It was stated in the foreword that to give a comprehensive account of Czech philosophical thought in the twentieth century was an ambitious task which could be carried through only in the future. However, we are inclined to think that we may already outline the contours of our mosaic in order to elucidate some directions of thought and modes of questioning. As parts of the Czech cultural tradition, these may influence the philosophical enterprise in the Czech Republic, as well as the present efforts to revive modern democracy.

From this point of view, we would like to emphasize especially the following tendencies in Czech thought:

1. Continuous attention has been paid to the philosophy of man and society, with an emphasis on its moral, humanist, and democratic aspects. This includes a search for how to realize the ideal of a society based on social justice, ideally through establishing the "power of the powerless". The subject has been discussed from a variety of philosophical standpoints, such as Masarykian "ethical religion", the idea of "lay morality", the religious-philosophical point of view (especially the varieties based on the Reformation Protestant tradition and or the stream of thought inspired by Roman Catholicism), Marxism conceived as the theory of emancipation, the structuralist philosophy of J.L. Fischer, and the phenomenology of J. Patoka. Aphoristically put: all the main streams of Czech philosophy want to have a "human face".

2. This is closely connected to efforts to give the Czech nation a spiritual and cultural character, to situate the problems of a small nation in Central Europe in the international context, both historically and philosophically. Therefore, there is a clear tendency to view history from the point of view of philosophy. Both the general philosophy of history and the philosophy of Czech history seem to be of crucial importance. This includes many varieties reaching from visions of Herderian Europe to the Marxist philosophical construction of history. This tendency of Czech thought sometimes results in neglecting purely philosophical subjects which are independent of the social events and struggles of a particular period, and allowing more room for discussing, e.g., the relationship of Czech society (the Czech state and nation) to Europe and the World. This subject inevitably appears as structuralism and phenomenology as well as in positivist philosophy, which underline the function of philosophy in conditioning the Weltanschauung, as well as its educational function.

3. The first two paragraphs of this conclusion suggest the answer to the question why Czech philosophy has paid so much attention to religion and its place in constituting the "Weltanschauung of the modern Czech person". The geographical location of this socio-cultural region with the problems related to its existence contribute to the fact that Czech philosophy appears to be a conjunction of various cultural and political currents and tendencies. Influences coming from German-speaking, Slavonic (especially Russian), French, and Anglo-American regions have met with a largely sensitive, consistent, and independent reception, no matter how different these influences may have been.

4. The frequency with which the issues of "practical philosophy" are discussed are sometimes interpreted as a sign of the Czech mind being "sober", "matter-of-fact", "anti-speculative", incapable of profound religious experience, etc. In the period between the wars (the 1920s and 1930s) there were, however, efforts to develop the fundamental philosophical subjects, ontology and noetics, in order to constitute a Czech vision of philosophy in the proper sense of the word. This is connected to the third phase of Czech positivism, neo-Kantianism, and to the structuralist and phenomenological endeavors. After World War II, some authors influenced by Marxism viewed this as their principal task.

5. A brief survey of the achievements of Czech philosophy that transcended the limits of cultivating a given socio-cultural region would include, apart from significant authors writing earlier in history--Huss, Chelický, Comenius, Bolzano, and certainly Masaryk--the original philosophy of Ladislav Klíma; Protestant theological philosophy; the philosophical foundations of modern Catholic literature; the philosophical, aesthetic and critical works written by F.X. alda; structuralism (broadly speaking, i.e., in philosophy, sociology, criticism, linguistics, and psychology); phenomenology (J. Patoka's legacy); and, last but not least, attempts to carry out an anti-Stalinist Marxist theory of emancipation.

In spite of difficult times unfavorable to free philosophical thought--five years of German occupation, forty years of the ideological monopoly by the Communist Party--there has always been a large variety of opinions and tendencies on the Czech philosophical scene. Of course, often the samizdat and exile philosophical production made the most significant contributions, especially in the last decades. In that respect, Czech, as well as Slovak, philosophy has not been completely "out of touch with Europe". This is why it can take part in creating the intellectual sensibility necessary to reflect the topical values and problems of Europe and the world. For having had concrete experience with authoritative, totalitarian systems, in reflecting upon specific intellectual challenges Czech philosophy tends to develop an ability to blend unbending criticism with responsible tolerance.