Steven Lukes Knihy

Esej bývalého českého prezidenta, spisovatele a dramatika Václava Havla, poprvé vydaná roku 1989 nakladatelstvím Host. Havel v ní popisuje fenomén disidentství v post-totalitních režimech. Pojmenovává ho "moc bezmocných", což naznačuje úsilí disidentů konat společenská a politická rozhodnutí, ale nezakládat přitom svou moc na instituci státu. Autor také poukazuje na působení ideologie skrze obyčejný lid, který se následně nevědomky stává nástrojem k opakovaném uplatňování a utvrzování totalitní moci. Esej je věnovaná filosofu Janu Patočkovi, na kterého Havel odkazuje návrhem vlastního politického programu, který nazývá "ivot v pravdě". Mimo něj Havel odkazuje i na řadu dalších filosofů, např. Heideggera, a rozebírá mnoho socio-politických konceptů. Podnětná esej od jednoho z nejvýraznějších českých intelektuálů, která si zaslouží pozornost i dnes.

Everyone holds beliefs. So what gives us the right to judge the behaviour of others in a world where ethics seem increasingly diverse and conflicting? Do universal human rights exist, or do we just have to accept that there's an irreparable moral discord between us and the other?

By turns witty and profound, The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat is a novel in the spirit of Gulliver’s Travels or Animal Farm. Telling the story of the travels of a Professor Caritat, who is in search of the perfect world, Steven Lukes us on an irreverent romp through the history of western political philosophy. Doing for that discipline what Sophie’s World did for philosophy in general, The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat is both a refreshing humorous introduction to the clasing ideologies of our time, and a passionate defence of the much-abused Enlightenment and its core values of reason, freedom and tolerance.

Are there absolute truths that can be gradually approached over time through rational processes? Or are all modes and systems of thought equally valid if viewed from within their own internally consistent frames of reference? Are there universal forms of reasoning and understanding that enable us to distinguish between rational beliefs and those that are demonstrably false, or is everything relative? These central questions are addressed and debated by the distinguished contributors to this lively book. Some of them - Hollis, Lukes, Robin Horton, and Ernest Gellner - discuss new directions in their thinking since their earlier articles appeared in 1970 in the seminal volume Rationality (edited by Bryan Wilson). They are now joined in the debate by Ian Hacking, W. Newton-Smith, Charles Taylor, Jon Elster, Dan Sperber, and, in the jointly authored lead article, by Barry Barnes and David Bloor. Emerging from the debate are a variety of supportable interpretations and conclusions rather than a single, distinct "truth." The contributors represent the complete spectrum of positions between a relativism that challenges the very concept of a single world and the idea that there are ascertainable, objective universals.