Abstract

The three most lasting legacies of late-totalitarian ideology have been the subversion of the ability of language to say something about the world, most notably by gradual elimination of the differences between distinct and indeed opposite concepts; the endorsement of logical fallacies as normal forms of argument; and thirdly, the deconstructed atomized concept of the person, as a collection of primal needs and fears, devoid of a personality and communal identity, ready to be manipulated through needs and fears. I illustrate these characteristics by examining the writings of a Czech former secret police officer about Czech democracy, Derrida about Patočka's concept of responsibility, and Žižek on totalitarianism.