Science Divided: The “Two Cultures” Debate in Socialist Czechoslovakia

Abstract This article examines debates on the “two cultures” in socialist Czechoslovakia during the sixties, focusing on the relationship between the natural and technical sciences, the humanities, and the arts. While influenced by C. P. Snow’s concept of the “two cultures” and Soviet discussions on “physicists and lyricists,” these debates unfolded within the specific institutional and ideological framework of socialist science policy. The study argues that the controversy reflected not simply intellectual divisions but also asymmetries in funding, political influence, and disciplinary prestige within the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. It analyzes discussions surrounding engineering traditions, collectivism, and the social role of science, including comparisons with Poland’s stronger humanistic tradition. Particular attention is devoted to the Prague Spring, when questions of responsibility and solidarity intensified tensions between the natural sciences and the humanities.