FF:CORE044 Roots of European culture - Course Information

CORE044 Roots of European culture

Extent and Intensity

2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).

Teacher(s)

prof. PhDr. Jiří Hanuš, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

prof. PhDr. Jiří Hanuš, Ph.D.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Hana Ambrožová
Supplier department: Department of History – Faculty of Arts

Prerequisites

TYP_STUDIA(BM) && FORMA(P) && !(PROGRAM(B-HI_)||OBOR(FBHIpV))
The course is intended for students enrolled in the full-time Bachelor's and five-year Master's programmes, with the exception of the History programme.

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 100 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/100, only registered: 0/100, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/100

Course objectives

The aim of the course is to clarify the foundations of modern European culture and to show their value and the ambivalence that is typical of modern history. The course introduces the basic transformations that Western civilization has undergone over the last centuries. It aims to explain the phenomena that represent the revolutionary and evolutionary phases of European culture and civilization and the factors that have influenced their admirable development. The course also includes a reflection on the signs of the decline of European culture in the present. The course builds on the anthropological, philosophical and historical impulses of the work of Jan Sokol (1936-2021) and the work of the German political scientist and historian Hans Maier (b. 1931).

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to distinguish the historical layers of European values and distinguish them from non-European values. The student will also be able to distinguish between the different professional approaches to European culture and its development (history, anthropology, philosophy).

Syllabus

• 1. European values
• What are European values, problems with traditions and their interpretation.
• 2. The image of man
• Anthropological, philosophical and theological perspectives in the teachings of major European thinkers, literature, visual arts.
• 3. Sacred and profane time
• Time as a fundamental historical category, changes in the understanding of time, time as a means of modernization and secularization. Narrative as a treatment of time.
• 4. Work and leisure
• Changes in the understanding of work activity, the phenomenon of leisure. 5. Institutions and the meaning of the state
• The growing importance of the state in the modern period, the assumption of social functions, bureaucratization.
• 6. The role of religion and secularisation
• The retreat of religion from the public sphere, anti-secularisation tendencies, the phenomenon of atheism.
• 7. Nature and culture Relationship between natural and cultural phenomena, institutions as carriers of culture, cultural innovation.
• 8. Language as a symbol of symbols
• The importance of languages in the period of national movements and nationalism, the search for a universal language.
• 9. Art and the understanding of beauty
• Disentangling the idea of beauty from the ideas of beauty and goodness, understanding beauty and ugliness, beauty and lifestyle.
• 10. The crisis and end of civilization
• The idea of progress and its questioning, anti-civilization projects, apocalyptic sentiments.

Literature

required literature
• SOKOL, Jan. Člověk jako osoba : filosofická antropologie. Třetí, rozšířené vydá. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2016, 273 stran. ISBN 9788074296826. info
• MAIER, Hans. Svět bez křesťanství - co by bylo jinak? Translated by Jiří Munzar. 1. vyd. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2014, 151 s. ISBN 9788073253301. info
• CORETH, Emerich. Co je člověk ? :základy filozofické antropologie. 1. vyd. Praha: Zvon, 1994, 211 s. ISBN 80-7113-098-2. info

recommended literature
• Jan Sokol: Rytmus a čas. Oikúmené, Praha 1996.
• SCRUTON, Roger. Krása : velmi stručný úvod. Translated by Alena Roreitnerová. Vydání první. Praha: Filosofický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., ve spolupráci se spolkem Oikoymenh, 2021, 181 stran. ISBN 9788072985739. info
• PINKER, Steven. Enlightenment now : the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. New York, New York: Viking, 2018, xix, 556. ISBN 9780525559023. info
• Dějiny krásy. Edited by Umberto Eco, Translated by Gabriela Chalupská - Veronika Křenková -. Praha: Argo, 2015, 439 stran. ISBN 9788025714331. info
• KOMÁREK, Stanislav. Evropa na rozcestí. Vydání 1. Praha: Academia, 2015, 397 stran. ISBN 9788020025104. info
• HLAVAČKA, Milan. České země v 19. století : proměny společnosti v moderní době. Praha: Historický ústav, 2014, 478 s. ISBN 9788072862191. info
• LIESSMANN, Konrad Paul. Universum věcí : k estetice každodennosti. Translated by Jana Zoubková. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2012, 137 s. ISBN 9788020020604. info
• BURKE, Peter. Jazyky a společenství v raně novověké Evropě. Translated by Markéta Křížová. Vyd. 1. Praha: NLN, Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2011, 243 s. ISBN 9788074220692. info
• LE GOFF, Jacques. Paměť a dějiny. Translated by Irena Kozelská. Vydání první. Praha: Argo, 2007, 264 stran. ISBN 9788072038626. info
• HELLER, Jan and Milan MRÁZEK. Nástin religionistiky : uvedení do vědy o náboženstvích. 2., rev. vyd. Praha: Kalich, 2004, 316 s. ISBN 8070177217. info
• RÉMOND, René. Náboženství a společnost v Evropě. Translated by Anna Hánová. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2003, 273 s. ISBN 80-7106-496-3. info
• Dějiny kultury a civilizace západu v 19. století. Edited by Jiří Hanuš. 1. vyd. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2002, 248 s. ISBN 8073250063. info
• SCRUTON, Roger. Průvodce inteligentního člověka po moderní kultuře. Translated by Klára Cabalková. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2002, 210 s. ISBN 8020010130. info
• IM HOF, Ulrich. Evropa a osvícenství. Translated by Alexej Kusák. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2001, 268 stran. ISBN 8071063940. info

Teaching methods

Lecture

Assessment methods

Essay

Language of instruction

Czech

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/CORE044