Will and feeling. Individualism in the philosophy of František Mareš

František Mareš, a physician and physiologist, was one of the first Czech thinkers to realise the potential of Kant’ thoughts for the modern discussions about man. The article is focused on Mareš’s specific concept of emotion which, at least to a certain extent, differs from the Kantian idea of the structure of human being, and attempts at a certain phenomenology of the “overall organic bond” that Mareš considered to be the cardinal expression of (not only) human life. The main goal of Mareš’s endeavours is to found the individual’s subjectivity, which presupposes a reform of the then medical and cultural praxis. Mareš was firmly convinced that the dominant scientific tendencies which ignored man should be replaced by respect for man’s moral dignity