Professor, Dharma Gate Buddhist College
(History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Art, Ethics, Mythology Theory)
I completed my primary and secondary education at Szinyei, where I was mainly interested in mathematics, biology, and geography. I have two sisters, and our parents were engineers, so a scientific career seemed the natural path for me. Then, around the age of sixteen, music, film, and literature began to take hold of me. I was swept up by the underground world of the 1980s.
After being accepted to the Faculty of Science (I eventually chose chemistry and physics), I spent a year in military service in Lenti—one of the most miserable barracks in the country. It was mentally exhausting, but I made some truly great friends. These experiences, however, pushed me to take a different direction at university. After a few years of struggle, I finally found what truly suited me: philosophy.
It was love at first sight—and it has lasted ever since. My interests ranged widely: the Greeks, classical German philosophy, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, existentialism, and more. I studied the philosophy of history and religion, aesthetics, and the history of religions. Alongside philosophy, I completed a degree in aesthetics, and eventually earned my doctorate. My dissertation, The Relationship Between Greek Mythology and Art in Schelling’s Philosophy of Art, was later reworked into a book titled Schelling and Antiquity (2009).
I grew up in a Christian family but gradually distanced myself from formal, institutional religion. Philosophy and ancient Greek culture—especially mythology—partly filled that space in my life, though my interest in the deeper understanding of the biblical tradition remained. Later, as I began teaching at Dharma Gate Buddhist College, I encountered Eastern traditions, which I approach as something of an outsider—yet with respect and curiosity. Beyond the college, I also taught philosophy and ethics at Eötvös József Secondary School, where I served as a mentor teacher as well.
The 2010s brought several major changes to my life. My hereditary spinal problems became severe, and I underwent two surgeries. I remarried; our son Jonatán was born in 2014, and Vilmos in 2017. Around 2012, I began writing fiction—mainly short stories and prose pieces. (Before that, from 2008 to 2010, I sang in a college band called Titanic Zenekara.) This literary turn led to numerous readings, journal publications, and two books: Like Shells When They Close (2016) and The Book of Small Procrastinations (2019).
These experiences also influenced my philosophical work—I began writing and publishing more, participating more actively in philosophical discourse, and developing a more personal and independent style. I’ve also tried to bring philosophy and literature closer together, at least at times. My book The Philosophy of Myth (2017) closed my long engagement with ancient Greek thought. In recent years, my attention has turned toward a broadly understood phenomenology, which I see as a path to a freer, more creative philosophy—one focused on the phenomena themselves. The writings from this period will, if all goes well, appear in my forthcoming book Vanishing Acts, to be published at the 2020 Book Festival.
Sports have always been important to me. I fenced competitively in my youth, and football, basketball, and table tennis have accompanied me throughout my life. Whenever I find the time, I also enjoy a good game of snooker.
Previous Teaching Activities:
– History of Philosophy
– Aesthetics
– Ethics
– Philosophy of Religion
– History of Religion
– Special courses: Plato, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, as well as Greek literature and mythology, Old and New Testament, Patristics, Phenomenology (Philosophy of Body, Philosophy of Space, Workshop Seminars)
– Teaching and Research Methodology Courses
Professional Experience and Achievements:
Lectures:
Scientific/Professional Public Activities, International Relations:
Language Studies, Language Proficiency Exams:
Publications list: Hungarian Science Bibliography
