Patočka on Europe in the aftermath of Europe

In: European journal of social theory, Band 21, Heft 3, S. 391-406

Abstract

Jan Patočka's elaborations in 'Europe after Europe' concern a kind of irrationalism and nativism proper to European thought that has prohibited the embryonic core of the idea of Europe, namely, the renewed Socratic-Platonic motif of the 'care of the soul' in Christian Europe, to unfold its full potential. The article investigates a further 'irrationalism' that narrows the universalist thrust of the idea of Europe, precisely, by conceiving of it in terms of the Greek concept of an idea. This article draws on the inner resources of the notion of the idea in order to recast Europe as a Europe beyond the idea.