Existentialism in the Journal Letters and the Following Debate of 1947-1948

The third issue of the Melantrich Letters of 1947 became a notional epicentre of the reception of existentialism in Czechoslovakia. Along with a wide range of translations of various primary authors, it also provided the public with thematic studies written by prominent domestic philosophical authorities which serve as keys for interpretation as well as assessment of the cultural-philosophical movement that had gained such popularity, especially in France. The presented paper highlights the characteristic traits of these interpretations where the central role is often played by thematisation and the function of human individuality, which is understood as an integral feature of existential thinking. The atmosphere of post-war Czechoslovakia and the forthcoming coup d'etat of February 1948 had a significant influence on the general overtones of those studies as well as on the main streams of reactions that immediately followed.