EKUMENA I ETIKA U POSLOVANJU Augustin Bašić

Guest Augustin BačićHosted by Darko BukovićMay 3, 2026

Augustin Bačić

About this episode

What you'll hear in this conversation

Augustin Bačić has spent over four decades in public discourse, a master of philosophy and theology who became a symbol of Croatian public broadcasting's religious program. He is a journalist who, at times, promoted interfaith dialogue even against official church and state policies. What drives him, he says, is "thought itself, a gift that obliges us to search for what makes a human truly human." This relentless inquiry into the essence of our being has defined his life and work, from his influential podcast on ethics in business to his lifelong commitment to human dignity. In a world increasingly defined by fleeting perceptions, Bačić reminds us that the pursuit of genuine understanding and individual responsibility remains the only path to a healthy society. Listeners will come away with a refreshed perspective on the enduring value of dialogue, ethics, and personal accountability in all aspects of life.

Insights from the conversation

What to take from this episode

Augustin Bačić says he is driven by "thought itself, a gift that obliges us to search – both horizontally and vertically – for what makes a human truly human." This fundamental human urge to question and seek deeper meaning is not just a philosophical exercise; it is the engine for continuous growth and understanding, applicable as much to business as to self-discovery.

Bačić describes his philosophical approach as constant questioning ("Why? Why?") complemented by theology, which offers answers and "given truths." The insight is that true understanding comes from holding both states in tension: a relentless curiosity that pushes boundaries, balanced by a framework of established principles that provide a foundation.

"In a responsible society," Bačić states, "the goal isn't control, but a responsible individual." This principle applies directly to any organization: true health and resilience emerge when you cultivate individual accountability and autonomy, rather than relying on top-down directives to manage behavior.

In what he calls "post-democracy" or "post-truth," Bačić observes that "the impression becomes more important than the fact." When subjective perception overrides objective truth as the ultimate standard, it inevitably leads to conflict, as no common ground remains for shared understanding or progress.

The communist system's attempt to declare religion a private matter, while simultaneously branding religious people in public as "less valuable" or "backward," was a fundamental error. Bačić argues this split "killed the essence of what it means to be human," reducing individuals to mere cogs in a system rather than whole, thinking beings.

Bačić considers the late 1980s, just before full democracy, to be the "most open, liberal, and even democratic" period for journalism in the former Yugoslavia. Paradoxically, this era of nascent freedom, when people were still "breathing in that direction," was more fertile for genuine dialogue than later periods where pluralism often devolved into monologues.

Bačić uses the stark phrase "Auschwitz in the open" to describe the dehumanizing outcome of a system that reduces all human experience to mere technicality and control, stripping away individual thought. While a harsh comparison, it underscores his conviction that suppressing the human essence leads down a dangerous path.

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