Thinking About Ordinary Things

How to teach philosophy to young dissidents, excluded from higher education by the communist regime? The author of this book, Czech philosopher, former dissident, software developer and occasional politician, tries to carry over this experience into his university lectures. It is not a talk about philosophy or philosophers, but rather an invitation: its aim is first to excite the reader's interest and to lead him or her to think philosophically by himself. In some 30 short chapters, covering a broad spectrum of topics and followed by questions, the reader is shown that philosophy is not only a special discipline, but rather a habit of thought, which can and should be applied anywhere.

Introduction
1. Philosophy: between Science, Art and Myth
2. How We See and Hear
3. Perception and Attention
4. Things, Words and Names
5. Language and Thought
6. Man in the World
7. Holiday and Everyday, Myth and Logos
8. You and I
9. Action and Freedom
10. Play
11. Language as Play
12. Time
13. Science and Knowledge
14. Truth
15. Scale and Ratio
16. Likeness and Imitation
17. Life
18. Nature
19. Necessity and Chance
20. Technique and Technology
21. Society, Institutions and State
22. Values and Money
23. Custom and Society
24. Morality and Ethics
25. Law
26. Text and Interpretation
27. The City
28. History
29. What Happens in History?
30. Civilisation, Culture, and Religion
31. Tolerance and Pluralism
32. Man and the World