Solidarity Among the Distraught: Jan Patočka and the Legacy of Charter 77
“There are things worth suffering for.” This statement, made just a few days before his death, constitutes the moral legacy of the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka. On the occasion of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Charter 77 civil rights movement, scholar Ludger Hagedorn dedicated his Krzysztof Michalski Memorial Lecture at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) to the final days of this extraordinary thinker.
The lecture (Krzysztof Michalski Memorial Lecture) was held in the library at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM). / Picture: © IWM Institut fuer die Wissenschaften vom Menschen - Institute for Human Sciences / Philipp Steinkellner
Hagedorn’s lecture shed light not only on Patočka’s philosophy but also on the dramatic historical circumstances under which it was lived out and for which he paid with his life.
From His Desk to the Crosshairs of the Secret Police
Jan Patočka, a student of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, spent most of his life as a private scholar. Banished from the universities of communist Czechoslovakia, he held legendary underground seminars. His writings circulated as "samizdat"—illegal copies, often typed using carbon paper. One of his most important works, "Heretical Essays on the Philosophy of History", was written at the urging of the young Polish philosopher Krzysztof Michalski, who would later found the IWM in Vienna to make Patočka’s work accessible to the world.
The turning point in Patočka’s life came in late 1976. It was triggered by the arrest of the underground rock bands “The Plastic People of the Universe” and “DG 307.” Patočka, whose musical ideal was actually Beethoven, saw the suppression of these young musicians as a fundamental attack on intellectual and artistic freedom. He joined a protest campaign that brought together prominent intellectuals such as Václav Havel and Jaroslav Seifert.
This newfound, fearless solidarity culminated in the publication of Charter 77 in January 1977. Alongside Jiří Hájek and Václav Havel, Patočka became one of the three spokespeople for the movement, which demanded compliance with the human rights agreements signed in Helsinki in 1975.
The Final Weeks in the Life of a Philosopher
The regime responded to Charter 77 with unprecedented severity. Patočka, who was suffering from severe bronchitis, found himself in the crosshairs of the secret police (StB).
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 1977 | Publication of Charter 77. Patočka is interrogated seven times in a single month, sometimes for up to eleven hours. |
| March 1, 1977 | An unexpected meeting with the Dutch Foreign Minister Max van der Stoel and Western journalists infuriates the regime. Interrogations are heavily intensified. |
| March 8, 1977 | Patočka, now in the Strahov hospital, pens his final essay: "What Can We Expect from Charter 77?". |
| March 13, 1977 | Following further harassment and a physical collapse, Jan Patočka passes away at the age of 69. |
| March 16, 1977 | Burial in Prague. The state authorities attempt to acoustically disrupt the funeral service using helicopters and motocross bikes to drown out the words and keep mourners away. |
The Philosophy of Suffering and Freedom
In his final text written from the hospital, Patočka addressed the pressing question of whether demanding human rights might not simply worsen the situation. His answer was unequivocal: concessions had never led to détente. It was crucial, he argued, to break the self-confidence of those in power and show them that injustice does not go unnoticed.
In his lecture, Hagedorn emphasized Patočka’s famous concept of the “solidarity of the shaken.” This form of solidarity, which was originally based on the shared existential experiences of frontline soldiers in World War I, does not call for loud slogans but rather: “The solidarity of the shaken is built upon persecution and uncertainty: that is its front line—a silent, unadvertised, and unsensational one… Undaunted by unpopularity, this solidarity calls out silently, without a word.”
Ludger Hagedorn’s lecture in Vienna made it clear: Jan Patočka’s decision to step out of the role of the quiet thinker was not a naive political gesture, but the ultimate philosophical act. He proved that the ideas that make life worth living sometimes demand the highest personal price.