The heresy of history: Patočka's reflections on Marx and Marxism

Tava, Francesco

Abstract

Although Jan Patočka often addressed Marx’s thought, as well as the intellectual and historical development of Marxism, up till now the reasons for his interest, as well as the outcomes of his investigation, have seldom been made the object of analysis.1 The aim of this chapter is to begin to fill this gap by clarifying the various aspects of the complex bond between Patočka’s thought, Marx’s and Marxism as well as the importance of the latter two in the economy of Patočka’s philosophy.
To do this, I will use the idea of history as a pivot concept, in order to show how the various interpretations of the meaning of history given by Marx, Marxist philosophers, and by Patočka himself, might be useful in helping us grasp both the similarities and the differences between these philosophical projects. To do this, I will proceed through several steps: I will first analyse Patočka’s initial encounter with Marx’s philosophy, which dates back to the 1930s and was mediated by the work of Ludwig Landgrebe. Second, I will provide a sketch of Patočka’s critique of the theoretical and political development of Marxism, through the concept of radical supercivilisation, and his following analysis of the aporias into which historical materialism run up and their possible overcoming. I will then compare Patočka’s understanding of the meaning of history, developed in his late output, with the insight into this same problem provided by Karel Kosík, who by developing a critique of the materialistic understanding of history fostered an internal reform of Marxism, aimed at overcoming its dogmatic traits. Finally I will conclude by showing how Patočka’s heretical understanding of history can be interpreted as a positive answer to his critique of historical materialism.

• Publication Date: Aug 16, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 9, 2021
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Pages: 183-200
• Book Title: Thinking after Europe: Jan Patočka and Politics
• Chapter Number: 12
• ISBN: 9781783486854
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7192885
• Publisher URL: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781783486854