Abstract

Lucian Blaga, probably the greatest Romanian philosopher to date, is the author of a philosophy of culture that is creative, broad, and integrated into a comprehensive philosophical system. However, Blaga''s philosophy of culture has not received the recognition that might be expected. One of the reasons for this is that it is widely perceived as being a mere adoption or adaptation of Oswald Spengler''s philosophy of culture. This article endeavors to restore Blaga''s philosophy to its rightful place by showing that Blaga''s philosophy of culture is more than a mere adaptation of Spengler''s philosophy. This it does by detailing 5 types of differences between Spengler''s and Blaga''s philosophies of culture: 1. Differences of style, method, and detail, 2. Differences of issues addressed, 3. Differences of conclusions, 4. Systematic differences, and 5. Systemic differences. The article concludes that, while Spengler and Blaga can be considered to be in the same school of thought, Blaga''s philosophy is more than a mere adaptation of Spenglers philosophy: it is a new, deeper, more sophisticated, more complete, more systematic and more lasting philosophy of culture