Prométheus například. Moc mýtu, distance a přihlížení podle Hanse Blumenberga

The Study Prometheus, for example loosely follows up the central theme of Hans Blumenberg’s theory of myth and mythology, the character of Prometheus and Promethean conceptions in scientific as well as imaginative literature (poetry and drama). The aim is not an elaborate reflection of all the variations on Promethean themes that were summarized in Blumenberg’s epochal book Work on Myth (1979). The author rather selects some themes from the works on the myth about Prometheus in Classical Greek literature (Hesiod, Aeschylus) and, at the turn of modernism, in German movement Sturm und Drang (Goethe). Most attention is paid to a fictional figure known as actio per distans (action at distance, with keeping a distance) and its variations from the distance between people and gods through the distance between people to the distance of an ageing poet from spirit of the age (Zeitgeist), to which he no longer belongs.

K pojetí kultury u Gillese Lipovetského

With a bit of exaggeration, it could be claimed that Lipovetsky’s lifetime work has focused on (contemporary or post-modern) culture. Surprisingly, Lipovetsky has never defined the concept of culture. It is, thus, necessary to reconstruct it from his work. The presented paper analyses the concept of culture on the background of Lipovetsky’s account of fashion. This account is very broad. Lipovetsky emphasises that fashion covers a large area extending from clothing, social intercourse and religion all the way to an account (and self-constitution) of man. In this regard, Lipovetsky puts special emphasis on the development of individualism in modern society. He also points out inconsistencies in the understanding and the manifestations of individualism.

Dopisy Jana Patočky Robertu Konečnému

The contribution contains 11 unpublished letters of Jan Patočka from 1935–1967 supplemented with the author’s comments and explanations. The addressee of the letters, the nature of which is friendly and rather private, was the Brno philosopher, poet and psychologist Robert Konečný. The author devotes the introduction to the illumination of the origins of the letters and the description of the lives of both friends, whose actions, thought and unquestionable moral authority make them integral figures of the humanist tradition of Czech philosophy.

Robert Konečný a jeho písemná pozůstalost v univerzitním archivu

In January 2018, Masaryk University archives obtained an extensive written estate of Robert Konečný (1906–1981), an associate professor of philosophy and professor of psychology at Masaryk University, the pioneer of health-care psychology in Czechoslovakia, a poet and author, and a major figure of resistance to Nazism. Robert Konečný’s personal files, which belong among the best preserved items in the university archives, were organized and made accessible during 2018. Extensive correspondence mainly includes collections of letters from key figures of Czech literature, philosophy and psychology. A remarkable part of the estate consists of texts of Konečný’s lectures and speeches as well as documents on his educational activity in radio and television broadcasting. The files also represent a valuable source for the study of resistance to Nazism in Moravia. An extensive set of manuscripts, typescripts and prints from the fields of psychology, philosophy and literature can serve as a basis for the preparation of Konečný’s bibliography.

„Volte své jedy!“ K problematice vztahu trampské subkultury k alkoholu a krčemnému prostředí

Although the need to compensate life in the rush and buzz of the city made its numerous inhabitants seek quiet recreation outdoors, some of them sought recreation as well as excitement, whose source were adventures inspired by their ideas of the Wild West. In the past century, its heroes, real or fictional, have become the symbols of the bearers of a distinctive and unique subculture called tramping, popular exclusively in Czechia (and partly Slovakia). In spite of the unique lifestyle, tramps could not do outdoors without refreshment, food and drink, which were provided by taverns and pubs in villages and secluded places near their campsites. Those businesses that proved successful and effective from the perspective of our tramps and men of prairies became known as tramp taverns. It was mainly there, especially during various excesses, that their god, Pajda, had to stand by them.

Botrys neboli esej o záludnostech historikovy práce (rozprava o metodě)

The elder and more experienced certainly know or at least have a vague idea that there used to be a Greek brandy named Botrys containing 40 % of alcohol. Its name was probably derived from the name of Botrytis cinerea (botrytis bunch rot, more commonly). The Greek term is Βότρυς and its transcription into Latin alphabet is Votrus or Votris. However, if a scholar attempts to verify in such an elementary finding, they can get entangled in very complex and tricky historical facts. After weeks of hard work it turned out that it is probably easier to write a chapter on the history of Greek economy of the second half of 19th century than a few lines on a distillery producing a brandy called Botrys. And so this contribution somehow by the way describes a solution to the „raisin problem“ in order to conclude with some basic information on the label Botrys.

Ke stereotypu zobrazování Turka ve starší české literatuře

The text is a reflection of a well-researched professional publication by Tomáš Rataj České země ve stínu půlměsíce (Czech Lands in the Shadow of the Crescent, 2002). After a multilateral acknowledgement of the book, the author fills in relevant items written by some of the staff of the Faculty of Arts MU, some of which were published only after the publication of Rataj’s work. Additionally, she refines, with reference to the study of Jan Kumpera (1994), the existence of a translation of the Bible into Turkish initiated by Comenius, namely its printing in the 19th century. At the end, the author mentions her personal teaching activities on the topic in the context of the honoured person of Jan Zouhar’s personality as a pedagogical ideal.

Jan Zouhar jubilující – aneb Co není ve slovníku

The text introduces Jan Zouhar as an important representative of contemporary Czech philosophy. It is an attempt to cover the breadth of his philosophical thinking, which extends from the historiography of Czech philosophy to some remarkable overlaps. For instance, we can mention the position of philosophy in the context of our spiritual culture, the place and role of tradition at present, and a reflection on the role that philosophy plays in human life.

T. G. M.: Problém filozofie osobnosti, jeho vztahy a souvislosti

The presented contribution analyses – in the context of Jan Zouhar’s research scope and also on the background of the professional interests of the immortalized František Kautman (1927–2016) – the ‘philosophy’ of T. G. Masaryk’s (1850–1937) work. At the beginning, there are new publications on his alleged origin from the family of the Austro-Hungarian monarch, further their fictionalization, the investigation of his late sexual life and, last but not least, the flow of his juvenile correspondence with Zdenka Šemberová (1841–1912). For her, this communication was full of erotic and intellectual hopes which were not fulfilled and led to her lifelong loneliness and resignation, especially after the death of her father Alois Vojtěch Šembera (1807–1882), professor of Vienna Slavonic studies, one of the first opponents of the medieval authenticity of the legendary Czech Manuscripts, all of this on the background of the life of the university and Czech Vienna, where they both lived, and the adjacent Moravia. Masaryk, with his weak knowledge of standard Czech, Šemberová, at that time already a mature lady, record in their correspondence the course of their lives, their opinions, readings, and document their intellectual maturing. Their correspondence represents evidence of the lives of both: Masaryk was gradually becoming a scholar and mainly a politician, and understood their correspondence, from which Zdenka expected also an amorous fulfilment, as a mere practical exercise in stylistics and a confrontation of opinions. Their correspondence throws a new, not always favourable light on the youth of the future Czechoslovak president. Already there, the elementary features of his personality were taking their shapes.

Slovensko-poľské kontakty profesora Jana Zouhara

The article briefly reflects on Professor Jan Zouhar’s personal and professional contacts within his activities in the Slovak and Polish philosophical environment with an emphasis on the personal experience of the authors. It points out Professor Zouhar’s contribution and influence on the development of mutual relations and fruitful cooperation in the field of philosophy, as well as on the unforgettable human dimension that he brought to these relations.