Democracy Sub Specie Aeternitatis

Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937)is
often remembered as one of the pre-eminent "philosopher-
kings" of the twentieth century. Masaryk's opinions
concerning philosophy and politics continue to be studied
in current academic literature, especially in the Czech
Republic where the issue of Masaryk's legacy continues to
be debated. In this work the author recognizes that
although many studies have noted the religious elements in
Masaryk's thought and life, they have not analysed them for
their specific and inherent theology and have therefore
not stressed the importance of the connection between
Masaryk's own modern political philosophy and the theology
of the seventeenth century educational reformer and Czech
national hero Jan Amos Komensky (1592-1670). Jan A. Uhde
examines Masaryk's literary works for evidence
demonstrating the fundamental place that theology holds in
Masaryk's political philosophy and argues that despite
Masaryk distancing himself from theology as a tool of
medieval theocracy, the fundamental assumptions upon which
Masaryk constructed his political philosophy were
theological and borrowed from Komensky.