Art and Care of Soul in Jan Patočka

Summary: This work approaches Patočka's philosophy of art from the perspective of ‚care of the soul'. The first part of work describes evolution of the ‚care of the soul' in context of Patočka's philosophy of history from he 30s up to 70s. Based on this description I recognize experience of the soul as the experience of human freedom as inseparable from the ethical and methaphysical dimensions. The second part approaches art from this perspective.Patočka's intepretations of art show that Patočka saw art not only as a manifestation of human freedom, but as reflection of human position in the world and his relation to aletheia as well. However, art stays half way between myth and philosophy due to the fact, that the movement of freedom is not as absolute in art as it is in philosophy. This is evident in expressions that art takes from the fields of our emotions and experience and thus still remains for Patočka in connection with the world and our everydayness. Therefore art represents for Patočka only limited experience of the soul. It is mostly the momentum of transcendence that is important and interesting for Patočka in art, but not the results that, no matter how deep, are still insights about the things in the world. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org