Spanning his entire life, from one of his first articles to one of his last, this selection of texts by Jan Patočka illustrates his thoughts on the appropriate manner of being and engagement in the world. These texts examine the role of the philosopher in the world, how the world constrains us through ideology, and how freedom is possible through the recognition of our human condition in the problematicity of the world. These views outline Patočka´s "political" philosophy and how his later engagement in the political sphere with Charter 77 corresponds with the ideas he maintained throughout his whole life.