Veronika Ruppert
From September 2026, ČR Vltava is broadcasting a radio series on the thought of Václav Havel which avoids both the inflation of Havel into an exceptional philosopher and the cheap dismissal of Havel's thinking on the grounds that he "was no philosopher at all". Once we cease to be interested in the question of whether or not Václav Havel was a philosopher, many of the motifs Havel communicates in his texts may well inspire our own thinking.
Summary of the series:
Which of Havel's ideas is it worth recalling and developing today? And which contemporary social and political questions can they help us to name more precisely? These are the themes of the opening episode with Alice Koubová and Tomáš Koblížek.
The episode System and Anti-system focuses on the possibilities open to the individual in opposition to power. Alice Koubová and the political scientist Pavel Barša discuss what a person can draw on when deciding to defy the system, and under what circumstances, according to Havel, the system loses its power.
In the episode Truth, Tomáš Koblížek and the philosopher Matěj Cíbik return to one of Havel's best-known concepts – living in truth. They ask whether this notion has not been superseded today and how it stands up from the perspective of contemporary ethics, political philosophy and language.
The next episode opens the question of whether heroism is a one-off act of courage, or rather a long-term care and a persistent acceptance of responsibility. Tomáš Koblížek and Anna Šabatová also recall how Havel viewed heroism and what his relationship to feminism was.
The episode Artistic Thinking is devoted to Havel as a playwright and artist. Alice Koubová and the philosopher Martin Nitsche consider where Havel saw the meaning of art, how his dramatic thinking was reflected in political action, and in what ways his approach can be inspiring for the present.
In the episode Spirituality, Alice Koubová and the literary historian Martin C. Putna focus on Havel's "absolute horizon". What shaped his spiritual thinking, why was he reluctant to utter the word God, and what can his conception of spirituality offer people today?
The series will conclude with a public debate, Promyslet Havla živě, on the theme of Europe and democracy, to be held on 22 October 2026 at the Riding School of Prague Castle. Vltava will broadcast a recording of it in its holiday programming and on the web on 28 October 2026.