Kant’s critical philosophy and Marxist humanism in socialist Yugoslavia

This paper explores the reception of Immanuel Kant’s critical philosophy in socialist Yugoslavia, with a particular focus on its influence among the Marxist humanist philosophers of the Praxis circle. The group of philosophers and sociologists associated with the journal Praxis and the Korčula Summer School sought to synthesize Marxist philosophy with other philosophical traditions. A key aspect of their intellectual endeavor was their insistence on maintaining a critical stance toward reality. Their interpretation of philosophy in socialist societies began to diverge from the official approach to Marxist humanism. For the Praxis thinkers, philosophy was meant to uphold a continuous critique of reality, defending the ideals of the socialist revolution rather than reinforcing ideology. They argued that ossifying these ideals into ideology was precisely what had occurred in the socialist parties of Eastern and Central Europe, as well as in Yugoslavia itself. After a brief inquiry into the genealogy of the reception of Kant’s philosophy in Yugoslavia, the paper situates Kant’s broader project of Enlightenment thought within the Yugoslav context, emphasizing the importance of his ideas regarding rationality, universalism, and autonomy. Furthermore, the paper examines the intellectual exchanges between Kantian and Marxist frameworks in criticizing ideology, particularly as they relate to Yugoslav debates on socialism and democracy.