The Romanian Sentiment of Being

The critical links and dependencies between language and thought formed a major new exploration of twentieth-century philosophy. Languages nuance our ideas and perceptions. From various angles and in different ways, Heidegger, Derrida, and Wittgenstein forged new ways of understanding the relationship between our views of the external world and our culturally and linguistically pre-determined modes of expression. Another important thinker in this field of exploration is the Romanian philosopher Constantin Noica (1909–1987), who has so far remained generally unknown in the West because of the Iron Curtain. The Romanian Sentiment of Being ( Sentimentul românesc al ființei ), first published in Romanian in 1978, is a philosophical work at the intersection of metaphysics and philosophy of language. The title of this book may be deceptive. “Romanian” does not mean ethnically circumscribed; it does not limit ontology to nationality but rather reflects on how language can carry ontological thought. The Romanian Sentiment of Being invites the readers to meditate on the fundamental theme of being and how it is expressed in a culture in time. This being in time marks the tension between moment and eternity, captured in the fairy tale by Petre Ispirescu, “Ageless Youth and Deathless Life” (“Tinerețe fără batrânețe și viață fără de moarte”), which Noica interprets in detail (a translation of the story is included in the appendix). Noica also analyzes one of the most famous poems in Romanian, Mihai Eminescu’s “The Evening Star” (“Luceafărul”), and readers will find its translation in the appendix.