Petr Pavlovský studied theatrology, aesthetics and general art theory at the Charles University Faculty of Arts in Prague from 1967 to 1972. Then he joined Obchodní zařízení Praha (Prague Retail Equipment) as a stoker while completing his doctoral studies. He also worked as the head of the theoretical department at the Centre for Arts and Crafts, a dramaturg at the Julius Fučík Park of Culture and Leisure, and an administrator at the Union of Czech Dramatic Artists. From 1984 to 1990, he worked at the Central Puppet Theatre as a dramaturg. In 1990 he took a position as an assistant at the Department of Theatre and Film Studies (Charles University Faculty of Arts) and headed the department from 1994 to 2007.

In 1976, he founded the Societas Incognitorum Eruditorum II association, which published the cultural-political monthly Acta incognitorum. In addition to many studies, reviews and commentaries, he is the author and editor of a theatre dictionary entitled Základní pojmy divadla (Basic Theatre Terms), which among other things includes his “Taxonomy of Art” (a classification system for art).