Description
Book SynopsisThe book considers Václav Havel’s body of writing as a cohesive whole offering a consistent political philosophy. This bold claim is backed up through a close examination of Havel’s plays, letters, essays and aphorisms. The political philosophy that a close reading of Havel reveals is a liberal one. However, Havel is not the run-of the-mill liberal having influences from the field of phenomenology, Masaryk, Husserl, Levinas Patočka and Heidegger which give him a nuanced view of the self. Havel sees the self as something always being formed. Hence for Havel man has an ability to ‘shake’ his current state and invite transcendence into his life. This agonistic process reveals our responsibility and liberates the self from forces which coerce behaviour.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1. Themes in Havel’s Thought Chapter 2. The Influence of Jan Patočka Chapter 3. Further Patočkean Ideas in Havel’s Thought Chapter 4. Living in Truth as an Existential Concept Chapter 5. Havel’s Concern for Meaningful Political Discourse Chapter 6. Václav Havel’s Political Thought as a Liberal Philosophy. Chapter 7. Havel’s Liberal Agonism Chapter 8. Conclusion: Havel and the Neoliberal State Bibliography Index
