The Patočka Booth is a three-part series of interviews on the Czech philosopher and dissident, Jan Patočka (1907–77). Interviews will explore his philosophical and political thought, his biography and context, and his import for theology.

Erin Plunkett is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. She is the editor of the Selected Writings of Jan Patočka: Care for the Soul (2022) and Kierkegaard and Possibility (2023) and the author of A Philosophy of the Essay (2018). 

PODCAST LINKS:

Dr. Plunkett’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jd_silentio

Dr. Plunkett’s academia.edu page: https://herts.academia.edu/ErinPlunkett

Dr. Plunkett’s research profile: https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/en/persons/erin-plunkett

Dr. Plunkett’s website: https://erinshalonplunkett.wordpress.com

The Selected Writings of Jan Patočka: Care for the Soul: https://www.amazon.com/Selected-Writings-Jan-Patocka-Care/dp/1350139092

Kierkegaard and Possibility: https://www.amazon.com/Kierkegaard-Possibility-Erin-Plunkett/dp/1350298980

CONNECT:

Website: https://wipfandstock.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wipfandstock

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wipfandstock

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wipfandstock/ 

SOURCES MENTIONED:

Derrida, Jacques. The Gift of Death.

———. Hospitality. 2 vols.

Heidegger, Martin. “The Question Concerning Technology.”

Husserl, Edmund. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy.

Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Musil, Robert. The Man Without Qualities.

Patočka, Jan. Heretical Essays in the Philosophy of History.

———. Plato and Europe.

———. The Selected Writings of Jan Patočka: Care for the Soul.

Plunkett, Erin, ed. Kierkegaard and Possibility.

Ricœur, Paul. “Jan Patocka: A Philosopher of Resistance.”

The Socrates of Prague. Documentary.

Tava, Francesco, and Darian Meacham, eds. Thinking After Europe: Jan Patočka and Politics.

OUTLINE:

(01:39) – Discovering “the myth of Patočka”

(06:18) – Roundtable: Patočka, Nietzsche, Foucault, Arendt

(09:51) – The life of Patočka in the century of war

(15:37) – Key themes: Movement, care for the soul, sacrifice

(21:03) – Relationship to Husserl and Heidegger

(25:02) – Husserlian transcendence vs. Patockian transcendence

(27:36) – The “limping pilgrim” and the “sacrifice for nothing”

(32:05) – Patočka, Heidegger, and Husserl on science and technology

(38:09) – “Asubjective phenomenology”

(43:05) – Aesthetic and literary criticism

(48:35) – “The solidarity of the shaken”

(52:28) – Patočka and Derrida

(54:08) – The failure of the European project

(59:32) – What’s next for Dr. Plunkett

(01:00:55) – Where to find Dr. Plunkett