Felix Weltsch, tvořivý střed a obranyschopná demokracie

Abstract

The study examines some selected motifs found in the political thought of the philosopher and journalist Felix Weltsch during the interwar period. It puts forward an interpretation of Weltsch’s concept of democracy that is placed in the broader framework of his concept of man and the political ethics of the creative center. Attention is paid both to Weltsch’s books and journalistic texts, and especially to his main political- theoretical work Das Wagnis der Mitte (1936). The study arrives at three main conclusions: 1) the political philosophy of Felix Weltsch is based on his understanding of the human being as a creative being of the center; 2) Weltsch’s concept of defensible democracy identifies the necessary limits and risks of the thoroughgoing application of democratic principles; 3) democracy is not an end and value in and of itself, and it is the task of the central position to, through creative means, successfully integrate the core of its critique of democracy; 4) the creative center’s position can integrate the core values of the critique of democracy, but must be careful not to invalidate democracy in the creative synthesis.

Keywords

• felix weltsch
• theory of democracy
• jewish philosophy
• intellectual history
• interwar philosophy
• nationalism