UPPVIP004 Introduction to Philosophy

Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Winter 2022
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Institute of Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Contact Person: PhDr. Edita Ondřejová, Ph.D.
Timetable
Mon 8:05–9:40 C312
Prerequisites (in Czech)
FAKULTA(FVP) && TYP_STUDIA(B) && FORMA(P)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields 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 familiarize students with important figures and the problem of the history of philosophy.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will have a basic overview of the history of philosophy, will know the basic philosophical disciplines and the basic strategies for responding to them.
Syllabus
  • 1. Life in ancient Greece  Greek philosophy as a step out of myth, human and society in ancient Greece, ancient conception of the individual and of society and private and public areas of life, respectively; ancient theory of virtues (aretai)
  • 2. Reception of Greek thinking and its role in the empire (philosophy within the Roman Empire)  the centre of tradition and philosophy, anthropological and political-philosophical topics of Greek philosophy in confrontation with the Roman intellectual world
  • 3. The origins of Christian Europe  Christian philosophy and its transformation in the notion of an 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 significance of the bond between philosophy and theology for a non-instrumental understanding of the individual and of the society
  • 5. Transformations of medieval thinking  two most important anthropological concepts of the Middle Ages (late antiquity): Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, their political and philosophical consequences
  • 6. The importance of Renaissance and humanism in European history  efforts to exceed scholastic speculation through return to the ancient source of European thought. The importance of analogy as an epistemological means and its use in the creation of ideal images of society in the example of the so-called consultation of J. A. Comenius
  • 7. A modern change in the scientific paradigm  British empiricism and continental rationalism, philosophy as a system formed along the lines of geometry (more geometrico) and thus independent of theology: F. Bacon, R. Descartes, T. Hobbes  three trials and their implications for the concept of philosophy, knowledge, man and society
  • 8. Enlightenment and anthropological optimism  I. Kant and his answer to the question: What is the Enlightenment?
  • 9. Philosophies and ideologies of the 19th century their role in a changing European society: positivism, utilitarianism and Marxism
  • 10. interwar Europe  critique of the Enlightenment and of modernity; partial rationality as a threat to non-instrumental person-to-person relationship; critique of modern disenchantment of the world and the consequences of losing transcendental dimension of human life
  • 11. Famous European expatriates  H. Arendt, L. Strauss  reaction to the war horrors of the first half of the 20th century  return to the "lost treasures" of European tradition
  • 12. Europe between Jürgen Habermas and C. Schmitt  theory of communicative action as a bolt philosophy of language, political philosophy and social philosophy leading to the new rationalist philosophy against the theory of the political
Literature
    required literature
  • POPPER, K. R. Otevřená společnost a její nepřátelé. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2011. ISBN 978-80-7298-272-1.
  • SCHMITT, C. Pojem politična. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2007. ISBN 978-80-7298-127-4.
  • SLOVÁČEK, P. Základy filozofie. Opava: Slezská univerzita v Opavě, Fakulta veřejných politik v Opavě, 2017. Dostupné z: https://elearning.fvp.slu.cz/enrol/index.php?id=218.
  • STÖHRIG, H. J. Malé dějiny filosofie. Praha: Karmelitánské nakladatelství, 2001. ISBN 80-7192-500-4. info
  • STRAUSS, L. Obec a člověk. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2007. ISBN 978-80-7298-116-8.
  • SWIFT, A. Politická filozofie: základní otázky moderní politologie. Praha: Portál, 2005. ISBN 80-7178-859-7
    recommended literature
  • HOLZHEY, H., RÖD, W. Filosofie 19. a 20. století II. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2006. ISBN 80-7298-178-1. info
  • RÖD, W. Novověká filosofie I: od Francise Bacona po Spinozu. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2006. ISBN 80-7298-039-4.
  • RÖD, W. Novověká filosofie II: od Newtona po Rousseaua. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2004. ISBN 80-7298-109-9.
Teaching methods
Written exam from compulsory literature and lectures.
Assessment methods
Written exam from compulsory literature and lectures.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2019, Winter 2020, Winter 2021, Winter 2023, Winter 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2022, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fvp/winter2022/UPPVIP004