Course: Philosophy of history

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Course title Philosophy of history
Course code KFHS/B171
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study 3
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 3
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Šimsa Martin, PhDr. Ph.D.
Course content
Thinking about history, history, historicity and historiography, going through their various forms and transformations, their analysis and criticism. Asking questions about the meaning of history and historicity in the past, present and future. Does philosophy of history have a future? 1. History, historicity, the beginning of history and historiography. Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Collingwood. History as a science and as a philosophy. 2. Greek and Jewish concept of history. Static and cyclical versus dynamic and future-oriented. temporality, the future, faith, history as punishment, the historical role of prophets. Eliade, Rádl, Hejdánek 3. Christianity and the Roman conception of history. Hellenism, Stoicism, Platonism. Augustine: The Heavenly Community and earthly 4. Kant's philosophy of history. The supposed beginning of history. Nature and reason, slavery and freedom. single, the civic, cosmopolitan republic as the goal of history. 5. Hegel's philosophy of history and the history of philosophy. Dialectic of Spirit. Progress of freedom. Absolute spirit. End history. 6. Marx. Dialectical and historical materialism. Contradictions and revolutions as the driving force of history. 7. Nietzsche. Three types of history. On the benefits and harms of history. 8. Hermeneutics of the meaning of history. Hermeneutics and historiography in the neo-Kantian and neo-Hegelian discussion. Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer, Ricoeur 9. Dispute about the meaning of Czech history. Masaryk, Pekař, Rádl, Patočka. Humanitarian, national or heretical? 10. Collingwood's Idea of History. Popper's critique of Platonism and historicism 11. Discussion of the end of history: Fukuyama: failed Hegel, Huntington: clash of civilizations. Posthistory. Postmodern. 12. Jaspers' philosophy of history, axial history. Multiple Modernities: Eisenstadt, Arnason 13. Analytical and critical theory of history: Danto, Habermas, Apel

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified
  • unspecified - 26 hours per semester
Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to get acquainted with various philosophical approaches to understanding history. The course is designed chronologically to reflect contrasting changes in the evaluation of historical development.
The student is familiar with the changes of different approaches to history. He is able to compare and update these approaches with regard to possible understandings of the current historical situation. This cultivates his historical consciousness.
Prerequisites
Completion of the course is conditioned by a basic orientation in the history of philosophical thinking and in the historical context, especially the development of Western civilization.

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
Studying at least two studies in the philosophy of history. Seminar work on the given issue in the range of 5-10 pages. Exam from the lectured material.
Recommended literature
  • Augustin, A. O obci Boží I-II. Praha, 1950.
  • Bláha, P. Proměny filosofického uvažování nad dějinymi. Ústí nad Labem, 2003. ISBN 80-7044-464-9.
  • Burckhardt, J. Úvahy o světových dějinách. Praha, 1971.
  • Butterfield, H. The Whig Interpretation of History. Oxford, 1965.
  • Collingwood, R. G. The Idea of History. Oxford University Press, 1994.
  • Condorcet, A. Náčrt historického obrazu pokroků lidského ducha. Praha, 1968.
  • Danto, A. C. Analytical Philosophy of History. New York, 1965.
  • Eliade, M. Mýtus o věčném návratu. Praha, 1993.
  • Fukuyama, F. Konec dějin a poslední člověk. Praha, 2002.
  • Gadamer, H. G. Pravda a Metoda I. Praha, 2010.
  • Gadamer, H. G. Problém dějinného vědomí. Praha, 1997.
  • Habermas, J. Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie. Frankfurt a. M., 2019.
  • Havelka, M. Dějiny a smysl. Dějiny a smysl, 2001.
  • Hegel, G. W. F. Dějiny filosofie I. Praha, 1961.
  • Hegel, G. W. F. Filosofie dějin. Pelhřimov, 2004.
  • Herodotos. Dějiny. Praha, 1972.
  • Holzbachová, I. a kol. Filozofie dějin. Problémy a perspektivy. Brno, 2004.
  • Jaspers, K. Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Geschichte. München, 1949.
  • Kant, I. Studie k dějinám a politice. Praha, 2013.
  • Löwith, K. Dějiny a význam dějin. Praha, 2022.
  • Marx, K. Odcizení a emancipace člověka. Praha, 1967.
  • Nietzsche, F. Nečasové úvahy. Praha. 1990.
  • Patočka, J. Kacířské eseje o filosofii dějin. Praha, 1990.
  • Popper, K. R. Otevřená společnost a její nepřátelé I. Praha, 1994.
  • Rádl, E. Dějiny filosofie I. Olomouc, 1998.
  • Thukydides. Dějiny peloponéské války. Praha, 1977.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester