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Philosopher Jan Sokol
Photo: Reuters Photographer / REUTERS
The Czech philosopher Jan Sokol died at the age of 84, announced the Prague Václav Havel Library.
The intellectual with a Christian character ran unsuccessfully in 2003 against the neoliberal Václav Klaus for the office of president.
His essays on ethics, human rights, education and politics were also published in German translation.
He received numerous awards such as the Officer's Order of the French Legion of Honor and the "Vice 97" (Vision 97) award.
Before 1989, Sokol, who originally studied mathematics, fought as a dissident against the communist regime.
He was one of the first to sign the Charter 77 petition, which campaigned for more civil rights.
In the underground he held seminars on Friedrich Nietzsche, among others.
After the Velvet Revolution, Sokol first became a member of parliament and later a school minister for a short time.
He was the founding dean of the new Faculty of Human Sciences at Charles University in Prague.
The President of the Czech Constitutional Court, Pavel Rychetský, praised Sokol as an "extremely honorable and principled person".
He had the ability to bring people of different views together.
Former culture minister Daniel Herman emphasized Sokol's conviction that one cannot build a healthy society without a moral basis.
Numerous other politicians and the Catholic Archbishop of Prague Dominik Duka also expressed their condolences.
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cpa / dpa
