Abstract

V tem sestavku poskušamo sintetično predstaviti pojmovanje duhovnih temeljev Evrope Jana Patočke. Glavna teza Patočke je, da stoji Evropa na enem samem principu, na epiméileia tęs psychęs, torej na “skrbi za dušo”. Kaže nam, da se je skrb za dušo od vsega začetka pojavljala v dveh temeljnih oblikah: demokritski in sokratsko-platonski. Medtem, ko se je demokritska oblika posvečala idealu od sveta odvrnjene kontemplacije nespremenljivih načel univerzuma, je v sokratsko-platonski epiméileia tęs psychęs ontološka zasnova imela le relativno podrejeno vlogo. Vsaj enako pomembna je bila zanjo tudi etično-politična in religiozno-eshatološka dimenzija, t.j. koncepcija pravične države, v kateri “filozofom ne bo treba umreti”, pa tudi večna usoda ponotranjene ter k dobremu in zlemu usmerjene duše. Medtem, ko je demokritska duhovna drža pripravila enostransko objektivistično in nepersonalistično pojmovanje univerzuma, je sokratsko-platonska ustvarila in izoblikovala evropske etično-politične in religiozno-eshatološke ideale. V izgubi teh idealov Patočka vidi duhovni izvor krize Evrope in s tem poziva, naj jih znova odkrijemo. V tem pozivu je menda največji prispevek Patočke h pereči temi sedanjosti: možnostim in tveganjem evropske integracije.In this article I attempt to give a synthetic presentation of Jan Patočkas conception of the spiritual foundations of Europe. Patočkas main thesis is that Europe is based upon one fundamental principle: the “care for the soul” . He argues that the care for the soul appears originally in two closely related, yet clearly distinct forms: the Democritean and the Socratic-Platonic one. The main difference between the two lies in the fact that whereas the ultimate purpose of the Democritean care of the soul is a contemplation of the eternal principles of the universe conditioned by a complete disengagement in the worldly affairs, the contemplation of eternal truth does not have such an absolute primacy in the context of the Socratic-Platonic care for the soul. For, he argues, equally important in the context of the latter mode of the care for the soul is also the ethical-political aspect, e.g. the conception of a state of justice in which, “the philosophers will not have to die”, as well as the eschatological-religious dimension, e.g. the eternal destiny of the soul that reaches a new level of interiority in virtue of it being conceived of as a free rational subject that chooses between good or evil. While the Democritean mode of the care for the soul prepared the ground for a non-personalistic and materialistic understanding of the universe predominant in the modern science, the Socratic-Platonic form of the care for the soul deeply influenced the ethical and political, as well as the religious and eschatological ideals of Europe. The loss of those ideals is for Patočka the spiritual root of the crisis of Europe. Consequently, he pleads for their rediscovery as a condition for overcoming the crisis