Books by Michal Zvarík
Papers by Michal Zvarík
Božič, A. (ed.): Thinking Togetherness. Phenomenology and Sociality. Ljubljana: Institute Nova Revija for The Humanities, 2023
The article addresses differences between Jan Patočka’s and Hannah Arendt’s interpretation of Soc... more The article addresses differences between Jan Patočka’s and Hannah Arendt’s interpretation of Socrates and of his relation to politics. For Patočka, Socrates discovered human transcendence over the givenness of relative goods and their dependence on “comprehensive meaning,” which is “given” negatively. From this, it follows that the only meaningful life-project is living in problematicity, and freedom in its true sense consists in a non-determination from the positively given meaning. While also in Arendt’s view Socrates adopts a distance from things and given meaning through thinking, where she stresses its negativity as well as its ability to dissolve general moral prescripts and paralyze action, she, however, limits the political significance of thinking to the situation of emergency in abnormal political circumstances. Freedom for her is always the freedom to act, which is based on opinions representing a distinct place of the actor in the world. For Patočka, on the other hand, Socrates represents true politics calling for an awakening to problematicity.
Ostium, vol. 19, 2023, no. 4.
The article is addressed to positive phenomenological account of shame and to the question whethe... more The article is addressed to positive phenomenological account of shame and to the question whether shame might function as a source of value delusions. In phenomenological theories, which deem shame as positive, yet negatively experienced moral emotion, it functions as a self-relevatory emotion oriented on protection of a value of a person. From this perspective it seems that it cannot form an attitude appropriating value delusions. In the article I argue that shame might turn against its protective tendency, if its positive orientation is repressed by powerlessness and undesirably becomes a source of ressentiment.
Vydrová, J. (ed.): Otázka človeka. Vzťahy medzi ľudským a nie-ľudským. Trnava: Filozofická fakulta TU, 2023
Článok sa venuje vymedzeniu fenoménu intimity na pozadí Patočkovej teórie troch základných pohybo... more Článok sa venuje vymedzeniu fenoménu intimity na pozadí Patočkovej teórie troch základných pohybov ľudskej existencie, ktorý má aj antropologický význam. Fenomén intimity uňho vystupuje ako kritický a alternatívny koncept voči teóriám, ktoré konštitúciu intersubjektivity zakladajú primárne na konflikte. Tu sa však zakúšanie intimity stáva nemožným. Prvá časť článku je venovaná analýze každodennosti u M. Heideggera s cieľom preukázať, že sféra každodennosti, ktorá je poznamenaná latentným konfliktom so spolupobytom, je založená na normativite zrelého Dasein, ktoré mu znemožnilo vidieť možnosť intimity. Pre Patočku sa nám však uchopenie intimity ponúka najmä cez inštinktívno-afektívne zakúšanie nesamostatného dieťaťa v pohybe akceptácie, pričom vzťah medzi rodičom a dieťaťom tak poukazuje na možnosť intimity medzi zrelými subjektivitami, ktorá je zakrytá a modifikovaná nadobudnutím zrelej samostatnosti a odstupu od vecí a druhých.
Pro-Fil, 2023
The article addresses the theme of spectrality, the givenness of the other who remains here after... more The article addresses the theme of spectrality, the givenness of the other who remains here after departure as a ghost. It explores how this spectrality functions in Plato's funeral oratory in the Menexenus dialogue. In the first part, the article discusses J. Patočka's account of the specific givenness of the departed, which is experienced as a privation of a former intersubjectively intertwined life. The deceased other causes a twofold crisis. On the one hand, with the death of the other also comes the withering of part of myself, for I am unable to realise possibilities dependent on his or her presence. On the other hand, the meaning of the other's project, which becomes institutionalised through participation in the events and reformation of the world, is endangered if no one is willing to take on and realise this meaning as one's own. The second part of the article discusses how Socrates' oratory addresses this crisis through specific temporality of the speech, one in which the past provides the present with a paradigm for appropriate civic action which is to be imitated in the future. In this context, he creatively uses the concept of shame to induce an attitude of responsibility for the polis, whose greatness is grounded in the virtuous deeds of spectrally present ancestry.
Pro-Fil. An Internet Journal for Philosophy, 2021
The article is addressed to the issue of conscience in the thought of Hannah Arendt and to the qu... more The article is addressed to the issue of conscience in the thought of Hannah Arendt and to the question under what conditions conscience can become manifest in the public sphere. The article is divided into four parts. The first renders Arendt’s motivation to reconsider the concept of conscience, which results from an endeavour to come to terms with the nature of political crimes of the 20th century and the banality of evil. In the second part, two constitutive qualities of conscience are presented. On the one hand, conscientious Self adopts a negative distance from moral rules held by wide society. On the other hand, it positively relies on self-interest, that is, on non-contradiction in relation to oneself. Both of these crucial qualities of conscience arise from the activity of thinking. The third part addresses the conflicting relation of individual conscience to the public sphere. In the final part, the author asks the question whether the concept of conscience can be politically justified and sets the conditions for a defence of freedom of conscience in the public space.
Článok sa venuje téme svedomia v myslení Hannah Arendtovej a otázke, za akých podmienok sa môže svedomie ukázať vo verejnej oblasti. Článok je rozdelený na štyri časti. Prvá načrtáva Arendtovej motiváciu pre prehodnotenie pojmu svedomia, ktorá vyplynula zo snahy vyrovnať sa s povahou politických zločinov 20. storočia a banalitou zla. V druhej časti sú predstavené dve konštitutívne charakteristiky svedomia. Na jednej strane si Ja svedomia osvojuje negatívny odstup od morálnych pravidiel, ktoré zastáva väčšinová spoločnosť. Na druhej strane sa pozitívne opiera o sebazáujem, čiže o bezrozpornosť vo vzťahu k sebe samému. Oba tieto kľúčové rysy svedomia vyrastajú z aktivity myslenia. Tretia časť sa zameriava na konfliktný vzťah individuálneho svedomia k politickej oblasti. V záverečnej časti autor kladie otázku, či je pojem svedomia možné politicky ospravedlniť a predstavuje podmienky pre ochranu svedomia vo verejnej sfére.
Šajda, Peter (ed.): Človek a jeho Ja. Od zúfalstva k zmyslu, 2020
Článok sa venuje otázke identity z hľadiska štruktúry zúfalstva opierajúc sa o pohľady A. J. Stei... more Článok sa venuje otázke identity z hľadiska štruktúry zúfalstva opierajúc sa o pohľady A. J. Steinbocka a J. Piepera. V oboch prístupoch však nie je možné pochopiť zúfalstvo bez pochopenia štruktúry nádeje, ktorú človek v zúfalstve odmieta. Podľa Steinbocka je nádej aktom otvoreným voči budúcej možnosti oslobodenia z prítomnej situácie, v ktorej sa odhaľuje, že „ja“ je závislé od „iného-než-ja“, tvoriaceho základ udržiavajúci oslobodzujúcu možnosť napriek očakávaniam. Zmysel zúfalstva je naproti tomu vnútorne paradoxný. V zúfalstve „ja“ síce odhaľuje „iné-než-ja“ ako základ, no ten je zároveň kladený ako nemožný. Podľa Piepera je nádej teologálnou cnosťou osoby, ktorá ešte nedosiahla svoje bytostné naplnenie, ale je na ceste k nemu (in statu viatoris). V dúfaní je človek v harmónii so sebou samým, svetom a Bohom, čo zároveň umožňuje dosiahnutie ľudskej veľkosti. Naproti tomu zúfalstvo je anticipáciou bytostného nenaplnenia. Pieper zdôrazňuje, že zúfalstvo má koreň v acedii, bytostnej lenivosti v zmysle smútku nad vlastným povolaním k veľkosti. Napriek tomu, že obe koncepcie majú príbuzné rysy, ich odlišnosti možno pripísať najmä tomu, že operujú v odlišných skúsenostných poliach.
Tomašovičová, Jana (ed.): Cestami Heideggerovho myslenia., 2011
Predsudok sa nielen v dimenziách spoločenského života, ale aj v oblasti filozofie často neteší do... more Predsudok sa nielen v dimenziách spoločenského života, ale aj v oblasti filozofie často neteší dobrej povesti. Či už ide o Parmenidových dvojhlavcov, Herakleitových nepočujúcich, alebo o Platónovo rozlíšenie medzi doxa a epistémé, filo zofia sa už vo svojich počiatkoch snažila dištancovať od nepreskúmaných právd a nekritického preberania tradičných názorov. Napriek tomu môžeme v súvis losti s Heideggerom hovoriť o istej rehabilitácii predsudku. Predsudok vnímaný ako povera, ktorej sa človek drží najmä pod vplyvom tradície a autority, sa stal velkou témou už pre osvietenstvo a tento tradičný vplyv osvietenskej filozofie pociťujeme dodnes. Rehabilitácia predsudku neznamená obhajobu vulgárnych predsudkov (napr. rasizmus, antisemitizmus a pod.), dokonca ani návrat do idealizovaného "zlatého veku" predosvietenských čias. Skôr môžeme hovoriť o nastolení problému zmyslu predsudku a v súvislosti s tým o prehodnotení tradície, ktorá predsudok so samozrejmosťou odmietala.1
Ostium, 2019
Socrates in the Thought of Hannah Arendt I. Philosophy in the Service of Plurality
The article ... more Socrates in the Thought of Hannah Arendt I. Philosophy in the Service of Plurality
The article deals with Hannah Arendt's early rendition of Socrates' philosophy in the essay Socrates. As is generally known, she was critical towards Western tradition of philosophy influenced by the trial and death of Socrates, since it overlooked specific political experiences and subjected the political sphere to inadequate philosophical standards. In Socrates, in contradistinction to Platonic severe distortion of the political, she presents the image of Socrates as respectful towards the fact of human plurality and his philosophy as unsuccessful attempt to attune philosophical thinking with political action. This kind of philosophizing aimed at improving citizens of Athens and restoring the political space as common through establishing friendly relations among them. Arendt's account, however, remains highly selective, since she downplays Socratic problematicity and negativity.
The Yearbook on History and Interpretation of Phenomenology 2017, 2018
The paper deals with some aspects which occur in contemporary discussions concerning the idea and... more The paper deals with some aspects which occur in contemporary discussions concerning the idea and crisis of the university from the phenomenological perspective. The author holds that this crisis originates in the alienating interpretation of the university, which leads to inappropriate discourse on the function or purpose of the university and, in the end, disrupts its original meaning. In the first part of the article, taking Hannah Arendt’s concept of labour as a basis of reflection, the latent background of the dominant alienating interpretation is discussed. Human activities in this context appear meaningful insofar as they are turned into labour or are evaluated and justified according to the norms prescribed by labour’s structure of meaning. The second part of the paper is devoted to the need to differentiate between mere function (purpose), the end of which is already given, and the idea that embodies the experience of non-givenness. The need to turn attention away from the purpose and towards the idea of the university consists in the fact that in education the experience of personal transformation, of opening towards the non-given, is inherent. Next, the encounter with the world, i.e. the experience of wonder (θαῦμα) as the grounding experience of personal transformation and education, which becomes institutionalized especially in the interpersonal relations of the university, is discussed.
Ostium, 2018
Ethics as a First Philosophy after Pierre Hadot The review study focused on Czech translation of ... more Ethics as a First Philosophy after Pierre Hadot The review study focused on Czech translation of Pierre Hadot's Qu'est-ce que la philosophie antique? is divided into three parts. In the first part the motivation behind the question " what is ancient philosophy? " is considered. On the one hand, Hadot aims to show that usual contemporary understanding of philosophy with its emphasis on discourse and theory does not provide adequate perspective to interpret ancient philosophy in its own right and thus the question on its nature must be asked anew. On the other hand, Hadot sees the core of ancient philosophy in specific praxis, not in theory, and this concept serves as norm for critical revision of the contemporary philosophy. The second part is addressed to the content of the chapters. The study accentuates that Hadot offers not only a description of various ancient philosophical schools and movements, but also presents a certain genealogy of the contemporary understanding of philosophy. The final part is dedicated to brief critical assessment of Hadot's book and draws several conclusions concerning the institutional character of philosophy with regard to present crisis of humanities from its perspective.
Ostium, 2017
The article deals with the problem of human rights in the context Jan Patočka's philosophy. In ph... more The article deals with the problem of human rights in the context Jan Patočka's philosophy. In philosophical discourse this issue usually emerges as the problem of grounding of human rights in Patočka's later phenomenology and is closely and legitimately connected to a vision of his political involvement that unites philosophical theory with living practice. This article approaches the problem of human rights from a different perspective and finds reasons why Patočka was not only a proponent of human rights, but also a critique of their potentially decadent forms originating in inauthentic understanding of human freedom. For this reason the article focuses on Patočka's critique of liberalism. Keywords: Jan Patočka – human rights – freedom – liberalism – transcendence Téma ľudských práv v rámci Patočkovho myslenia nadobúda významnejšiu váhu až na sklonku jeho života. Jeho vystúpenie proti normalizačnému režimu z pozície hovorcu disidentského hnutia Charta 77 nemá iba sókratovský význam filozofického odporu proti politike, ktorý je zároveň najvyššou službou obci. 1 Veľký význam majú aj texty, ktoré v tomto období píše. Ide o jeden z mála pevných bodov, z ktorých možno vychádzať pri uvažovaní o Patočkovom prístupe k ľudským právam a ich zmyslu. Napriek tomu majú tieto texty svoje limity, pokiaľ ide o úroveň obsahovej úplnosti a tematického rozsahu. Tieto obmedzenia sú dané už okolnosťami, v ktorých vznikajú. Po prvé, Patočka sa obracia proti politickému systému, ktorý sa na medzinárodnej scéne formálne zaviazal dodržiavať ľudské práva, ale tento záväzok nehodlal prakticky uskutočňovať. 2 Sám podpis dohovoru mal slúžiť ako legitimizujúca fasáda. Za týchto okolností nebol témou ani tak konkrétny rozsah a obsah práv, ich podrobná reflexia a kritika. Témou sa museli stať práva ako také, ako určitý predpokladaný celok, resp. ich zmysel. Ľudské práva sú prostriedkom k tomu, aby bola človeku priznaná základná dôstojnosť, ktorá spočíva v slobode ako jeho základnej určujúcej " vlastnosti ". Naproti tomu normalizačnému režimu slúžili ľudské práva ako prostriedok pre vytváranie zdania slobody, pre vytváranie fasády, ktorá mala pôsobiť ako " normálny " stav vecí a slúžiť danému mocenskému rozloženiu síl. Otázka pred Patočkom nestála tak, že by sa pýtal, ktoré konkrétne práva 1 Ako hovorí Platónov Sókratés počas obhajoby: " A ja sa domnievam, že sa vám ešte v obci nedostalo žiadneho väčšieho dobra, než je to moje slúženie bohu " (Plat. Apol. 30a). 2 " Ak sa nemýlim, podpisovači mnohých krajín Východu očakávali, že na správaní mocných k publiku sa nebude musieť nič meniť, že všetko bude ako predtým. " PATOČKA, Jan: Co můžeme očekávat od Charty 77? In: Sebrané spisy Jana Patočky 12. Češi I. Praha: Oikoymenh 2006, s. 442.
Ostium, 2017
The article deals with the issue of relation between Aristotle’s ethics and art of rhetoric. On t... more The article deals with the issue of relation between Aristotle’s ethics and art of rhetoric. On the one hand, his concept of rhetoric stresses its instrumental, morally neutral character, which is substantial for every art. On the other hand, it seems that for Aristotle if speaker is truly good rhetorician and persuades truthfully and for just cause, his speech should appear more persuasive than in case of artful defence of injustice. Thus, truthfulness and justice appear to have inherent persuasive effect. In order to clarify the relation between ethical and rhetorical normative claims author highlights distinctive character of art in comparison to Aristotle’s concepts of moral virtue and prudence (phronēsis) and shows how this character of art is integrated into Aristotle’s concept of rhetoric and how it transforms the function of virtue in the scope of rhetorical activity. The primary goal of rhetorician is not to be moral, but merely to appear as such. This conclusion does not call for rejection of rhetoric in the eyes of prudent person. Rather, it is useful, because it provides means to realize ends that are in favour of good life of the city and his fellow citizens.
The Yearbook on History and Interpretation of Phenomenology 2016: Vocations, Social Identities, Spirituality: Phenomenological Perspectives
The article aims to present Patočka's critical position towards liberalism. In Heretical Essays h... more The article aims to present Patočka's critical position towards liberalism. In Heretical Essays he suggests that liberalism is not able to tackle the problem of individuality with the depth it deserves, especially in relation to responsibility. This is due to the fact that liberalism, as an exponent of technological civilization, tends to overlook the fact of human transcendence towards Being. In the following part of the article the author argues that Patočka's opinion is a result of long-term reflections. Already in the 1950s, in the unfinished essay Supercivilization and Its Inner Conflict, he characterizes liberalism as a movement claiming freedom for the individual, which was originally grounded in awareness of human transcendence expressed in newly born technological science and religion. However, the later form of liberal individualism, where a human being is primarily reduced to a social " atom " , is inherently decadent. Thus, a paradox is present in the liberalistic movement: on the one hand, freedom is ascribed to individuality due to its ability to transcend, and on the other hand, in being merely an atom s/he is stripped of this metaphysical privilege. For this reason the atomistic account appears as purposeless and nihilistic. It is suggested in the conclusion of this article that Patočka's critique of liberalism does not fall into enmity. Because the claim still persists in the principle of freedom that the individual is capable of free, responsible initiative, there is the possibility of renewal in rediscovering the fact of transcendence as a basis for ethical commitment.
The Yearbook on History and Interpretation of Phenomenology 2014. Normativity & Typification., 2015
In this contribution the author addresses the problem of multiculturalism from the perspective of... more In this contribution the author addresses the problem of multiculturalism from the perspective of a phenomenological description of the political. This approach, as he argues, escapes the hazards of one-sided essentialist responses dealing with the fact that societies are becoming more culturally diverse. Phenomenological description of the political overcomes the modern prejudice that the emergence of the political sphere is, or rather should be, a result of the expression of a nation’s sovereign will or of the united will of an ethnic community prescribed in its normal ways of life. He also deals with the argument that the phenomenological description of the political cannot do justice to the fact of human plurality, which is a condition of all politics in the true sense of the word, because the political is allegedly derived either from interchangeable subjectivity or from inaccessible and incomprehensible radical Otherness. Contrary to this claim, the author argues that true political relation arises from the recognition of rupture in the reciprocity of perspectives, i.e. in the ground for intersubjectivity. The political in the end emerges rather as an active and attentive effort to transcend the limits of different views co-constituting this intersubjective rupture. In other words, the political arises as a transcendence of the normal in the sense of passive constitution of meaning from and against cultural background. From this perspective the phenomenology escapes the trap of multiculturalist fashion attributing “goodness” to difference for simply being different and calls for reflective and critical examination of passive background and its attentive appropriation.
Filozofia, Jan 2015
The article addresses the concept of life in relation to humanities as seen by Hannah Arendt. In ... more The article addresses the concept of life in relation to humanities as seen by Hannah Arendt. In the 1950s, Arendt criticized humanities for their inability to understand the specific character of the world as a space of appearance in which historical events take place. Instead they focused on grasping the expressions of human nature and/or a human as being stripped of normal relations to the others. These two moments are inherently intertwined since the latter is possible only under the condition of worllessness. Arendt’s aim is not only to provide a methodological alternative, but also to understand the historical conditions under which the world as a condition and framework of understanding is abandoned. In her approach the concept of life is of central importance, since it is the background against which modern self-interpretation takes place and is therefore the formative condition of the absence of the world
In the article the author clarifies the place of relativism in the context of political world. On... more In the article the author clarifies the place of relativism in the context of political world. On one hand, relativism is often seen as a precondition of a free political order. On the other hand, some critics argue that relativism might be destructive to it. The author calls for the middle position. In accordance with Hannah Arendt and Klaus Held he understands the political world as inevitably relativistic, as it can be perceived only through the plurality of diverse perspectives. Relativism therefore is not something that could be overcome; it can only be overlaid by an unauthentic perspective. In conclusion the author asks the question whether tolerance is the key virtue to political normality. In accordance with John Drummond he argues that tolerance can regress into indifference. Therefore he calls for an alternative provided by hospitality.
Ostium, 2011
The article provides a sketch of Heidegger’s influence on Arendt’s concept of vita activa. The au... more The article provides a sketch of Heidegger’s influence on Arendt’s concept of vita activa. The author focuses on the problem of authentic political action and conformity which, despite Arendt’s criticism towards certain elements of fundamental ontology, is based on Heidegger’s terminology worked out in Being and Time. Such an approach doesn’t reveal only the fact that Heidegger’s thought provides a key to interpretation of central concepts of Arendt’s work, but also displays the problem of sense as a central topic in her political theory.
Book Reviews by Michal Zvarík
Filozofia, 2018
Jonathan Lear v knihe Aristotelés: Touha rozumět kladie predovšetkým dva ciele. Prvým je poskytnú... more Jonathan Lear v knihe Aristotelés: Touha rozumět kladie predovšetkým dva ciele. Prvým je poskytnúť široko prístupný a zrozumiteľný úvod do Aristotelovej filozofie a priviesť tak prípadných záujemcov k čítaniu Aristotelových diel. Druhý cieľ ašpiruje na vlastný originálny výklad, ktorý miestami pláva proti prúdu zaužívaných interpretácií. Veľkou devízou tejto knihy je, že sa jej darí obe predsavzatia naplniť v jednotnom a sys-tematicky previazanom podaní. O tom, že autor sa snaží o pomerne široko prístupný výklad, svedčí už štruktúra a línia knihy, ktorá " pedagogicky " postupuje od zrejmejšieho k menej zreteľnému. V úvodnej kapitole Lear rysuje pojem túžby a objasňuje jej význam pre pochopenie prírody, ľudskej prirodzenosti a boha. V druhej kapitole sa zameriava na samotný pojem prirodzenosti. Nasleduje výklad Aristotelovho chápania pohybu a jeho polemika s Parmenidovými a Zenó-novými námietkami. Vo štvrtej kapitole sa Lear venuje prirodzenosti človeka (t. j. duši) a najmä preskúmaniu vzťahu túžby k poznávaniu, vnímaniu a rozhodovaniu. Piata kapitola podáva nárys Aristotelovej praktickej filozofie. Za vrchol knihy považujem najrozsiahlej-šiu šiestu kapitolu s názvom Porozumění obecné struktuře skutečnosti, ktorá sa venuje logike, filozofii matematiky, princípu sporu a metafyzike. Tu sa žiada vyzdvihnúť podka-pitolu Turistický průvodce po Metafyzice VII, ktorá je výnimočným pokusom zrozumi-teľne priblížiť túto významnú, ale zároveň aj veľmi náročnú časť Aristotelovho diela. V recenzii sa zameriam najmä na načrtnutie kľúčových bodov Learovej interpretácie, ako aj na niektoré z jej originálnych momentov.
Uploads
Books by Michal Zvarík
Papers by Michal Zvarík
Článok sa venuje téme svedomia v myslení Hannah Arendtovej a otázke, za akých podmienok sa môže svedomie ukázať vo verejnej oblasti. Článok je rozdelený na štyri časti. Prvá načrtáva Arendtovej motiváciu pre prehodnotenie pojmu svedomia, ktorá vyplynula zo snahy vyrovnať sa s povahou politických zločinov 20. storočia a banalitou zla. V druhej časti sú predstavené dve konštitutívne charakteristiky svedomia. Na jednej strane si Ja svedomia osvojuje negatívny odstup od morálnych pravidiel, ktoré zastáva väčšinová spoločnosť. Na druhej strane sa pozitívne opiera o sebazáujem, čiže o bezrozpornosť vo vzťahu k sebe samému. Oba tieto kľúčové rysy svedomia vyrastajú z aktivity myslenia. Tretia časť sa zameriava na konfliktný vzťah individuálneho svedomia k politickej oblasti. V záverečnej časti autor kladie otázku, či je pojem svedomia možné politicky ospravedlniť a predstavuje podmienky pre ochranu svedomia vo verejnej sfére.
The article deals with Hannah Arendt's early rendition of Socrates' philosophy in the essay Socrates. As is generally known, she was critical towards Western tradition of philosophy influenced by the trial and death of Socrates, since it overlooked specific political experiences and subjected the political sphere to inadequate philosophical standards. In Socrates, in contradistinction to Platonic severe distortion of the political, she presents the image of Socrates as respectful towards the fact of human plurality and his philosophy as unsuccessful attempt to attune philosophical thinking with political action. This kind of philosophizing aimed at improving citizens of Athens and restoring the political space as common through establishing friendly relations among them. Arendt's account, however, remains highly selective, since she downplays Socratic problematicity and negativity.
Book Reviews by Michal Zvarík
Článok sa venuje téme svedomia v myslení Hannah Arendtovej a otázke, za akých podmienok sa môže svedomie ukázať vo verejnej oblasti. Článok je rozdelený na štyri časti. Prvá načrtáva Arendtovej motiváciu pre prehodnotenie pojmu svedomia, ktorá vyplynula zo snahy vyrovnať sa s povahou politických zločinov 20. storočia a banalitou zla. V druhej časti sú predstavené dve konštitutívne charakteristiky svedomia. Na jednej strane si Ja svedomia osvojuje negatívny odstup od morálnych pravidiel, ktoré zastáva väčšinová spoločnosť. Na druhej strane sa pozitívne opiera o sebazáujem, čiže o bezrozpornosť vo vzťahu k sebe samému. Oba tieto kľúčové rysy svedomia vyrastajú z aktivity myslenia. Tretia časť sa zameriava na konfliktný vzťah individuálneho svedomia k politickej oblasti. V záverečnej časti autor kladie otázku, či je pojem svedomia možné politicky ospravedlniť a predstavuje podmienky pre ochranu svedomia vo verejnej sfére.
The article deals with Hannah Arendt's early rendition of Socrates' philosophy in the essay Socrates. As is generally known, she was critical towards Western tradition of philosophy influenced by the trial and death of Socrates, since it overlooked specific political experiences and subjected the political sphere to inadequate philosophical standards. In Socrates, in contradistinction to Platonic severe distortion of the political, she presents the image of Socrates as respectful towards the fact of human plurality and his philosophy as unsuccessful attempt to attune philosophical thinking with political action. This kind of philosophizing aimed at improving citizens of Athens and restoring the political space as common through establishing friendly relations among them. Arendt's account, however, remains highly selective, since she downplays Socratic problematicity and negativity.