Detail príspevku/publikácie

Abstrakt

The problem of normality is the key topic in the works of Georges Canguilhem. He concerned himself with this theme during his whole academic life: one can find more than one exclusive analysis of the normality in his writings. Canguilhem’s first influential text, namely his dissertation thesis on the normal and the pathological (as well as the appendix from 1966) is confronted by the author with other texts of the French philosopher. The paper shows several levels (biological, social, philosophical) in Canguilhem’s analyses of normality and examines the impact these analyses had on the work of the philosopher. According to Canguilhem, to be healthy means to be able to assume the risk of establishing new norms, not only to preserve one’s life. The author’s conviction is that philosophy must to decide upon its future: either to sterilize its own existence, or to run the risk of making progress. Consequently, the dramatic situation of philosophy is all over again the one of Achilles’ choice.