Fear, Courage, Anger: The Socratic Lesson

Abstract

In this paper I attempt to interpret, in the light of Patočka’s reflection on care for the soul, his political commitment alongside other dissidents as spokesperson of the Charter 77 movement. Examining the ethical and ontological foundations of this commitment, I encounter the figure of Socrates and the portrait Patočka drew of him in the 1970s, following the example of Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. The question implicitly guiding my argumentation addresses the affective foundations of the political community (the emotions of courage and anger, as opposed to fear). This is a question which has by no means lost its actuality.