Jaroslav Hruban, Disciple of Otakar Hostinsky

The author created a portrait of the Czech aesthetic thinker Jaroslav Hruban based on his aesthetic works and biographical facts. Jaroslav Hruban, who was a disciple of Otakar Hostinsky, was one of the founders of modern Czech aesthetics. He was the first one who wrote about the aesthetics of Saint Augustine and Dante Alighieri in Czech, and the first one who wrote a Czech introduction to aesthetics. He dealt with the question of aesthetic values that are important for aesthetic culture. In the essay, the connection between Jaroslav Hruban and Otakar Hostinsky is especially stressed, in spite of some important differences. According to the author, Jaroslav Hruban was among the leading Czech thinkers of aesthetics in the first half of the 20th century.

Keywords: Czech aesthetics; Aesthetic values; Aesthetic culture; Hruban; Jaroslav (1886-1934); Hostinsky; Otakar (1847-1910)