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Lecturer(s)
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Šimsa Martin, PhDr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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1. What is democracy? Ancient, Roman and modern, liberal democracy. Pericles, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Polybius. People, democracy, republic. Ancient and modern concept of crisis in medicine, drama and society. 2. Modern pre-democratic thinkers: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Constant. Classical and modern democracy. 3. Modern democratic revolutions: British, French, American and their interpreters and critics: Burke, Tocqueville, Arendt. 4. Modern liberal democracy: Tocqueville, Mill, Masaryk 5. Open society and their enemies and critics. Popper's fallibilist critique of classical theory. Who should govern? How to get rid of bad government without bloodshed? 6. Procedural, non-classical, elitist theory of democracy according to Schumpeter. 7. Berlin: Negative and positive freedom. Hayek: Libertarian Concept of Freedom and Democracy. 8. A New Theory of Justice Based on a New, More General Theory of the Social Contract: Rawls 9. Communitarian and Libertarian Criticism of Rawls's Theory of Justice: Nozick, Sandel, Walzer, Taylor. 10. Rawls: Political Liberalism and the Cosmopolitan Law of Nations 11. Deliberative Theory of Democracy: Bessette, Cohen, Habermas, Talisse 12. Republican, Neo-Roman Concept of Democracy: Pettit, Skinner, Sunstein 13. Multiple, Plural Modernity and Multiple, Plural Democracy: Eisenstadt, Arnason. 14. The Crisis of Modern Times Since the End of the 19th Century, the Contemporary Crisis of Liberal Democracy
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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unspecified, unspecified, unspecified, unspecified
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Learning outcomes
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The aim of the course is to introduce and approach important concepts of liberal democracy in the history of philosophical and political thought and to situate them in historical and contemporary contexts, and to reflect on why contemporary society is perceived as in crisis by citizens and theorists of democracy. Modern concepts of crisis (Nietzsche, Masaryk, Husserl, Patočka, Habermas)
Based on lectures and seminars, students will understand various concepts, be able to compare and differentiate them, evaluate strong and convincing and, conversely, weak and problematic arguments for or against them. Through oral and written papers, students will learn to express and defend individual philosophical and political positions or, conversely, to criticize and refute them.
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Prerequisites
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None
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Assessment methods and criteria
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unspecified
1. Minimum 70% attendance 2. Reading of at least two studies or books on the subject 3. Oral or written seminar paper 4. Colloquium on seminar texts
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Recommended literature
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Habermas, Jürgen. Diskurzivní teorie liberální demokracie. Praha. 2018.
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Masaryk, Tomáš Garigue. Nová Evropa. Brno. 1994.
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Masaryk, Tomáš Garigue. Světová revoluce: Za války a ve válce 1914-1918. Praha. 2005.
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Mill, John Stuart. O svobodě myšlení a slova. Praha. 2020.
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Mill, John Stuart. O svobodě. Praha. 1913.
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Popper, Karl Raimund. Otevřená společnost a její nepřátelé I-II. Praha. 1994.
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Rádl, Emanuel. Válka Čechů s Němci. Praha. 1993.
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Rawls, John. Teorie spravedlnosti. Praha. 1995.
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Sartori, Giovani. Teória demokracie. Bratislava. 1993.
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Shapiro, Ian, Habermas, Jürgen. Teorie demokracie dnes. Praha. 2002.
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Schumpeter, Joseph. Kapitalismus, socialismus a demokracie. Brno. 2004.
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Svensson, Palle. Teorie demokracie. Brno. 1995.
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Šimsa, Martin. Demokratická republika mezi Masarykem a současností. Ústí nad Labem. 2025.
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Tocqueville, Alexis de. Demokracie v Americe I-II. Praha. 1992.
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