Philosophical legacy of Krastieis L. Donskis: evil is temporary if it hurts for others

The first meeting of the readers’ club of the Klaipėda district education center

The first meeting of the readers’ club of the Klaipėda district education center and the bright memory of prof. The discussion of Leonidas Donskis (13 August 13, 1962 – 21 September 2016), a collection of his articles “Man skauda”, which was published after his death, once again confirmed the conclusion circulating in the public space that the ideas of L. Donskis, a philosopher who did not tolerate hatred and evil, are uncertain.
His journalistic texts full of moral sensitivity do not leave anyone indifferent, they are accessible to a person of any education or age. If he just wants to think for himself and has not lost his optimistic attitude in any circumstances of life.
The first meeting of the aforementioned readers’ club was made meaningful by the participation and insightful insights of L. Donskis’ wife, the founder and head of the Leonidas Donskis Foundation, psychologist Jolanta Donskienė and author of the book “Man skauda”, editor, journalist, public figure Birutė Garbaravičienė.
The light of a legendary personality
“Leonid’s death still hurts even now. So you always want to think about what he, a relatively young philosopher, left behind when he left. Leonidas was very good at giving gifts in the broad sense of humanity. So cooperation and friendship with him was such a gift,” said journalist B. Garbaravičienė, who for six years created the popular TV show “Be pykčio” together with Leonidas. She noticed that Leonidas did not spare his time, he shared it with the students who loved him, he did not refuse to participate in various discussions and meetings, the connection between people was important to him. Unfortunately, after the show, Leonidas received ugly and hurtful comments. B. Garbaravičienė emphasized that not everyone understood L. Donskis and she had to fight for the show more than once. The philosopher had a sensitive heart, but he was not just “fluffy”, he was principled: he could tolerate a person whom he did not respect on the show if he helped to reveal the topic under consideration, but he did not want to shake hands with him. However, as a public figure, Leonidas never put his person above others. He had his own scale of values, which he stubbornly defended, and he perfectly distinguished between good and evil.
“In the context of public space, we looked like freaks. And especially Leonidas, who knew how to speak without anger. You could see Leonidas on the screen, and it seemed that he was addressing directly, speaking personally. Such was his manner of speaking. Someone had noticed that his questions were more interesting to the interviewer than the answers”, B. Garbaravičienė shared her memories, noting that even now the show is called legendary. “However, it was not the show that was legendary, we were a small team, and Leonidas was a legendary personality,” the show’s editor said at the meeting.

A return gift for a friend
The author of L. Donski’s collection “Man skauda” said that the book was like her return gift to L. Donski, whose layers of wisdom are still very relevant and unique to this day. His sharp mind, even accurate insights into the future, are especially missed in the current geopolitical situation.
“L. All of Donski’s texts are available online, but I think the book has more lasting value. So, a year after his death, I started compiling a selection of his publications”, said the author and editor of the book, B. Garbaravičienė, at the Klaipėda District Education Center’s Readers’ Club. A book in which 76 have been printed since 2010. the texts published until the last month of the philosopher’s life testify to his having an extremely broad worldview and covering many areas of interest and expertise. Those texts testify that they were written by a talented master of the pen and a person of extraordinary intelligence and education.
“I felt like I was living in the lap of a giant,” shared with prof. Journalist B. Garbaravičienė summed up L. Donskiu, regretting that L. Donskiu’s gift to Lithuania was not always properly evaluated. It is a pity that his merits and image were used in politics. “It was only after his loss that compliments came from all corners, and while Leonid was alive, he had to endure more than one hurtful situation,” said the editor of the “Be pykčio” show.
The latest book is this year
“Life should be lived with the understanding that it can end at any time. Therefore, we may simply not have time to admit and correct our mistakes or mistakes at a later date”, these are the prophetic sounding thoughts from the latest collection of the enlightened philosopher L. Donskis “Evil is temporary”, which was qualitatively compiled by the translator, publicist Laimantas Jonušys.
Leonidas’ wife, Jolanta Donskienė, the founder and manager of the foundation bearing his name, is currently living through the worries and joys of publicizing the book published this year. She said she was happy that it was L. Jonušys, a professional translator and publicist who is extremely busy and sought after by authors, who agreed to compile a selection of Leonidas’ texts last fall. “I brought him two full bags of Leonid’s work, and he did a titanic job perfectly in two months,” said Jolanta gratefully, and at the same time she was happy that the previous book “Man skauda” is still very popular.
Jolanta sensitively remembered the presentation of the latest book “Evil is temporary” at the Vilnius book fair, when the hall could barely accommodate about 500 people.
“By the way, Leonidas has written many academic books in English. They are intended for analysis of philosophy, European events, politics, etc. Those books travel around the world, they are reprinted, bought, but perhaps more acceptable to the academic society,” said Jolanta. According to her, in 2008-2009 the amount of his scientific texts corresponded to 20 scientific workers. Jolanta emphasized that Leonidas was extremely able to focus on the subject being examined and written, he was particularly helped by the comments of sociologist, historian of cultures and civilizations Vytautas Kavolis. So L. Donskis worked concentratedly, he did not waste time on unnecessary things. There were no household chores in his everyday life, which his wife voluntarily took over when she realized Leonid’s talent. Jolanta said that Leonidas loved a beautiful home, he himself had grown up in the aesthetic environment of his parents’ home. His father was a long-time director of the Klaipėda district hygiene center, a doctor.
Both lives are full
J. Donskienė inspiredly told the members of the readers’ club of the Klaipėda District Education Center about Leonidas’ active academic, political and social activities, internships abroad, persistent work in defending his second thesis, but only to people from the side it could seem that everything was happening like butter. Meanwhile, at first Leonidas was not even wanted by the university of his hometown Klaipėda, after returning he had to successfully enroll at Vytautas the Great University of Kaunas.
Jolanta revealed many threads of a meaningful, constantly changing and fun life with the talented Leonidas in a sincere conversation with the members of the Readers’ Club of the Education Center. One of them is pleasantly related to our district: Leonidas worked as a manager at the Žilvičis camp for 14 years, and for 8 years. – Jolanta. The two Klaipėda residents met while studying in Vilnius, and it was in Karkle that he proposed to her for the next 30 happy years of marriage.
The members of the reading club were so interested in the meeting that the questions poured in one after the other. The guests of the club were delighted with the active audience.
Vilija BUTKUVIENĖ
Photo by Donata BIJEIKĖ.