Description
Book SynopsisForegrounding the turbulent political and intellectual scene in Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring in 1968, James Dodd explores the unity of philosophy, history, and politics in Jan Patooka's life and legacy.
Trade Review“James Dodd gives us a lucid and comprehensive account of Patočka’s work, thought, and life: his idea of Europe and its classical origins; his background in phenomenology; and his role in the turbulent events of postwar Prague. For Dodd, Patočka’s thinking can be characterized as a philosophy of history rooted in a phenomenological ontology.” —David Carr, author of
Experience and History: Phenomenological Perspectives on the Historical World“The best synthetic account of Patočka’s thought I’ve read. Dodd reads Patočka with an empathy and generosity; he writes of him in a way absolutely devoid of hagiography (which is not so easy when dealing with a Socrates-like figure), defensiveness, and apologetics. The analysis is subtle, the writing deeply reflective and never gratuitously polemical.” —Marci Shore, author of
The Taste of Ashes: The Afterlife of Totalitarianism in Eastern EuropeTable of Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: Philosophy in Troubled Times
- Chapter One: On an Asubjective Phenomenology
- Chapter Two: On the Body
- Chapter Three: On the Three Movements of Human Existence
- Chapter Four: On Care for the Soul
- Chapter Five: On Sacrifice
- Chapter Six: On Hope
- Chapter Seven: On Dissidence
- Conclusion: Legacies
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Index
