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The political thought of Václav Havel : philosophical influences and contemporary applications / by Daniel Brennan.
Van Pelt Library DB2241.H38 B74 2017
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Brennan, Daniel, 1982- author.
- Series:
- Value inquiry book series ; v. 295.
- Value inquiry book series. Central-European value studies
- Value inquiry book series ; volume 295
- Central European value studies
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Havel, Václav--Political and social views.
- Havel, Václav.
- Havel, Václav--Influence.
- Patočka, Jan, 1907-1977.
- Czech literature--20th century--History and criticism.
- Czech literature.
- Political and social views.
- Czechoslovakia--Politics and government--1945-1992.
- Czechoslovakia.
- Politics and government.
- Czech Republic--Politics and government--1993-.
- Czech Republic.
- Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.).
- Philosophy.
- Physical Description:
- vi, 189 pages ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Leiden ; Boston : Brill Rodopi, [2017]
- Summary:
- The 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 Patocka 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.
- Contents:
- 1 Themes in Havel's Thought 14
- The Concept of Being 15
- The Political Focus of Havel 18
- The Critique of Technology 23
- Living in Truth 32
- The Political Significance of Art 34
- 2 The Influence of Jan Patocka 40
- Patocka, Havel and Arendt 44
- Patocka, Havel and History 53
- Patocka, Plato & Havel 57
- Patocka's Critique of Ideology and the Influence of that Critique on Havel 63
- Conclusion 67
- 3 Further Patočkean Ideas in Havel's Thought 69
- Asubjective Phenomenology 69
- Patocka and Language 72
- Patocka's Thoughts on Plato and Logos 77
- Havel's Appropriation of the Greek Element of Patocka's Thought 84
- Conclusion 90
- 4 Living in Truth as an Existential Concept 91
- The Existential Nature of a Life in Truth 92
- Comparison of Havel's Thoughts on Language to "Bad Faith" 96
- Facticity and Responsibility in "Audience" 103
- Conclusion 106
- 5 Havel's Concern for Meaningful Political Discourse 110
- Havel's Writings and Thoughts Regarding Language 110
- The Garden Party 112
- The Memorandum 118
- The Increased Difficulty of Concentration 119
- Language and Discourse in "Letters to Olga" & "Open Letters" 121
- Charter 77 and Meaningful Political Discourse 124
- Conclusion 129
- 6 Vaclav Havel's Political thought as a Liberal Philosophy 130
- Havel's Liberalism 131
- Is Havel a Perfectionist? 135
- Havel's Brand of Liberalism 144
- Sources of Havel's Liberalism 145
- Conclusion 148
- 7 Havel's Liberal Agonism 150
- What is Liberal Agonism? 150
- Liberal Agonism Further Explored 154
- Havel's Responsibility and the Liberal Conception of the Self 162
- Havel's Post-Nationalism 166
- Conclusion 169.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Brennan, Daniel, 1982- author. Political thought of Václav Havel
- ISBN:
- 9789004332188
- 9004332189
- OCLC:
- 960462057
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