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Important Notice: The course begins on Wednesday 25.2.26. There will be no lecture on Wednesday 18.2.26.
The course ASZFS0058 Big Books (ending with credit) is a philosophy course in the common core of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University. Language of the course: Czech and English The course is not intended for visiting exchange students. Big/Great Books of the Western Cultural Tradition, Interpreted Philosophically The western cultural tradition, by which we mean a blend of the intellectual influences of Graeco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian thought, has formed the basic religious (monotheism), intellectual (philosophy), political (democracy), economic (free market) and legal (equality of individuals before the law) models which in the course of history have deeply influenced the collective and individual existence of western man. The constant tension between the demands of these ideals and their practical realization has led to recurring conflicts both at the social level (wars and revolution) and at the level of individual life (existential crises). Various aspects of these situations have, from time immemorial, been reflected in theoretical and artistic works which not only evaluate the situations, but also put forward different solutions, and offer perspectives for possible ways forward. If we look beyond large-scale systematic works offering blueprints for the organization of society as a whole, we find a range of texts which reflect individual existential challenges (naturally in a social context) and which, as such, have commanded a wide reception by asking fundamental questions about the meaning of human life while, at the same time, pointing to certain positive solutions. The aim of this course is to use such key literary works to show the basic characteristics of existential inquiry and the search for its adequate treatment. The basic feature of these ‘big/great books’, it transpires, is the question of human suffering, with the attempt to understand this suffering and to reach a release from it with reconciliation to one’s fate. In the winter semester of the current academic year the following books will be our focus: Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy (Anna Tropia) Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (Daniele De Santis) Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (James Hill) Richard Wagner, The Ring of The Nibelung (Vojtěch Kolman) Last update: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (12.02.2026)
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Dante Alighieri, Divine Commedy: Dante, The Inferno, a verse translation by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander, Anchor Books 2000. Dante, Purgatorio, a verse translation by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander, Anchor Books 2003 Dante, Paradiso, a verse translation by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander, Anchor Books 2008 W. B. Stanford, The Ulysses Theme. A study in the adaptability of a traditional hero. Blackwell 1963 P. Boyde, Dante Philomythes and Philosopher. Man in the Cosmos, Cambridge University Press 1989 P. Boyde, Perception and Passion in Dante’s Comedy, Cambridge University Press R. Imbach, Dante, la philosophie et les laics, Editions du Cerf 1996
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso: L. Ariosto, Orlando Furioso. Eng. Translation by B. Reynolds. Penguin Classics 1975 (link to the online version of the Czech translation on Moodle) N. Machiavelli, The Prince, Tr. by H. Mansfield, The University of Chicago Press 1998, Ch. XV, XVIII, XXV E. Auerbach, Mimesis. The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, Princeton University Press 2003, Ch. 6 G. Ferroni, Machiavelli aneb o nejistotě, Př. M. Pokorný, Praha 2020
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: Hay, Daisy. The Making of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Bodleian Library, Oxford University, 2019. Holmes, Richard.The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. Harper Press, 2008 Kant, Immanuel. Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime (1764), trans. by John T. Goldthwait, University of California Press, 1960 Mellor, Anne Kostelanetz. Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. Routledge, 1988. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds. David H.Guston, Ed Finn and Jason Scott Robert (eds). 2017 St Clair, William. The Godwins and the Shelleys: A Biography of a Family. 1991. Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). Janet Todd (ed.), OUP, 1993 Ziolkowski, Theodore. “Science, Frankenstein, and Myth”, Sewanee Review, 89: 1, 1981: pp. 34-56 Richard Wagner, Prsten Nibelungův Roger Scruton, The Ring of Truth. The Wisdom of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung, Penguin Books, London 2017. Thomas Mann, O vel’kosti a utrpení Richarda Wagnera, Opus, Bratislava 1976 (konkrétně stejnojmenná esej na s. 34–82). Friedrich Nietzsche, Případ Wagner, Jazzová Sekce, Praha 1983. Roger Scruton, „The Trial of Richard Wagner“, in: týž, Understanding Music, Continuum, London 2010, s. 118–130. Karol Berger, Beyond Reason. Wagner contra Nietzsche, University of California Press, Oakland 2017. Julian Young, The Philosophies of Richard Wagner, Lexington Books, London 2014. Slavoj Žižek, Slavoj, otištěno jako úvod in: Adorno, Theodor, In Search of Wagner, Verso, London 2005. Last update: Kolman Vojtěch, prof. PhDr., Ph.D. (31.01.2026)
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Part of the course will be in English, part of the course will be in Czech. The course will take the form of interpretations and presentations. The basic texts will be available on Moodle. Last update: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (03.02.2026)
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The credit for the course will be awarded on the basis of a written examination, comprised of forty short questions, which will cover all four parts of the course. The examination will take place after the end of the course. The date of the examination will be announced during the semester, as will further dates for those who do not pass. Last update: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (30.01.2026)
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