Krize moderní doby - Články, projevy a rozhovory o československém roce 1968 a střední Evropě – Mervart Jan (2025)

This Czech-language volume brings together texts written in the 1960s and 1990s. At its core are reflections, speeches, polemics and interviews connected, directly or indirectly, with the events of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Their central theme is the awareness of a modern crisis in the fundamental relationship to reality, examining its causes and manifestations as well as possible ways out. Karel Kosík considers the relationship between morality and politics, the individual and “great” history, socialism and democracy, and reflects on the meaning of politics, the idea and reality of socialism, and the role of science and technology in modern societies. He also explores the fate of small nations and the idea of Central Europe. His thoughts are framed by reflections on political events in 1960s Czechoslovakia, of which he was not only an observer but also an active participant in 1968. The volume concludes with late essays from the 1990s, in which Kosík assesses 1968 with the benefit of hindsight and adds new insights to his earlier diagnosis of the crisis of the modern age.