Polemical Christianity

Jan Pato?ka (1907-1977) is seen today as one of the most important intellectual figures of Central Europe. Reflections on the historical and philosophical meaning of religion, especially Christianity, are a persistent topic in Pato?ka `s studies on the European intellectual tradition. The project will deal with the question of religion in his philosophical work and its importance for what is often referred to as the "crisis of modernity". The intent is to broaden the international reception of Pato?ka `s thought by further exploring his philosophical Nachlass, along with translating and publishing a selection of central writings related to religion. This research will be embedded in a systematic appraisal of the significance of Pato?ka `s thought in the context of recent efforts in various disciplines to reassess the role of religion in modern society. The project builds on more than twenty years of Pato? ka research at the IWM.

The project examined the question of religion in the philosophical work of Jan Patocka (1907-77) and its importance for what is often referred to as the crisis of modernity. Different from Husserl and Heidegger who are the main philosophical references for Patockas work, the crisis of modern Europe is for him not only due to scientific objectivism (Husserl) or to the metaphysics of technoscience (Heidegger), but has to be conceived as a broader historical phenomenon in which religious motives play a key role. Consequently, the question of how Christian civilization turned into a post-Christian one runs as a golden thread through his extensive writings on the European history of ideas. This historical diagnosis, however, is only the starting point for the main philosophical question: what are the implications of this change for contemporary worldviews? Since Patocka declares himself a post- Christian thinker, his analysis is not the nostalgic bemoaning of a loss. Accordingly, the projects approach was not to play off religion against philosophy or the tradition of enlightenment but to opt for a mutual disclosure. Against the background of an increasing interest in questions of religion and/or secularism, the project can be seen as outlining a way to understand religious attitudes beyond the short-sighted dogmas of theism and atheism. It is not only their proximity in logics (as the simple negation of the other), but also the general vis-à-vis of both standpoints that makes them retain essential features of what they negate. If, as J.L. Nancy recently proposed, all contemporary thinking will once be seen as a slow and heavy gravitational movement around the black sun of atheism, then Patockas diagnosis also aims at the often privative, subtractive and defective character of atheism, remaining blind and deaf to the religious input even against its own will. This does not entail a positive assurance of theism, but rather points at a lack of capability and will to think beyond or in-between old dichotomies. To overcome this biased understanding of religion is one of the concerns of contemporary phenomenology of religion (as in the works of Marion, Kearney, Steinbock, Caputo and others). Patocka is one of the most important forerunners to this undertaking. The project Polemical Christianity outlined the main ideas of this philosophical undertaking and aimed at relating them to the contemporary debate. Our research was also embedded in a broader systematic approach that discussed the significance of Patockas thought in the context of phenomenology of religion. The latter does not only have a long- standing tradition but is proving to be one of the most inspiring approaches for the reassessment of religion within the contemporary discussion. The projects results will successfully broaden the international reception of Patockas thought. Along with translating and publishing a selection of central writings related to his originary interpretation of Christianity (in English and in German), the project also helped to further explore his philosophical Nachlass and open it up for broader reception.