Heretical Integrity: Jan Patočka’s Philosophical Transgressions

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, but it also marks two other significant dates in the history of Central and Eastern Europe: the 40th anniversary of both Charter 77 and the death of Jan Patočka. In his life and his philosophy, Patočka constantly transgressed boundaries. Philosophically, he moved between and beyond his two teachers, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, striving toward his own ‘asubjective phenomenology.’ Politically, he took a stance against totalitarianism, both as Nazism and as Communism, while at the same time affirming the importance of Germany for Europe and maintaining a dialogue with Marxism.
In this panel, we will investigate three of Patočka’s great transgressions or heresies: firstly, his interaction with Marxism, beginning in his early work and culminating in his affirmation of reformed Socialism during the Prague Spring; secondly, his defence of human rights and his dissident activity in relation to Charter 77; thirdly, his lifelong preoccupation (and progressive rapprochement) with Christianity, which was perhaps his most fascinating heresy.
We will present Patočka’s philosophy as inherently transgressive. However, we will also argue that he is not thereby unfaithful to a deeper philosophical project. Precisely in his transgressions, Patočka exemplifies philosophy as a Socratic ‘care for the soul’, a dialectical process whereby the individual repeatedly problematizes their existence, but at the same time repeatedly manifests the courage of a leap into commitment, be that political, religious, or philosophical.
Our approach will be interdisciplinary, combining philosophy (specifically phenomenology), with political theory, theology, and history of ideas.

Sub Unit

• Religion/Philosophy

Chair

• Aspen Brinton, Virginia Commonwealth University

Papers

• The Heresy of History: Jan Patočka’s Reflection on Marx and Marxism - Francesco Tava, KU Leuven (Belgium)

• From Patočka’s Reflections on Post-Europe to Christianity after Christianity - Martin Koci, Charles U in Prague (Czech Republic)

Discussants

• Aspen Brinton, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Delia Popescu, Le Moyne College