Martin Cajthaml
Europe and the Care of the Soul
libri nigri Band 35
ISBN 978-3-86945-700-0 
 
 
92 Seiten, ebook, in englischer Sprache
This book offers an original and challenging interpretation of Jan Patočka's conception of the spiritual foundations of Europe in terms of the formation, transformation, and crisis of the idea of the care of the soul. The author clearly situates this conception at the center of the overall context of Patočka's thought. The unity of that thought, he argues, lies in Patočka's persistent investigation of what constitutes truthful human existence. Since the idea of the care of the soul originates in the thought of Socrates and Plato, special attention is given to Patočka's interpretation of these two thinkers. Among other themes, the interpretation incorporates Patočka's account of the Renaissance and of the Enlightenment as two periods in which the spiritual style marked by the care of the soul gradually dissolves. The last chapter of the book focuses on Patočka's reflections about both the dangers and the positive possibilities of modern science and technology.