Publication Details

Abstract

K. Čapek never denied the priority of sense in the process of knowing, without eliminating, however, the role of will and sensitivity. What he had in mind was knowledge reflecting trust or distrust in the moral nature of human action. This shows, how close K. Čapek stood to T. G. Masaryk, who rejected the reduction of "the human" to the rational aspect of knowing. It is sensitivity and will, which lead us to the questioning of the absolute validity of sense. Čapek argued, that the results of our efforts are in this sense at least complex and contradictory, throughout relative, embodying truth and error. In short - from the pragmatic point of view (and that was Čapek's point of view) it is necessary to believe in a certain truth, but the utility of this belief can be questioned radically by our practical action.