Costica Bradatan

Costica Bradatan is a professor of humanities in the Honors College at Texas Tech University in the United States and an honorary research professor of philosophy at University of Queensland in Australia. He is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including Dying for Ideas: The Dangerous Lives of the Philosophers (Bloomsbury, paperback, 2018) and In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility (Harvard University Press, 2023). His work has been translated into more than 20 languages, including Dutch, Italian, Turkish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Farsi. Bradatan also writes book reviews, essays, and op-ed pieces for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times Literary Supplement, Aeon, The New Statesman, and other similar venues.

Articles

How to Swim Against the Stream: On Diogenes
Costica Bradatan considers the lessons of the famous Cynic Diogenes.
Costica BradatanJan 14, 2023
- Philosophy & Religion
- Politics
“An Idea in Our Minds”: What It Means to Be an American When You Weren’t Born One
Andrei Codrescu, Aurelian Craiutu, and Costica Bradatan discuss what it means to be an American when you were not born one.
Andrei Codrescu, Aurelian Craiutu, Costica BradatanSep 3, 2021
- Politics
The Plot and the Argument: Philosophy as a Narrative Affair
The compelling story of four German-language thinkers in the aftermath of World War I.
Costica BradatanNov 15, 2020
Always Narrating: The Making and Unmaking of Umberto Eco
Costica Bradatan looks back at, and behind, the life and thought of Umberto Eco, who waged a long war against “dietrologia” (“behindology”).
Costica BradatanMar 9, 2020
The Gifts of Humility
Costica Bradatan contemplates the blind cruelty of power and the gifts of humility.
Costica BradatanDec 16, 2018
- Philosophy & Religion
Philosophy Needs a New Definition
Costica Bradatan says we need a Sufi master (or Plato) to enlarge our understanding of philosophy.
Costica BradatanDec 17, 2017
- Philosophy & Religion
Why We Fail and How
We fail precisely because we are so afraid of failure.
Costica BradatanSep 24, 2017
- Philosophy & Religion
The Philosopher of Failure: Emil Cioran’s Heights of Despair
Failure runs through it all, from Cioran’s “On the Heights of Despair” to “The Trouble with Being Born.”
Costica BradatanNov 28, 2016
- Philosophy & Religion
Body of Work: The Dying Philosopher
The scene of the philosopher's death is a reminder that what is most precious — our life — is also the most fragile.
Costica BradatanSep 27, 2015
- History
The Idea of Europe
Costica Bradatan and Robert Zaretsky on George Stiener and "The Idea of Europe" as a place defined more by philosophy than economics.
Costica Bradatan, Robert ZaretskyAug 12, 2015
- Philosophy & Religion
The Two Abysses of the Soul
Costica Bradatan shows us how The Brothers Karamazov explains Russia's current politics.
Costica BradatanJul 31, 2014
Andrei Codrescu
A Review, an Interview, and Poems
Costica Bradatan, Jean Harris, Marjorie PerloffOct 15, 2013
As Unclear as Life Itself: An Interview with Cristian Mungiu
Costica BradatanSep 21, 2013
The Romanian New Wave Crests: Cristian Mungiu's 'Beyond the Hills'
The best of the new Romanian directors and his film about exorcism.
Costica BradatanSep 21, 2013
On Reza Aslan’s “Zealot”: A Symposium
Reza Aslan's "Zealot": A Symposium
Andrei Codrescu, Costica Bradatan, Kevin Hart, Phillip MaciakAug 11, 2013
A Radical Move by a Conservative Pope
Costica BradatanFeb 18, 2013