaga can be found in the
bibliographies of my book listed above.