Piotr Augustyniak

Piotr Augustyniak continues his research on the sources of the contemporary crisis of modern subjectivity, whose roots, as shown by Heidegger and Adorno, can be traced back to the classical era in Greece. This subjectivity, in striving to liberate itself from the blind forces of nature and to secure control and safety, reaches its peak in consumerist, technological, and globalized modernity. Here, Augustyniak finds particular promise in early Greek thought, a period when the Enlightenment-modern vision of the subject had not yet begun to take shape. His aim is not only to outline this archaic, alternative model of subjectivity by referring to pre-Socratic thought and mythological topoi, but also to undertake a critical reflection on the visions of Greek beginnings developed by Nietzsche and Heidegger. Augustyniak attempts to demonstrate that their turn to Greece was neither escapist nor a form of nostalgic conservatism marked by anti-modern resentment. Instead, it was a constructive effort to pursue a different form of subjectivity—one that remains relevant and hopeful in the contemporary context.