PhDr. Hana Fořtová, Ph.D.
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Current position: Research Fellow at the Department for the Study of Modern Rationality, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
Research Areas: Political and moral philosophy. Montesquieu, J.-J. Rousseau, B. Constant,A. de Tocqueville, J. Bodin, T. Hobbes, N. Machiavelli, M. T. Cicero.
In my work I focus on the key concepts of political philosophy, especially in the thought of the French philosophers of the 16th-19th centuries: sovereignty, liberty, equality, natural law/natural right. I also address these topics in relation to general questions of language. In addition to my own publishing work, I translate into Czech French philosophers: Montesquieu (The Spirit of the Laws I, II, Defence of the Spirit of the Laws), J.-J. Rousseau (The Social Contract, Discourse on Inequality, etc.), B. Constant (Principles of Politics (1806)), Voltaire (Micromegas, Amabed’s Letters) etc.
I organize international conferences in English and French. I am also involved in popularization – I have held lectures at the Scientific Library in Hradec Kralove, I participated in the Week of Science and Technology by public lectures, and I prepared philosophical lectures for high school teachers (Občankáři).
In the autumn of 2024 I was an invited professor (conférencier étranger) at the Université de Lille (Département philosophie, Faculté des Humanités, Université de Lille, https://humanites.univ-lille.fr/philosophie).
I am an external lecturer at the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts at the Charles University.
I have held translation fellowships in Paris, Arles and Vienna.
Education
Ph.D., Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, 2010.
M.A., French Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Charles University (FF UK), Prague, 2005.
M.A., Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, 2004.
B.A., Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (FSV UK), Prague, 2001.
Dissertation
Nature: příroda a přirozenost v Montesquieuově díle O duchu zákonů [The Concept of Nature in Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws] (Defended on March 8, 2010).
Advisor: Rudolf Kučera
Work experience
2007–today – Institute of Philosophy, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Research Group for the Study of Modern Rationality: PhD. student (2007–2010), postdoc (2010–2015) and since 2015 research fellow.
2009–2011, 2012–14 – On maternity leave.
2008–2009 – Assistant professor (part-time) at the Department of Political Science and Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Ústí nad Labem.
2017–today – Seminar on Political theorists of the 18th and 19th century (Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Constant, Tocqueville) at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Charles University, Prague.
2021–2023 – Seminar on Political theorists (Montesquieu, J.-J. Rousseau, A. de Tocqueville) at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague.
Educational and research stays
November 2024 – Invited professor (conférencier étranger) at the Université de Lille (Département philosophie, Faculté des Humanités, Université de Lille. Research themes: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Machiavelli (one week stay in November 2024)
April 2018 – Fellowship by Centre national du livre (CNL) for the translation of political works by J.-J. Rousseau (Discourse on Inequality, The Social Contract). One month stay at the Collège International des Traducteurs Littéraires (CITL) in Arles (France).
August–November 2016 – Paul Celan Fellowship at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (IWM) for the translation of Principes de politique by Benjamin Constant. Four months’ stay in Vienna (Austria).
Autumn–Winter 2005 – Fellowship by Centre national du livre (CNL) for the translation of the Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu. Two months’ stay in France.
November-December 2003 – Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Lyon, Fellowship by the French Government, two months’ stay.
October 2003 – Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Lille, Fellowship by the French Government, one-month stay.
September 2001-June 2002 – Ten months’ stay at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Department of political science, Erasmus program.
Membership in scientific committees
Member of the Internal Evaluation Board, University of Hradec Kralove (member since 2024)
Member of the Committee of the Czech Literary Translators’ Guild (member since 2019)
Grants and Scholarships (selection)
2023-2028: OP JAK (main beneficiary: Faculty of Arts, Charles University)
Project: Role of Conflict in Resilience (CoRe), Research project 5: Conflict and Manipulation: the Impact of Framing Bias on Individual and Societal Attitudes (Research project leaders: René Levínský and Josef Šlerka), team member from January 2025.
2009-2010: Standard Grant Project, Awarded by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR)
Project: The Correspondence of L. Thun and A. de Tocqueville, together with D. Olšáková. Position: principal investigator.
2007-2008: Ten months’ doctoral scholarship at CEFRES (Centre français de recherche en sciences sociales)
Main coordinator of International meetings
2020: International and Interdisciplinary Conference. Discourse of Republicanism: Common European Legacy (in English, on-line; together with J. Květina, V. Doubek)
2019: Atelier linguistique de Prague (in French; together with T. Koblížek): La philosophie du langage et l’épistémologie à l’âge classique
Peer reviews for philosophical journals
Theoria. A Journal of Social and Political Theory; Filosofický časopis; Filosofie Dnes
Invited lectures, papers at international conferences and workshops (selection)
“Translating French Renaissance Authors into Czech”, Mednarodni prevajalski simpozij Društva slovenskih književnih prevajalcev, Ljubljana, October 25– 27, 2024.
“Rousseau on war: how to maintain the independance of a republic”, The Fourth Venice World Multidisciplinary Conference on Republics and Republicanism, May 24– 26, 2024, Venice International University.
“The conquest of nature by men in the work of Alexis de Tocqueville”, paper presented at the Third Venice World Multidisciplinary Conference on Republics and Republicanism, May 27–28, 2022, Venice International University.
“Rousseau’s Republican Theory and Nature: The Case of Corsica”, paper presented at the Second Venice World Multidisciplinary Conference on Republics and Republicanism, June 11–13, 2021, Venice International University (on-line).
„Le rapport entre le développement de la langue et la possibilité de former des sociétés politiques dans l’œuvre de J.-J. Rousseau“, paper presented at the IV. Atelier linguistique, « La réflexion sur la langue au XVIIIe siècle », Prague, 29/11/2019.
„Les métaphores dans l’Esprit des lois de Montesquieu et leur traduction“, paper presented at the III. Atelier linguistique, « En d’autres termes... Les enjeux théoriques de la traduction », Prague, 28/10/2018.
“B. Constant and the Ideas of Republicanism”, paper presented at the 3rd Biennal Ideas in Politics Conference, Prague, 4/11/2017.
“Les sources dix-huitièmistes de la pensée pénale d’A. de Tocqueville”, paper presented at the roundtable “Penser la peine au siècle des Lumières” at the XIIIth Congress for Eighteenth Century Studies, July 25 – 29, 2011, Graz.
“La doctrine des ‘six choses non-naturelles‘ et l’Essai sur les causes qui peuvent affecter les esprits et les caractères de Montesquieu”, paper presented at the roundtable “Montesquieu et le corps“ at the XIIth Congress for Eighteenth Century Studies, July 8 – 15, 2007, Montpellier.
Publications
Books
Montesquieu a nejkrásnější monarchie [Montesquieu and the Finest Monarchy], Filosofia, Praha, 2006, 164 p.
Lev Thun Alexis de Tocqueville [Leo Thun - Alexis de Tocqueville], together with D. Olšáková, OIKOYMENH, Praha, 2011, 352 p.
Book Chapters
Le principe du gouvernement comme « ressort » : les possibilités et les limites de la traduction des images mécanistes dans l’Esprit des lois, in: V. Atlashina (ed.), ТВОРЧЕСТВО МОНТЕСКЬЕ В ДИАЛОГЕ ЭПОХ, КУЛЬТУР, СКУССТВ (The work of Montesquieu in the dialogue of eras, arts and cultures), Saint-Petersbourg, Russia, 2022, p. 97–117.
“Stát je spravedlivá správa více domácností...” K pojmu suverenity u Jeana Bodina [“Commowealth is a just government of several households...” To the notion of sovereignty in Bodin’s political thought], in: V. Belling, Lukáš Kollert (ed.), Suverenita panovníka, lidu a státu v moderní politické filosofii [Sovereignty of the Ruler, the People and the State in Modern Political Philosophy], Univerzita J. E. Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem, Ústí nad Labem, 2017, p. 13–35.
Liberální pojetí svobody: Benjamin Constant [Liberal conception of Liberty: Benjamin Constant], in: A. Havlíček (ed.), Svoboda od antiky po současnost [Liberty from Antiquity till today], Univerzita J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem, Ústí nad Labem, 2012, p. 226–238.
M. T. Cicero, O věcech veřejných [The Republic], OIKOYMENH, Praha, 2009, notes and commentary (together with A. Havlíček).
Articles
„Pozoroval jsem vnější tkáň ovčího jazyka...” Čtrnáctá kniha Ducha zákonů ve světle iatromechanické teorie“ [“I Have Observed the Outermost Part of a Sheep’s Tongue...” The Fourteenth Book of The Spirit of the Laws in the Light of Iatromechanical Theory”], Filosofický časopis, vol. 71 (3/2023), p. 423–440.
„Rokování, mínění a vytváření obecné vůle u Rousseaua“ [“Deliberation, opinion and the formation of general will in Rousseau’s work“], Cornova, vol. 13, (1/2023), p. 23–38.
„Přesvědčit bez přesvědčování. Postava zákonodárce ve Společenské smlouvě“ [“To persuade without convincing. The role of the legislator in the Social Contract”], in: Filosofický časopis, vol. 70 (4/2022), p. 701–721.
“Být filosofem a být člověkem podle J.-J. Rousseaua” [“Being Human and Being Philosopher according to J.-J. Rousseau”], in: Reflexe, vol. 60 (2021), p. 97–119.
“O metodě v právní vědě u Montesquieua: příklad XXVIII. knihy Ducha zákonů” [“On Method in Jurisprudence: Montesquieu, On the Spirit of the Laws, Book XXVIII”], in: Právník, 11 (2019), p. 997–1009.
“Benjamin Constant and the Ideas of Republicanism”, in: Acta politologica, 10, n. 2 (2018), p. 33–46.
Book reviews
Pierre Charbonnier, Abondance et liberté: Une histoire environnementale des idées politiques, La Découverte, Paris, 2020, 460 p., in: Filozofia, 76, n. 2 (2021), p. 151–154.
Samuel Hayat, Quand la république était révolutionnaire. Citoyenneté et représentation en 1848, Seuil, Paris, 2014, 405 p., in: Carnet de recherche du CEFRES, septembre 2020.
https://cefres.hypotheses.org/1778
Claudia Moatti, Res publica. Histoire romaine de la chose publique, Fayard, Paris, 2018, 467 p., in: Carnet de recherche du CEFRES, septembre 2020.
https://cefres.hypotheses.org/1783
Steven L. Kaplan, Raisonner sur les blés : Essais sur les Lumières économiques, Fayard, Paris, 2017, 868 p., in: Carnet de recherche du CEFRES, mars 2019. https://cefres.hypotheses.org/1502
Translations from French (selection)
Voltaire, Micromegas, Listy Amabedovy [Micromegas, Amabed’s Letters], 2024, audiobook.
J.-J. Rousseau, Návrh korsické ústavy [The Constitutional Project for Corsica], Karolinum, Prague, 2024, 118 p.
J.-J. Rousseau, Rozprava o nerovnosti, O společenské smlouvě [Discourse On Inequality, On the Social Contract], Karolinum, Prague, 2022, 317 p.
A. Comte-Sponville, Duch ateismu, [The Book of Atheist Spirituality], Filosofia, Praha, 2020, 220 p.
J.-J. Rousseau, Úvahy o polské vládě [Considerations on the Government of Poland], OIKOYMENH, Praha, 2019, 150 p.
B. Constant, Principy politiky [Principles of Politics, 1806], OIKOYMENH, Praha, 2018, 441 p.
Ch.-L. de Montesquieu, O duchu zákonů II. Obrana Ducha zákonů [On the Spirit of the Laws, vol. II., The Defence of the Spirit of the Laws], OIKOYMENH, Praha, 2015, 584 p.
M. de Montaigne, O zvyku se šatit (Eseje I, 35), O spánku (Eseje I, 44) [De l’usage de se vêtir (Essais I, 35); Du dormir (Essais I, 44], in: Tahy, (2014), p. 86–94.
Ch.-L. de Montesquieu, O duchu zákonů I. [On the Spirit of the Laws, vol. I], OIKOYMENH, Praha, 2010, 378 p.
Ch.-L. de Montesquieu, Projev o pohnutkách, které nás mají pobízet k vědám [Discourse on Inducements that We Are Urged to Science], in: Tahy, vol. 5–6 (2010), p. 109–113.
B. Constant, O antické svobodě ve srovnání se svobodou moderní [On the Liberty of the Ancients compared with the Liberty of the Moderns], in: Reflexe, vol. 30 (2006), p. 77–97.
R. Polin, Morální a politický závazek u T. Hobbese, [Moral and Political Obligation in the Thought of T. Hobbes], in: Reflexe, vol. 25 (2004), p. 79–99.
Organisation membership
Česká společnost pro výzkum 18. století (CSVOS) [Czech Society of the 18th Century Research]
Société Française d’Étude du Dix-Huitième Siècle (SFEDS) [French Society for the Study of the 18th Century]
Obec překladatelů [Czech Literary Translators’ Guild]
