The Crisis of Modernity: Karel Kosik's Essays and Observations from the 1968 Era (States and Societies in East-Central Europe: Contributions to Political Thought)

These essays containing the reflections of one of the most influential philosophers of the "Prague Spring" deal with the crisis of State, Party, society and the individual in Czechoslovakia existing up until December 1989. Known primarily to English-speaking audiences as the author of "Dialectics of the Concrete", Kosik is recognized for his contribution to the ongoing scholarship intended to relate Marx's ideas to the contemporary world. All of the essays in this collection appeared originally in Czecholovakia over a period from 1961 to 1969. This edition, making most of them available to English readers for the first time, includes a new preface by Kosik and reflects his own changes to the earlier versions, incorporating material which was cut out by censors at their original publication. Ch. 1. Reason And Conscience -- Ch. 2. Our Current Crisis -- Ch. 3. Socialism And The Crisis Of Modern Man -- Ch. 4. The Dialectics Of Morality And The Morality Of Dialectics -- Ch. 5. Hasek And Kafka, Or, The World Of The Grotesque -- Ch. 6. Svejk And Bugulma, Or, The Birth Of Great Humor -- Ch. 7. The Irreplaceable Nature Of Modern Culture -- Ch. 8. Culture Against Nihilism -- Ch. 9. Three Observations On Machiavelli -- Ch. 10. Illusions And Realism -- Ch. 11. The Weight Of Words -- Ch. 12. Neruda's Enigma -- Ch. 13. The Individual And History -- Ch. 14. On The Czech Question -- Ch. 15. The Nation And Humanism -- Ch. 16. On Censorship And Ideology -- Ch. 17. What Is Central Europe? -- Ch. 18. Two Thousand Words And Hysteria -- Ch. 19. On Laughter -- Ch. 20. Havlicek's Principles Of Democracy -- Ch. 21. The European Left -- Ch. 22. The Blindness Of Sheer Faith -- Ch. 23. Intellectuals And Workers -- Ch. 24. A Word Of Caution On Workers' Councils -- Ch. 25. The Only Chance -- An Alliance With The People. Karel Kosík ; Edited By James. H. Satterwhite. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. These essays, containing the reflections of the most influential philosopher of the "Prague Spring," deal with the crisis of state, party, society, and the individual in Czechoslovakia existing up until December 1969. Known primarily to English-speaking audiences as the author of Dialectics of the Concrete, Kosik is recognized for his contribution to the ongoing scholarship intended to relate Marx's ideas to the contemporary world. All of the essays in this collection appeared originally in Czechoslovakia over a period from 1961 to 1969. This edition, making most of them available to English readers for the first time, includes a new preface by Kosik and reflects his own changes to the earlier versions, incorporating material which was cut out by censors at their original publication. A collection of essays containing the reflections of one of the most influential philosophers of the "Prague Spring", which appeared originally in Czechoslovakia from 1961 to 1969. They deal with the crisis of the State, the Party, society and the individual.