Europe as Fiction
Europe as Fiction

Summary/Abstract: What is the meaning of the “Europe” and the idea of unity? For when did a “united” Europe exist? Back when German emperors ineffectively tried to enforce their rule on a territory which was none too large anyway? Or when they were entangled in a dispute with the papacy? Or during the crusades against the Catharists? Or maybe during the Reformation or during the French Revolution when new coalitions of opponents arose? During the Napoleonic Wars which in themselves pay testimony to ruptures and confl icts? The 20th century alone brought two wars. The fi rst already signifi ed, as Jan Patocka once declared, the suicide of Europe. Perhaps, then, Europe does not exist at all anymore? Maybe the politicians’ visions are less than credible? There is no doubt that the idea of a united Europe is a project which affi rms the great, creative power of the imagination. Modernity has given birth to very strong temptations which glorify the imagination.

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