Communities of Dialogue Russian and Ukrainian Émigrés in Modernist Prague

Conference | Paper

On Jan Patočka's Titanism. From Asubjective Phenomenology to the Solidarity of the Shaken, and Back

Christian Sternad

Thursday 23 May 2024

09:45 - 10:30

UNIFR-3024

Jan Patočka never fully developed a philosophical theory of titanism. However, it is remarkable to observe that the motif of titanism can be spotted in many of his works, spanning from the early 1930s up to his late works in the 1960/70s. This begs the question of where this motif of titanism originates, what place and role it takes up in Patočka’s own philosophy, and finally, if it can be used as a hermeneutical key to better understand Patočka’s thinking as a whole. In my talk, I want to explore the possibility of positing titanism as “Grundmotiv” of his philosophy.