This article discusses the relationship between Jan Patočka's and Václav Havel's political writings. By specifically focusing on Patočka's concepts a "life in the idea" and a "life in problematicity" and Havel's notion of a "life in truth", it seeks to draw out the differences and similarities between their respective understandings of the relationship between truth and politics. The paper argues that Havel reinterpreted Patočka's ideas in a way, which in the final analysis diverged from Patočka's original intentions. Finally, the article argues that Havel's, in many ways productive, reinterpretation gives rise to a highly problematic conception of ideology and politics since the "prepolitical" form of politics that Havel envisions ultimately tends to naturalize both truth and politics.
Wenzel Trnka von Krzowitz was born in 1739 in Tabor. He graduated from the University of Vienna, where after studying philosophy he studied at the Faculty of Medicine. His personality and systematic work attracted the attention of Gerard van Swieten, who in 1769 made a significant contribution to the institutional establishment of the first medical faculty in the Hungarian Lands. Trnka thus became one of the founding members of this faculty, where he was appointed professor of anatomy. The Faculty of Medicine was the last part of the Pázmany University to be established in Trnava, which could not meet the needs of a growing university, especially of the medical faculty itself, and so in 1777 the entire campus was moved to Buda. While still in Trnava, in 1775, Trnka published one of his most important works, Historia febrium intermittentium, in which he discusses intermittent fevers. These fevers were a relatively common and unpleasant phenomenon in Europe, especially in certain regions. They are caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium, discovered in the 19th century, which cause several types of malaria, all of them being characterised by periodic bouts of fever. In his work, Trnka discusses in detail both the actual course of the disease and the treatment, emphasizing the use of quinine bark. The work contains several historically valuable chapters. It describes views and treatments of malaria in the 18th century, focusing also on those areas in the Habsburg Monarchy where the disease was widespread. Through Trnka’s work, the article provides an insight into life with this now exotic disease, which is today of little concern in our part of the world.
The present paper comprises a systematic survey of nematodes found in 88 specimens of 24 species of freshwater fishes in Venezuela in 1992 and 1994. The following 13 species of nematodes were recorded: Adults: Guyanema longispiculum Moravec, Prouza et Royero, 1996, Guyunema sp., Procamallanus (Spiracamallanus) inupinatus Travassos, Artigas et Pereira, 1928, P. (S.) krameri (Petter, 1974) comb, n., P. (S.) pintoi (Kohn et Fernandes, 1988) comb, n., Procamallanus (Spiracamallanus) sp., Ruphidascaris (Sprentascaris) mahnerti (Petter et Cassone, 1984). Larvae: Anisakidae gen. sp., Brevimullicaecum sp., Ctmtracaecum sp. Type 1, Contracaecum sp. Type 2, Contracaecum sp. Type 3, Eustrongylides sp. All these parasites are reported from Venezuela for the first time and all findings represent new host records. Brevimulticae-cum larvae are reported from fishes for the first time. Almost all parasites are briefly described and illustrated and problems concerning their morphology, taxonomy, hosts and geographical distribution are discussed. A new name, Terranova diazungriai nom. nov. is proposed for T. caballeroi Diaz-Ungrfa, 1968 (a junior homonym of T. caballeroi Baruš et Coy Otero, 1966).