Václav Rut

The goal of this project is to produce a manuscript on the politics of emancipation and the ethics of responsibility in the works of Václav Havel. The starting point is a central dilemma of Havel's writings and political life, which he formulated as “Europe as a task.” This problem poses the question of whether an emancipatory politics based on the ethics of responsibility must be based on metaphysical foundations, and whether this is possible or desirable. By contrasting Havel’s views with those of other philosophers and contextualizing them within contemporary debates, Václav Rut seeks to transcend Havel’s limitations and examine ethics in general as a basis for emancipatory politics. The manuscript will address these issues in the light of contemporary challenges such as climate change, with the aim of providing normative arguments within political theory.