1 My recent Prague venture

It all began with a letter I wrote on the 30^th of December, 2015, to Dr Boháček, a member of the Institute of Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Sciences, from which I quote:

‘I came to England in 1980 with an intention to stay abroad for five years [I had asked the Czechoslovak authorities for a permission to stay abroad for five years] which I would devote to the study of philosophy and classics, so that I could return home enriched and thus be of benefit to our country. Those five years have got somewhat prolonged [in May 1981, after it became clear to me that I was not wanted at Oxford, I wanted to return home, but at that point the Czechoslovak authorities deprived me of my citizenship], but I remained true to my original intention of doing my best to further my understanding in classics and philosophy.

My wife is divorcing me which provides me with an opportunity to return home and fulfil the original intention with which I came to Oxford.

I shall arrive to Prague on the 31^st of January and return to England on the 4^th of March (my son will be 14 on March 5). During the month in Prague I want to choose from my blog and rethink in Czech the texts devoted to Plato’s Parmenides. Furthermore, I should like to get acquainted with the situation in philosophy and classics at your Institute of Philosophy and at the Institute for Philosophy and Religious Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University, attend your seminar and some lectures. At the end of the month I should like to give a paper on the Parmenides; if you follow my blog, you know that I have made substantial progress in my understanding of the dialogue.

Would you provide me with accommodation for that month in the facilities that the Institute has at its disposal? It would be great if the Czech Academy payed me a salary for the month worthy of the work I shall be doing.

In September 2015 I held ‘Three days in Prague devoted to Philosophy’ in Stromovka [a park in Prague]. A representative of the Jan Hus Foundation attended one of the meetings and recommended the Foundation to fund my coming to Prague for the event in 2016. I intend to hold the ‘Three days’ in May 2016.

If by the end of May no place in classics or philosophy is found for me in the Czech Republic or in England, I shall continue to do my work in philosophy, and with every contribution on my blog and on my website I shall be [tacitly] asking the question whether my work is not worthy of adequate support.’

I received no answer to my letter.