Annotation
The lecture course will follow the problems of art in Jan Patočka’s thought. At first, I will point out that Patočka’s early reflections dedicated to art are set into his developing philosophical project of the "natural world". Patočka points out that a man is in an essential relationship to "the world as an overall connection", to "the world as a universal", and he demands that artistic work is a reflection and an expression of this world as a universal. For
Patočka, art is incorporated into a broad spectrum of education and together with other forms of education – scientific, philosophical, or historical-political – it forms a significant spiritual guideline for a man. Then, I will present Patočka’s interpretation of Hegel’s concept of art and I will point out that these interpretations are in fact an opportunity for Patočka to form his aesthetic opinions. I will follow Patočka’s tendency towards Heidegger’s interpretation of a work of art as openness of being. In Patočka’s formulation, a work of art is a sensual, concrete way of unconcealment of being. Especially, I will also focus on Patočka’s interpretations of Hegel’s thesis on the past character of art. I will concentrate on Patočka’s differentiation of the "art culture" period and the "aesthetic culture" period. Finally, I will follow Patočka’s interpretation of the position and role of a work of art in the modern technical world. Patočka assumes that art as revelation of the world as an overall sense represents a proof of human autonomy in time of prevailing scientific view of reality in particular.