Radek Chlup
Biographic Data
| ID | 1447315 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Radek Chlup |
| GIVEN NAMES | Radek |
| FAMILY NAME | Chlup |
| SIGNATURE | CHLUP R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Charles University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6074-9668 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Conspiracy Narratives as a Type of Social Myth
It has long been recognized that conspiracy narratives may be seen as a special kind of myth. In most cases, however, this is taken as a sign of their irrational and unsubstantiated nature. I argue that mythical modes of reasoning are actually far more pervasive in modern political and cultural discourse than we commonly admit and that the difference between mainstream discourse and conspiracy narratives is not one between "rational" and "mythica…
Covid Vaccination Disputes in Czechia
The paper argues that one of the reasons the suppression of scientific dissent during the Covid pandemic has been so severe was because the dominant scientific Covid narrative has been turned into a political myth, i.e. a narrative mobilizing groups in support of key moral values. Taking the example of Covid vaccination, I show the key values with which it became linked in Czechia. Questioning vaccination came to be seen as endangering these valu…
National myths and rebounding violence
The article takes up the sacrificial theory of national myths presented by Steven J. Mock and discloses its further potential for understanding the symbolic structures of nationalism. While Mock builds mainly on a Girardian reinterpretation of Freud, I try to show that even more interesting results may be obtained by using Maurice Bloch's theory of ritual symbolism. The advantage of Bloch's model is threefold. (1) It discloses further interesting…
Second-Order Liminality
Taking the example of the Basel carnival Fasnacht, the paper shows in what way ritual can maintain the impression of being traditional and unchanging, and yet be open to changes and innovations. As the basic conceptual framework we use the notion of liminality, which Victor Turner identified as the creative moment of ritual. In Fasnacht, this liminal dimension appears in two degrees. The carnival as such represents a reflexive liminal counterpart…
Competing myths of Czech identity
The article analyses the current antagonism between the Czech pro-Western liberal democratic discourse and the discourse of national sovereignty from the perspective of long-term conceptions of Czech national identity and the mythical narratives through which they have been expressed. I identify two basic mythical perspectives that have been crucial for the Czechs since the 19th century: the ‘particularist’ and the ‘universalist’. The latter orig…
On the Nature of the Gods
Proclus
Proclus of Lycia (412–485) was one of the greatest philosophers of antiquity, producing the most systematic version of late Neoplatonic thought. He exercised enormous influence on Byzantine, medieval, Renaissance and German Classical philosophy, ranking among the top five of ancient philosophers in terms of the number of preserved works. Despite this he is rarely studied now, the enormous intricacy of his system making the reading of his treatise…
Illud tempusin Greek myth and ritual
This article offers a re-examination of Eliade's classic theory of rituals as repetitions of archetypal events that once upon a time took place in illo tempore. I confront the theory with ancient Greek myths and rituals, showing that it does fit them to some extent, although it needs to be modified and further elaborated. The Greeks were acutely aware of the ambivalence of mythical time, and their rituals were not just meant to evoke it but to ke…
The Ritualization of Language in the Hermetica
The Semantics of Fertility
During the last 100 years, several interpretations of the Thesmophoria have been advanced. Following the typology of H.S. Versnel, we can classify these interpretations as substantive, functionalist and cosmological. The three approaches can be seen as complementary, but in practice they are hardly ever pursued simultaneously. This article examines how they fit together. In particular, it re-examines the subject of fertility, asking how it fits i…
Plutarch's Dualism and the Delphic Cult
The article interprets Plutarch's dualism in the light of the Apollo-Dionysus opposition as presented in De E 388e-389c, arguing that Plutarch is no dualist in the strict sense of the word. A comparison of De E 393f-394a with De Iside 369b-d shows that it is only in the sublunary realm of Nature that Plutarch assumes a duality of two distinct Powers; at the higher levels of reality the divine is unified and harmonious. If Plutarch fails to emphas…
Conspiracy Narratives as a Type of Social Myth
It has long been recognized that conspiracy narratives may be seen as a special kind of myth. In most cases, however, this is taken as a sign of their irrational and unsubstantiated nature. I argue that mythical modes of reasoning are actually far more pervasive in modern political and cultural discourse than we commonly admit and that the difference between mainstream discourse and conspiracy narratives is not one between "rational" and "mythica…
Covid Vaccination Disputes in Czechia
The paper argues that one of the reasons the suppression of scientific dissent during the Covid pandemic has been so severe was because the dominant scientific Covid narrative has been turned into a political myth, i.e. a narrative mobilizing groups in support of key moral values. Taking the example of Covid vaccination, I show the key values with which it became linked in Czechia. Questioning vaccination came to be seen as endangering these valu…
Illud tempusin Greek myth and ritual
This article offers a re-examination of Eliade's classic theory of rituals as repetitions of archetypal events that once upon a time took place in illo tempore. I confront the theory with ancient Greek myths and rituals, showing that it does fit them to some extent, although it needs to be modified and further elaborated. The Greeks were acutely aware of the ambivalence of mythical time, and their rituals were not just meant to evoke it but to ke…
Competing myths of Czech identity
The article analyses the current antagonism between the Czech pro-Western liberal democratic discourse and the discourse of national sovereignty from the perspective of long-term conceptions of Czech national identity and the mythical narratives through which they have been expressed. I identify two basic mythical perspectives that have been crucial for the Czechs since the 19th century: the ‘particularist’ and the ‘universalist’. The latter orig…
The Semantics of Fertility
During the last 100 years, several interpretations of the Thesmophoria have been advanced. Following the typology of H.S. Versnel, we can classify these interpretations as substantive, functionalist and cosmological. The three approaches can be seen as complementary, but in practice they are hardly ever pursued simultaneously. This article examines how they fit together. In particular, it re-examines the subject of fertility, asking how it fits i…
Plutarch's Dualism and the Delphic Cult
The article interprets Plutarch's dualism in the light of the Apollo-Dionysus opposition as presented in De E 388e-389c, arguing that Plutarch is no dualist in the strict sense of the word. A comparison of De E 393f-394a with De Iside 369b-d shows that it is only in the sublunary realm of Nature that Plutarch assumes a duality of two distinct Powers; at the higher levels of reality the divine is unified and harmonious. If Plutarch fails to emphas…
Plutarch's Dualism and the Delphic Cult
The article interprets Plutarch's dualism in the light of the Apollo-Dionysus opposition as presented in De E 388e-389c, arguing that Plutarch is no dualist in the strict sense of the word. A comparison of De E 393f-394a with De Iside 369b-d shows that it is only in the sublunary realm of Nature that Plutarch assumes a duality of two distinct Powers; at the higher levels of reality the divine is unified and harmonious. If Plutarch fails to emphas…
The Ritualization of Language in the Hermetica
The Semantics of Fertility
During the last 100 years, several interpretations of the Thesmophoria have been advanced. Following the typology of H.S. Versnel, we can classify these interpretations as substantive, functionalist and cosmological. The three approaches can be seen as complementary, but in practice they are hardly ever pursued simultaneously. This article examines how they fit together. In particular, it re-examines the subject of fertility, asking how it fits i…
Illud tempusin Greek myth and ritual
This article offers a re-examination of Eliade's classic theory of rituals as repetitions of archetypal events that once upon a time took place in illo tempore. I confront the theory with ancient Greek myths and rituals, showing that it does fit them to some extent, although it needs to be modified and further elaborated. The Greeks were acutely aware of the ambivalence of mythical time, and their rituals were not just meant to evoke it but to ke…
Proclus
Proclus of Lycia (412–485) was one of the greatest philosophers of antiquity, producing the most systematic version of late Neoplatonic thought. He exercised enormous influence on Byzantine, medieval, Renaissance and German Classical philosophy, ranking among the top five of ancient philosophers in terms of the number of preserved works. Despite this he is rarely studied now, the enormous intricacy of his system making the reading of his treatise…
On the Nature of the Gods
Second-Order Liminality
Taking the example of the Basel carnival Fasnacht, the paper shows in what way ritual can maintain the impression of being traditional and unchanging, and yet be open to changes and innovations. As the basic conceptual framework we use the notion of liminality, which Victor Turner identified as the creative moment of ritual. In Fasnacht, this liminal dimension appears in two degrees. The carnival as such represents a reflexive liminal counterpart…
Competing myths of Czech identity
The article analyses the current antagonism between the Czech pro-Western liberal democratic discourse and the discourse of national sovereignty from the perspective of long-term conceptions of Czech national identity and the mythical narratives through which they have been expressed. I identify two basic mythical perspectives that have been crucial for the Czechs since the 19th century: the ‘particularist’ and the ‘universalist’. The latter orig…
National myths and rebounding violence
The article takes up the sacrificial theory of national myths presented by Steven J. Mock and discloses its further potential for understanding the symbolic structures of nationalism. While Mock builds mainly on a Girardian reinterpretation of Freud, I try to show that even more interesting results may be obtained by using Maurice Bloch's theory of ritual symbolism. The advantage of Bloch's model is threefold. (1) It discloses further interesting…
Conspiracy Narratives as a Type of Social Myth
It has long been recognized that conspiracy narratives may be seen as a special kind of myth. In most cases, however, this is taken as a sign of their irrational and unsubstantiated nature. I argue that mythical modes of reasoning are actually far more pervasive in modern political and cultural discourse than we commonly admit and that the difference between mainstream discourse and conspiracy narratives is not one between "rational" and "mythica…
Covid Vaccination Disputes in Czechia
The paper argues that one of the reasons the suppression of scientific dissent during the Covid pandemic has been so severe was because the dominant scientific Covid narrative has been turned into a political myth, i.e. a narrative mobilizing groups in support of key moral values. Taking the example of Covid vaccination, I show the key values with which it became linked in Czechia. Questioning vaccination came to be seen as endangering these valu…
Philosophy (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Art (6 works) · History (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Literature (6 works) · Aesthetics (5 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Linguistics (5 works)