Jan Patoka, perhaps more so than any other philosopher in the twentieth century, managed to combine intense philosophical insight with a farsighted analysis of the idea and challenges facing Europe as a historical, cultural and political signifier. As a political dissident in communist Czechoslovakia he also became a moral and political inspiration to a generation of Czechs, including Václav Havel. He accomplished this in a time of intense political repression when not even the hint of a unified Europe seemed visible by showing in exemplary fashion how concrete thought can be without renouncing in any way its depth.

Europe as an idea and a political project is a central issue in contemporary political theory. Patokas political thought offers many original insights into questions surrounding the European project. Here, for the first time, a group of leading scholars from different disciplines gathers together to discuss the specific political impact of Patokas philosophy and its lasting significance.

Francesco Tava is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Husserl-Archives: Centre for Phenomenology and Continental Philosophy at the KU Leuven, Belgium. He is the author ofThe Risk of Freedom (2015).

Darian Meacham is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of the West of England. He is the editor ofMedicine and Society: New Perspectives in Continental Philosophy (2015).

Contributors:
Suzi Adams, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University of South Australia; Marion Bernard, Postdoctoral Scholar, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne; Tamara Caraus, Postdoctoral Scholar, New Europe CollegeBucarest; Ivan Chvatík, Director of the Jan Patoka Archive, Prague; James Dodd, Associate Professor of Philosophy, New School of Social Research; Simona Forti, Professor of Political Philosophy, Università del Piemonte Orientale; Ludger Hagedorn, Professor, IWM Vienna and New York University; Daniel Leufer, Graduate Student, University of Leuven; Giuseppe Menditto, Postdoctoral Scholar, Università di Roma La Sapienza; James Mensch, Professor of Philosophy, Charles University, Prague; Riccardo Paparusso, Lecturer, Angelicum University, Rome; Jiri Priban, Professor, Cardiff University; Teresa Pullano, Postdoctoral Scholar, Université Libre de Bruxelles; Ovidiu Stanciu, Graduate Student, Bergische Universität Wuppertal; Michael Staudigl, Senior Lecturer, University of Vienna; Lubica Uník, Senior Lecturer, Murdoch University, Australia; Nicolas De Warren, Professor, University of Leuven

Editors Introduction / Acknowledgements /Part I: Intellectuals and Opposition
1. Translators Preface / 2. Intellectuals and Opposition,Jan Patoka / 3. Appendix /Part II: Dissidence and Political Commitment /4.Jan Patoka and the Possibility of a Spiritual Politics,Ivan Chvatík / 5. Resisting Fear: On Dissent and the Solidarity of the Shaken in Contemporary European and Global Society,Jiri Píbá / 6. The Soul as Site of Dissidence,Simona Forti /Part III: Political Phenomenology /7.Polemos in Jan Patokas Political Thought,James Dodd / 8. Supercivilisation and Biologism,Darian Meacham / 9. Caring for the Asubjective Soul,James Mensch /Part IV: Philosophy of History /10.He Who Saw the Deep: The Epic of Gilgamesh in Patokas Philosophy of History,Nicolas De Warren / 11. The Dark Night of the Care for theSoul Politics and Despair in Jan Patokas Sixth Heretical Essay,Daniel Leufer / 12.The Heresy of History: Patokas Reflections on Marx and Marxism,Francesco Tava / 13. The End of History and After: Rethinking Kojève andPatoka on the Idea of Post-History,Riccardo Paparusso /Part V: Rethinking the Community /14.On the Significance of the Ancient Greek Polis for Patoka and Castoriadis: Philosophy, Politics, History,Suzi Adams / 15.PatokasRadical and Agonistic Politics,Tamara Caraus / 16.Patoka's Figures of Political Community,Marion Bernard / 17. This is a Mathematical Certainty: Patocka and the Neoliberal Ideology,ubica Uník /Part VI: Europe and Post-Europe /18. Europe, Post-Europe and Eurocentrism,Karel Novotný/ 19.Europe and the Oblivion of the World: From Husserl to Patoka,Ovidiu Stanciu / 20. Europes Twentieth Century: History of Wars and War as History,Ludger Hagedorn / Bibliography / Index