Publication Details

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of František Skyčák Jr., an outstanding Slovak neothomist thinker’s death. In the author’s view Skyčák as a philosopher of culture was cretaive in sythetising Štúr’s philosophy of life with the neothomist tradition. He poits out, that Skyčák’s ideas are intellectually valide even in present Slovakia. Skyčák, drawing upon Thomas Aquinas, sees the reason as an integrating power, not only representing, but rather modelling and ordering the world. It is no apriori principle, but the potential of reason acquired in the course of one’s spiritual and cultural life on the background of his spiritual and national tradition. Skyčák sees it as a key to an effective unity of novelty and tradition. Skyčák as the founder of the „philosophy of civilized life“ in Slovakia was followed by many of his disciples, e. g. Ladislav Hanuš, Jozef Kútnik Šmálov, Pavol Strauss etc.