The monograph IGNJAT MARTINOVIĆ – PHILOSOPHER AND REVOLUTIONARY, by Vesna Stanković Pejnović, PhD, portrays society and an exceptional individual who shaped his thinking according to the ideals of enlightenment and social progress, and the reforms that were necessary to achieve this. At the beginning of his journey, Ignjat Martinović wanted to contribute to society through the educational structure. Under Joseph's reign, the crown sought to reform higher education at the largest universities in a bid to use the universities as a means of centralizing the empire and improving administration. For this, the emperor needed professors who could spread social, moral, and economic approaches that were in line with the dynasty's policies.
The monograph shows that historical events cannot be viewed in black and white and that the philosophical and political thoughts and actions of each person arise from their upbringing, the circumstances that shaped them, and the ideals that, together with events, create a complex whole of human life. Rejecting a particular individual just because he was a Freemason or exalting a very critical idealistic revolutionary just because some of his ideas seem interesting to us can divert the identification of historical events and the consideration of causes and consequences that are the result of different influences.
A significant contribution offered by the monograph is the author's presentation of a complex research of one individual through a multidisciplinary presentation. It provides an account of a time and the position of individuals through a historical, philosophical, sociological, and legal perspective, attempting to bring the "spirit" of the time closer to the individual who was guided by the spirit of the time and ideas.
When all his works, his ideals, his way of life, his records, his reports that he wrote to the emperors and the court administration, and his historiographical research are taken into account, the author gives an account of the development of his ideas, their danger to the state, and his persistence in them that cost him his life. From today's way of observing reality, it is not possible to make a moral judgment about an individual, an event, or a time. Martinović is an "enlightenment" product of his time because he had in his life everything that his time brought: priestly upbringing, enlightenment ideas, the connection of "Illyrian" regions, a nascent citizenship, an erudite education, the connection of ideas that spread throughout Europe through acquaintances and the availability of literature, an anti-theistic mentality that nevertheless did not prevent him from associating with Catholic and Orthodox dignitaries such as Bishop Maksimilian Vrhovec and Bishop Stratimirović. He was driven by the desire to implement reformist ideas in turbulent social events and to reduce the influence of the high nobility and clergy on the politics of the monarchy. Martinović and his associates advocated for freedom and human rights and for the abolition of feudal privileges. All of the above is just an example of the complexity of time and life, a complexity that requires study because every time, every event, every prominent person finds its place in history, although his actions can have different interpretations, since the perspectives are different.
Looking at the actions of the intellectual, philosopher Ignjat Martinović, as an advocate of radical enlightenment, we can see the retreat of enlightened absolutism and the trap into which the enlightener fell by believing that social change could be achieved through the ruler, and from being an advisor to the emperor, he became a conspirator against the state.
The monograph is a tribute to a philosopher and revolutionary, but it can also be read as a criticism of a society that "prepared" the trap into which the former emperor's advisor fell.
