mihai şora's philosophy of dialogue

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Notes

1 Mihai Şora (b. 1916, Timişoara, Romania) studied philosophy in Bucharest (1934–38) and then in Paris. He returned to Romania in 1948 and, in subsequent decades, was a prominent editor. From January to June 1990 he served as Minister of Education in the first post-revolutionary Romanian government. A founding member of the Group for Social Dialogue, Şora was also elected president of the Civic Alliance (1990–91) and vice-president of the Civic Alliance Party (1992–93).

2 Mihai Şora, Du dialogue intérieur. Fragments d’une anthropologie métaphysique (Paris: Gallimard, 1947); idem, Sarea pămîntului [The Salt of the Earth] (Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 1978); idem, A fi, a face, a avea [To Be, To Do, To Have] (Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 1985); idem, Eu & tu & el & ea … sau dialogul generalizat [I & Thou & He & She … or the Generalized Dialogue] (Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 1990); idem, Clipa şi timpul [Instant and Time] (Piteşti: Paralela 45, 2005).

3 Şora's work also includes edited collections of essays and articles: Mihai Şora, Firul ierbii [Grass Blade] (Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, 1998); idem, Filosoficale. Filosofia ca viaţă [Philosophical Miscellanea. Philosophy as Life] (Bucharest: Elion, 2000); idem, Câteva crochiuri şi evocări [Some Sketches and Evocations] (Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, 2000); idem, Locuri commune [Commonplaces] (Bucharest: Universalia, 2004). See also his two excellent volumes of dialogues: Mihai Şora, Mai avem un viitor? România la început de mileniu [Do We Still Have a Future? Romania at the Beginning of the Millennium] (a dialogue with Sorin Antohi) (Iaşi: Polirom, 2001); idem, Despre toate şi ceva în plus [On Everything and Something More] (a dialogue with Leonid Dragomir) (Piteşti: Paralela 45, 2005).

4 Şora, Despre dialogul interior (Bucharest: Humanitas) 72.

5 Ibid. 196.

6 Ibid. 98.

7 Mihai Şora, A fi, a face, a avea (Bucharest: Humanitas, 2006) 32.

8 Idem, Sarea pământului (Bucharest: Humanitas, 2006) 94–111.

9 Idem, Eu & tu & el & ea … sau dialogul generalizat (Bucharest: Humanitas, 2007) 10.

10 Idem, Filosoficale. Filosofia ca viaţă 6.

11 Idem, Eu & tu & el & ea … sau dialogul generalizat 111.

12 Ibid. 114.

13 For Mihai Şora's political philosophy, see Aurelian Crăiuţu, “Despre dialogul interior în filosofia lui Mihai Şora,” 22, VI.38 (1995): 12; idem, “De la dialogul interior la dialogul generalizat: note despre filosofia politică a lui Mihai Şora” in Dialog şi libertate. Eseuri în onoarea lui Mihai Şora, eds. Sorin Antohi and Aurelian Crăiuţu (Bucharest: Nemira, 1997) 101–19; Sorin Antohi, “Utopiile unui Mai Ştiutor” in Antohi and Crăiuţu (eds.) 17–44; Aurelian Crăiuţu, Elogiul libertăţii (Polirom: Iaşi, 1998) 117–34; Marius Ghica (ed.), Şora (Piteşti: Paralela 45, 2006); idem, “Mihai Şora: A Philosopher of Dialogue,” East European Politics and Societies 21.4 (2007): 611–38. For Şora's theology and political theology, see Leonid Dragomir, Mihai Şora. O filosofie a bucuriei şi a speranţei (Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 2009).

14 Şora, Clipa şi timpul 100.

15 Ibid. 49.

16 Şora, Filosoficale 18.

17 See the article with the same title from Şora, Firul ierbii 229–41.

18 Şora, Firul ierbii 51.

19 Şora's affinity with Martin Buber is quite obvious. For more on this, see Aurelian Crăiuţu, “De la dialogul interior la dialogul generalizat: note despre filosofia politică a lui Mihai Şora” in Antohi and Crăiuţu (eds.) 110–14; Ştefan Augustin Doinaş, “Mihai Şora şi condiţia dialogului interior” in Antohi and Crăiuţu (eds.) 20–29. For other sources of Şora's philosophy (especially Aristotle, Augustin, Thomas, Cusanus, Leibniz, Pascal, Péguy, Mounier, Maritain, Marcel; Husserl, Heidegger, Levinas), see Şora, Despre toate şi ceva în plus 22–39; idem, Firul ierbii 38–42.

20 Şora, Despre toate şi ceva în plus 86.

21 Leonid Dragomir, “O filosofie a bucuriei şi a speranţei,” Argeş IX (XLIV), 3 (321) (2009).

22 This emphasis on the person makes Şora very close to the personalist account of Mounier. For other details, see Leonid Dragomir, “De la dialogul interior la salvarea ontologică” Argeş VIII (XLIII), 11 (317) (2008).

23 Şora, Filosoficale 126.

24 Şora clarifies this in his dialogues with Leonid Dragomir (Şora, Despre toate şi ceva în plus) and Stelian Tănase (Şora, Firul ierbii).

25 For more on the originality of Şora's philosophy within the context of Romanian philosophy, see Virgil Nemoianu, “Mihai Şora and the Traditions of Romanian Philosophy,” Review of Metaphysics 43.1 (1990): 591–605; Toma Pavel, “Le Sel de la terre,” Revue de métaphysique et de morale 4 (1980): 539–42; Aurelian Crăiuţu, “Mihai Şora: un filosof al dialogului şi speranţei,” Idei în dialog IV.1 (2008): 35–37 and IV.2 (2008): 36–38. On how Şora himself relates to Romanian philosophers, see Şora, Despre toate şi ceva în plus 46–50.

26 Şora, Firul ierbii 241.