In this 1978 text, Ladislav Hejdánek responds to Jan Tesař and Jaroslav Suk regarding the nature and justification of revolution. Hejdánek criticizes Tesař's polemical approach and his interpretation of Romanticism's influence. He rejects Suk’s use of natural and physical analogies, such as entropy or phase changes, to describe social shifts, arguing that social progress relies on intellectual, moral, and institutional inventions rather than mechanical laws. Central to Hejdánek’s argument is the belief that revolution is a measure of last resort that cannot generate positive content on its own; its only function is to remove obstacles to organic social growth. He emphasizes that meaningful change must be prepared in advance through persistent small-scale work and an internal transformation—a revolution of heads and hearts. Hejdánek warns against the glorification of revolutionary gestures, asserting that without a clear constructive program and societal maturity, violent upheaval results in mere improvisation and new forms of despotism.
[Reakce na text Jana Tesaře a Jaroslava Suka]
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◆ article, Czech, origin: 23. 4. 1978
- in: Dialogy, 1978, n. 4, p. 4–9
- This is a response to the following document:
- Místo dialogů