My methodological roots are in Husserl [note conception of Wertnehmung in Ideen II.] I understand my philosophical task in the spirit of Masaryk’s later works as an ongoing quest for a conception of the meaning of our dwelling and our communion, on which, in Masaryk’s words, we could stand firm and slep at peace.

 This task I think most pressing in an age of globalization which opens new horizons before individuals and both frees and robs them of the traditional web of links and relations which once defined thein unquestioned self-perception. The individua here becomes the Mensch ohne Eigenschaften (Musil). If a set of such individuals is to become a community in freedom and dignity, not an anonymous mob, it appears to me crucial that we consciously inquire into the shared and the distinctive components of our human, european and national cultural identity.

 In English I first groped in this direction methodologically in Idea and Experience (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1978; ISBN 0-226-45020-1) and substantively (though still gropingly) in The Embers and the Stars (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1984; ISBN 0-226-45017-1). Upon my return from exile I took up the theme systematically in a sketch of the history of European ideas, Člověk, dobro a zlo (Of Humans, Good and Evil, Praha, Ježek, 1993; ISBN 80-901625-3-3). I followed that with a number of shorter preparatory texts (for inst. Průvodce po demokracii [A guide to democracy, Praha, SLON, 1997; ISBN 80-86429-03-2] as well as texts later gathered in Orbis bene vivendi [Praha, Junák, 2001; ISBN 80-86109-64-X]. The next step in the project itself were two works in ethics, The Green Halo (Chicago, Open Court, 2002; ISBN 0-8126-9411-2; translated from the Czech Zelená svatozář, Praha, Sociologické nakladatelství, 1998; ISBN 80-85850-86-9), devoted to environmental ethics, and Svoboda, svědomí, soužití (Freedom, conscience, community, Praha, Sociologické nakladatelství, 2004; ISBN 80-86429-35-0), dealing with interpersonal ethics. Next came another collection of shorter texts, Zorným úhlem filosofa [From a Philosopher’s Viewpoint, Praha, Ježek, 2004; ISBN 80-85996-38-3].

 Currently I am preparing a course of lectures of which I hope to make a book aimed explicity at the question of the meaning of our human, European and Czech cultural identity. For that I chose the working title Of Humans, History and Meaning.  In it I am concerned with classic themes of life in truth, life in history and life in an order together with the contemporary themes of life in liberty, equality and brotherhood as an European contribution to global humanity.

 Cultural globalization unfortunately does not mean global cultural interchange as much as a unidirectional export of European assumptions (and in a distinctive American rendition) across the globe. I think a preliminary critical sorting a badly needed presupposition for the protection of the idea of humanity before macdonaldization.

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