UCJANGBP04 Introduction to Philosophy

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Winter 2020
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D.
Institute of Foreign Languages – Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Timetable
Mon 13:05–13:50 H3
  • Timetable of Seminar Groups:
UCJANGBP04/A: Mon 11:25–12:10 H2, P. Slováček
UCJANGBP04/B: Mon 13:55–14:40 H3, P. Slováček
UCJANGBP04/C: Mon 14:45–15:30 H2, P. Slováček
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA(B)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the development of European philosophy, especially through meetings with its most important representatives, problems and the form of their conceptual and argumentative presentation. In accordance with this goal, the focus of the subject will be placed not only in a narrow area of ​​ontology (metaphysics), but in the relationship between ontology and philosophical thematicization of so-called human affairs, thus removing the history of philosophy and specific philosophical problems (ontological, epistemological, anthropological). their isolation. Students will be able to follow the development of the main philosophical approaches to reality, its knowledge and man on the one hand, and at the same time understand the constant topicality of basic philosophical questions and their undiminished significance for Western civilization on the other.
Learning outcomes
Students will acquire a number of competencies: a) gain an overview of the history of European philosophical thought and its development; b) to become acquainted with the different ways in which philosophers have thematized the world, its knowledge, man, man in relation to others and society; c) on this basis, students will get closer to understanding the concept of philosophy, which can take various forms, because the philosophy is certainly both the rationalist thinking of Spinoza and the philosophical-theological thinking of Augustine or Aquinas, or the political thinking of C. Schmitt; d) due to the need for confrontation, they will learn both to reconstruct the argumentation they encounter and to substantiate their own position, to which the confrontation of different approaches will force them; e) they will be able to locate the meaning and context of the goals and values ​​of social work, as these are carried by respect for the individual, non-utilitarian relationship to society (or the state) and, ultimately, certainly to the Christian heritage.
Syllabus
  • 1. Life in ancient Greece: Greek philosophy as a step out of myth, man and society in ancient Greece, the ancient concept of the individual and society resp. private and public areas; ancient theory of virtues (aretai). 2. Reception of Greek thought and its role in the empire (philosophy within the Roman Empire): the center of tradition and philosophy, anthropological and political-philosophical themes of Greek philosophy in confrontation with the Roman intellectual world. 3. The beginnings of Christian Europe: Christian philosophy and its transformation of the concept of the individual; the difference between European theological-philosophical thinking and Eastern (especially Muslim) thinking and its relevance in terms of traditional European values ​​such as individual autonomy, pluralism of opinion, intellectual freedom. 4. Reason and faith: two inseparable sources of medieval knowledge and their relationship; the importance of the connection between philosophy and theology for non-instrumental understanding of the individual and society. 5. Changes in medieval thought: the two most important anthropological conceptions of the Middle Ages (late antiquity): Augustinus and Thomas Aquinas, their political and philosophical consequences. 6. The importance of the Renaissance and humanism in European history: the effort to transcend scholastic speculation through a return to the ancient source of European thought. The importance of analogy as an epistepomological means and its use in the creation of ideal images of society on the example of the so-called Consultations of J. A. Komeneský. 7. Modern change of scientific paradigm: British empiricism and continental rationalism, philosophy as a system formed according to the model of geometry (more geometrico) and thus independent of theology: F. Bacon, R. Descartes, T. Hobbes: three experiments and their consequences for the concept philosophy, knowledge, man and society. 8. The Enlightenment and its anthropological optimism: I. Kant and his answer to the question: What is the Enlightenment? 9. Philosophy and ideology of the 19th century. : their role in a changing European society: positivism, utilitarianism and Marxism. 10. Interwar Europe: critique of the Enlightenment and modernity; partial rationality as a threat to a non-instrumental relationship between man and man; critique of the modern enchantment of the world and the consequences of the loss of the transcendent dimension of human life. 11. Famous European emigrants: H. Arendtová, L. Strauss - reaction to the war horrors of the first half of the 20th century - return to the "lost treasures" of the European tradition. 12. Europe between Jürgen Habermas and C. Schmitt: the theory of communicative action as a bolt of the philosophy of language, political philosophy and social philosophy leading to a new rationalist philosophy against the theory of politics. 13. Summary
Literature
    required literature
  • Hans Joachim Störig. Malé dějiny filosofie. Praha, 2007. info
  • K. R. Popper. Otevřená společnost a její nepřátelé. Oikoymenh, 1994. info
  • BLECHA, I. Základní problémy filozofie. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 1992. ISBN 80-7067-193-9. info
    recommended literature
  • H. Holzley - W. Röd. Filosofie 19. a 20. století II. Novokantovství, idealismus, realismus a fenomenologie. Praha 2006. info
  • ROD, W. Novověká filozofe II. Od Newtona po Rousseaua. Praha: Torst, 2004. info
  • RÖD, W. Novověká filosofie I. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2001. ISBN 80-7289-039-4. info
  • FLEW, A. An Introduction to Western Philosophy. Ideas and Argument from Plato to Popper. Revised edition. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1994. ISBN 500-2754727547-5. info
Teaching methods
lecture, seminar
Assessment methods
attendance 75% test
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2021, Winter 2022, Winter 2023, Winter 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/winter2020/UCJANGBP04