Publication Details

Abstract

In J. Patočka’s writings of the 1970s the concept of Europe plays an important role. For him Europe was closely related to the Greek idea of taking care of the soul and thus to the very origins of history. In the course of history, which began in ancient Greece and whose end is marked by the World War 1st, however, this idea has lost its strength. Europe in its original sense ceased to exist, being replaced by a new, Post-European period. For Patočka this means the end of history and the beginning of a non-historical era, in which we will have to cope with the European legacy in its positive as well as negative sense.