Western Political Thought and Islam in the Long Middle Ages - AFSV00388

• Title: Western Political Thought and Islam in the Long Middle Ages
• Guaranteed by: Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies (21-UFAR)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 5
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:0/2, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (15)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Additional information: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=13834​
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Kryštof Selucký
• Class: Exchange - 08.1 Philosophy; Exchange - 08.9 Others-Humanities; Exchange - 14.1 Political Sciences

Annotation

The question of relation between state and religion is, has been, and will be essential to Western political thought.
In this seminar, we will look at various Medieval Western Christian political thinkers and discuss how they
conceptualize religion within their works and theories, and what space they provide for religious otherness,
especially with regards to Islam. This goal presupposes first discussing the more general Western perceptions of
Islam and Muslims during the Long Middle Ages.

Last update: Mokrejšová Eva, Mgr. (31.05.2022)

Aim of the course

This course has a double aim. First, it introduces students to the broader history of how Medieval Europeans perceived Islam. Second, it aims to discuss the concrete ways in which pre-modern Western Christian perceived Islam and how they conceived of it. It will also briefly introduce students to the political thought of the several thinkers discussed. No previous knowledge of their work is required.

Last update: Selucký Kryštof (15.09.2022)

Course completion requirements

- 20% participation (attendance, in-class participation, regular reading of the assigned readings)

- 20% one 15-minute presentation

- 60% final essay (2,000 words)

Last update: Selucký Kryštof (14.09.2022)

Literature

- Biasiori, Lucio, and Giuseppe Marcocci. 2017. Machiavelli, Islam and the East: reorienting the foundations of modern political thought. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

- Black, Antony. 2008. The West and Islam: religion and political thought in world history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

- Fletcher, Richard A. 2004. The Cross and the Crescent: Christianity and Islam from Muhammad to the Reformation. New York: Viking.

- Hodgson, Marshall G. S. 1974. The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. Three Volumes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

- Malcolm, Noel. 2019. Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750. First ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

- Tolan, John V. 2002. Saracens: Islam in the Medieval European Imagination. New York: Columbia University Press.

Last update: Selucký Kryštof (14.09.2022)

Syllabus

• Week 1 - Islam and the West?
• Week 2 - Islam and the West - History of Interactions
• Week 3 - History of the Western Perceptions of Islam
• Week 4 - Western Perceptions of Islam on the Example of Petrus Alfonsi
• Week 5 - Augustine and Religious Otherness
• Week 6 - Thomas Aquinas and Islam
• Week 7 - Dante and Marsilius /or/ Persecution and Philosophy - TBD
• Week 8 - 1453
• Week 9 - Machiavelli
• Week 10 - Luther, Reformation, and Islam
• Week 11 - Alliances with the Infidel
• Week 12 - Islam as a Natural Religion
• Week 13 - TBD (topic will be picked by the students)

Last update: Selucký Kryštof (19.09.2022)