"Česká otázka" ve světle stalinismu Karel Kosík a koncept levicového radikalismu
The 'Czech Question' in the Context of Stalinism: Karel Kosik and the Concept of Leftwing Radicalism

Summary/Abstract: The article is concerned with the interpretation of Czech radical democracy as postulated by the Marxist philosopher Karel Kosik (1926-2003) in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It argues that one of the aims of Kosik's writing about this political movement was to conceptualize leftwing radicalism. It begins with a recapitulation and assessment of historiographical work charting out the rela¬tionship between art and politics, particularly policy on culture and the arts in the period of Stalinism (referring to works by Alexej Kusak and Jiff Knapik), and presents the basic feature of leftwing radicalism, which is understood as an attitude characteristic of the relatively short period from the beginning of the totalitarian regime. In the sphere of art this Utopian, normatively closed concept was manifested by an extremely utilitarian approach to a work of art, whose primary purpose was meant to be participation in building a 'new' world. In this article Kosik is seen as a leading member of the generation of young Commu¬nists who had a substantial share in establishing a new philosophical discourse and formulated new criteria for interpreting the history of nineteenth-century Czech political and philosophical thought. The second part of the article summarizes the reasons Kosik's writings about radical democracy should be given a special status in today's discourse.

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