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Ivana Holzbachová
Ivana Holzbachová
Voltairovo pojetí náboženství
Voltaire’s Concept of Religion
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Voltaire criticized clericalism and religion. Not religion per se, but its superstitious forms. He found those in nearly all religions known to him (except for Chinese religion). Christianity became the focus of his interest. However, even the worst religion was, according to Voltaire, better than atheism, accompanied by a loss of the sense of moral value. Voltaire tried to design a new form of religion – deism. It meant respect for the supreme being, which is in its totality beyond human comprehension. We know, though, that the supreme being provided nature with eternal laws and us with reason and moral sense, which are necessary requirements for the existence of cohesive society.
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Břetislav Horyna
Břetislav Horyna
Světlo letí rychlostí života
Light Travels at the Speed of Life
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A book of essays written to celebrate an important anniversary of Jiří Gabriel, a teacher of philosophy that the author is heavily indebted to, dealing with various approaches to philosophy and life with philosophy. It is an expression of gratitude for models of conduct and behavior of a man trained in philosophy, critical thinking and rational assessment of life situations, as well as an attempt to sketch traits of Gabriel’s personality distinguishing him from various, not always praiseworthy unwritten rules of common life in university society. The work is not meant to be a tract describing, assessing and classifying Gabriel’s educated work in institutionalized philosophy, nor does it aspire to be. The times of tracts shall only come and, as usual with tracts, they make living thought something it never was and wished to be. The work is a mere reflexion of forms of Jiří Gabriel’s influence on the authors life in the past decades of the author’s life; an influence far greater than Jiří Gabriel is aware of.
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Rudy Krej·í
Rudy Krej·í
Zpověď starého filozofa
A Confession of an Old Philosopher
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The essay recapitulates the life and career of Rudolf Krejčí, a Czech–American philosopher, born in south Moravia. Krejčí left for exile in 1949, first to Austria and in 1958 to USA, where he has been living for 52 years, 42 of which in Alaska. The essay reminds of the basic dates of his life, places where he has lived, schools where he studied, jobs that he has had and his work at the University of Alaska, where he founded the Department of Philosophy and Humanities. He has brought up 15 000 students there, held important academic functions and done philosophical research in philosophy of science and ethics. He has also lectured in Canada, England, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Greece, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
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Miroslav Pauza
Miroslav Pauza
Tichost. Meditace k Evangeliu podle Matouše 5,5
Quietude. A Meditation on the Gospel of Matthew 5:5
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The meditation focuses on the biblical concept of quietude, as described in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It presents quotations from various editions of the Bible and offers basic etymological and semantic context which makes the content of the idea more accessible. Besides that the work stresses the revolutionary character of Christianity with respect to Judaism, Greek rationalism and Roman etatism: those at the social periphery mean hope for its future. The core of the work is an attempt to analyze the inner structure of the phenomenon of quietness with the following constants: seeming passivity, taste and decency. The content of the constants is distinguished from the ordinary language content by means of a confrontation with historical-philosophical conceptions.
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Karel Mácha
Karel Mácha
Deutsche Philosophie Prag
German Philosophy in Prague
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Franz Brentano was probably the most important of Edmund Husserl’s teachers. While philosophy at Charles University did not pay much attention to him, Brentano became the greatest authority for the philosophers of “Prague German University”. – The author of this paper reflects mainly on three important figures of Prague German philosophy (Oskar Kraus, Carl Stumpf, Emil Utitz): figures that were very different (in their world views, attitudes to Czech philosophy and political orientations). What brings them together is Brentano’s legacy. – Besides a number of factual and nowadays little-known historical data the author presents a personal memory of Emil Utitz.
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Helena Pavlincová
Helena Pavlincová
Z dopisů J. L. Fischera Otokaru Fischerovi
From J. L. Fischer´s Letters to Otokar Fischer
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The essay has been inspired by Jiří Gabriel’s interest in the work of the philosopher and sociologist J. L. Fischer (1894–1973). The author presents the letters that Fischer addressed to his university professor Otokar Fischer (1883–1938) from December 1919 to August 1933. The correspondence, saved in the Literary archive of the Memorial of National Literature, proves a friendly relationship between both thinkers and discloses their inner world and literary work. It enables the reader to get to know J. L. Fischer’s personality and the circumstances influencing his philosophical development. Fisher among other things describes his publication goals and achievements, professional career, philosophy, work in the edition of Index and his personal life.
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Dagmar Pešková
Dagmar Pešková
Blahoslav Zbořil a problém hodnot a hodnocení v české filozofii
Blahoslav Zbořil and the Problem of Values and Judgment in Czech Philosophy
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This article deals with some axiological problems in the Czech philosophical thinking during the period between the two World Wars. In the first part the author depicts the reasons which brought about an increased interest in the problems of values and evaluation. In this context you can read about the solutions to these problems which are represented by the philosophers J. B. Kozák, J. Tvrdý and K. Engliš. The largest part of the article is devoted to the life and work of the philosopher Blahoslav Zbořil, whose book called The Understanding, Evaluation and Creation of Norms is considered to be the only study connected with this period that deals with axiological problems directly and presents their original solutions.
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Ladislav Soldán
Ladislav Soldán
Brněnský estetik a kritik Oleg Michailovič Sus
Brno Aesthetician and Critic Oleg Michailovič Sus
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In a stream of personal memories and balance overviews we deal with the work and personality of an important Brno aesthetician and critic Oleg Sus (1924 Brno – 1982 Brno). O. Sus was a son of a Russian emigrant Michail Jakovlevič Sus (1902 Ekaterinovskaya in Russia – 1971 Brno) and Emilie Susová (maiden name Burešová, 1896 Brno – 1968 Brno) and he declared his origin. He was tied to Brno milieu from his youth and to the Faculty of Arts and the magazine Host do domu (A guest in the house) from his university studies. After 1970 he lost a permanent job, was banned from his former workplace and only published abroad. At that time he depended on local or foreign correspondence and personal contacts with some of his colleagues, friends, students, one of whom was Jiří Gabriel (mind for instance their cooperation in holding a conference celebrating Mirko Novák´s anniversary). Further to the previous remark we deal in detail with O. Sus´ help with publishing activities and professional growth of the author of this work. This study follows some of our previous works, starting with a typed collection (1984), but mainly the essays published since 1990 in journals and books. It also presents an selective overview of some of Sus´ works and makes use of other essays as well (including materials from inheritance including important biographic information).
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Jiří Svoboda
Jiří Svoboda
Omnia sponte fluant...
Omnia sponte fluant...
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Commemorating a jubilee of a Brno philosopher Jiří Gabriel, the author of this essay focuses on an important figure of Czech and world thought, John Amos Comenius. The goal is to show how the philosophical-theological concept of General Consultation was ahead of its time, mainly with respect to protestant orthodoxy. The focus is on the sixth part of General Consultation Panorthosia (Universal Improvement), which became a source of criticism of his concept of Pansophia (Universal Science) in the final part of his life.
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Jan Št·pán
Jan Št·pán
Bytí a mětí
Being and Being-to-Be
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Discussion and proposal of a resolution of the problem of the incompatibility between being and being-to-be (in the conception of Ota Weinberger) by means of the ontological intepretation of norms.
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Josef Šmajs
Josef Šmajs
Fenomén technika
The Phenomenon of Technology
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The article is based on evolutionary ontology and deals with the basis of technology, two branches of technological development, the process of evolution of technology and a little known problem of the compatibility of biosphere with the sphere of technology. The author claims that technology is a way, procedure or algorithm by which man uses and controls living and non-living natural processes, structures and powers for their own cultural purposes. The tool, the machine and the automatic system are considered to form the evolution of abiotic technology. The first stage of biotic technology is considered to be hunting and gathering, the second being planetary spread of agriculture, animal keeping and breeding. The third phase consists of modern biotechnologies, cloning and genetic manipulation. At the end the author points out that technology is the most active anti-natural subsystem of culture, is incompatible with living nature, suppresses it and irreversibly damages. As it absorbs new structural information, though, it could form, in a regime of bio-friendly culture, an efficient way of reducing the current ecological crisis.
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Josef Zumr
Josef Zumr
Bouře a naděje:
Ke smýšlení první generace národního obrození
A Storm and Hope
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The work deals with the influence of the French Revolution and the related neo-humanist movement on the first phase of Czech national revival from the end of 18th and the beginning of 19th centuries. First it notices some changes in the interpretation of the French Revolution, especially in contemporary historical studies, and rejects criticisms of the revolution. It shows how German society reacted to the revolution and how the German neo-humanist movement and its major concept of “antique ideal” emerged under the influence of it. The conditions in Germany serve as tertium comparationis to the situation in Bohemia. It is claimed that we can find a positive attitude toward French Revolution in Bohemia too, especially in protestant and free mason circles. That made the reception of new humanism in Bohemia easier, since neo-humanism was based on revolutionary ideas as well as German protestantism and its humanist dimension. New humanism was then able to play a positive role in the emancipatory process of Czech society for almost the whole of the first half of 19th century.
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Jan Zouhar
Jan Zouhar
Zápisky Josefa Jungmanna
Josef Jungmann´s Memoirs
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Josef Jungmann laid the foundation of literature and science written in Czech by his scientific activity. He was a leading figure of Czech national revival in the early 19th century. However, Jungmann’s reception in later Czech thought was rather mixed. Masaryk rejected his liberalism, Patočka his language conception of nation. From 1845, at the end of his life, Jungmann recorded his memories and especially opinions on a number of public and private themes. The records, published under the title Memoirs, play an important role in fully understanding Jungmann’s personality.
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Jiří Gabriel
Jiří Gabriel
J. L. Fischer v letech 1945–1948
J. L. Fischer in 1945–1948
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The article is a contribution to the theme of „Czech Philosophers in 1945–1948“. It concerns the work in which J. L. Fischer further developed his system of hierarchical philosophy as well as his (at the time dominant) pedagogical, lecturing and organizational activities: he was the dean of the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University between 1945–1946 and the rector of the new Palacký University in Olomouc between 1946–1949. The article also discusses Fischer´s attempts to influence the contemporary debate on the reform of Czech educational system.
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Marek Hrubec
Marek Hrubec
Filosofie mezistátního uznání a její globální limity
Philosophy of Inter-State Recognition and Its Global Limits
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The paper deals with a conception of international order and its limits in the transnational and global context from the point of view of a theory of social and political recognition. It concentrates especially on the conception developed by Axel Honneth. It is a reconstruction as well as an interpretation of the conception, showing the possibilities and limitations of its application on transnational and global levels. First, the paper analyses Honneth’s arguments concerning moral realism and international recognition. It discusses the need of international recognition as related to the political and cultural recognitions. Then, it shows the insufficiencies of the conception of international recognition on the background of globalization on one hand and the individual/society relationship on the other. The following part of the paper deals with problems of a transposition of patterns of recognition from the national level to international and transnational levels, and explains limits of arguments developed by V. Heinz, T. Pogge and A. Wendt. In mapping the tendencies to transnational and global recognitions, the paper focuses on the important transitory phenomenon of extraterritorial recognition. It also articulates arguments how a theory of recognition can be developed on transnational and global levels.
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Daniel Špelda
Daniel Špelda
Sekularizace, eschatologie a idea pokroku podle Hanse Blumenberga
Secularization, eschatology and the idea of progress according to Hans Blumenberg
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This article deals with the polemics of the German philosopher Hans Blumenberg with the theory of secularization. Secularization theory explained the origin of many modern ideas as an unauthentic derivative of original religious content – this included the idea of progress, which, for example, Karl Löwith interpreted as secularized eschatology. The paper presents two levels of Blumenberg’s argumentation: Firstly, Blumenberg opposed the methodological foundations of the theory of secularization which he identified as the so-called substantialist conception of history. This conception presupposes the existence of a persisting historical substance which passes through the ages with only slight accidental changes. According to Blumenberg, this approach is mistaken because there is no such historical substance. As an alternative approach, Blumenberg introduced his dialogical functionalism. Secondly, Blumenberg suggested an alternative interpretation of the origins of the idea of theoretical progress, which was later extended and transferred to the whole of history. Although it is possible to raise a number of objections aimed at the details of Blumenberg’s conception, his ideas still remain a fascinating and inspiring example of an historical approach to philosophy.
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Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Náboženství v mezích čistého rozumu:
O pobývání zlého principu vedle dobrého
Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason
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In this number of the Studia Philosophica journal, we present a translation of the first chapter of Kant´s work Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft (1793). It is a late work of Kant’s in which he summarizes and systematizes his philosophy of religion. This work resulted in Kant being banned from writing and lecturing on all issues related to religion. Today, the work is not considered outrageous or scandalous any more. It is rather seen as the first attempt to found religion on pure practical reason, not church regulations. One of the best pieces of evidence for this effort is the famous first chapter of the work, which focuses on what is called radical evil in man.
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Karel Mácha
Karel Mácha
Křižovatky života
The Crossroads of Life
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The work takes up Antonín Jeřábek’s book of interviews with Karel Mácha (On the Truth of History), published to celebrate the jubilee of this Czech philosopher living in Germany since 1978. It supplements in some respects the picture of Mácha’s personal relationship with Czech philosophy and history.
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Dagmar Pichová
Dagmar Pichová
Ironie u Pascala
Irony in Pascal’s Work
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The paper deals with the role of irony in the thought of Blaise Pascal. The author proposes to distinguish two types of irony in Pascal’s work. The first type – offensive irony – can be found in The Provincial Letters, Pascal’s polemics with the principles of Jesuit moral teachings. The use of ironic strategy allows Pascal to criticize efficiently the Jesuit argumentation and the problematic consequences of their moral values. In Pascal’s Pensées, the function of irony changes radically. Pascal’s description of the position of human beings can be compared to the irony of situation, represented usually by The Oedipus King by Sophocles. Irony thus becomes a perspective which depicts the paradoxes of human existence and intensifies the emotional impact of Pascal’s work.
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Ivana Holzbachová
Ivana Holzbachová
Pojetí role vědy v politice u Emila Durkheima
Emile Durkheim’s Conception of the Role of Science in Politics
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Durkheim’s political interest stems from an analysis of anomies of the late 19th century society. He credits the anomies to the changes in the organization of labor division in the society as well as to the fact that man is a being with ever increasing demands. In this respect he appeals to all social classes to abide by the rule of moderateness. – Durkheim poses the question if sociologists can contribute to social reform. In his view the most important contribution is their scientific work, i.e. an analysis and a description of social reality. Such activity does not qualify them as politicians. In politics, a scientist can only act as a citizen or possibly an adviser and an educator.
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