Abstract

The philosophical work of Jan Patočka offers a unique intellectual synthesis of historical-philosophical and philosophical reflections on the basis of phenomenology. His philosophical message has become one of the most important ones within the phenomenological movement. Patočka was the first philosopher of the 20th century to delve into the philosophical decoding of the problem of philosophy of the history of philosophy in straightforward critical encounter with Hegel’s strong model. It goes without saying that Patočka’s search for answers to relevant issues of the philosophy of history was inspired, or instigated, by his critical reflection of Hegel’s philosophy of history. Therefore, it is not accidental that the original Hegelean philosophy of the history of philosophy is turned by Patočka into a new, philosophically unique, unity of the philosophy of history and the history of philosophy, with its focus on the central philosophical problem– the care for the soul.