Are the good, amiable qualities of man, virtues, or the bad, hateful ones, vices, the true foundation of human sociability, and consequent formation of society towards its civil and commercial stage? Dilemma famously exposed by Mandeville and still acute not only thanks to his disturbing arguments which are quite frequently misunderstood. What Mandeville really said, what was the main set of arguments proposed by his antagonists, what is say anthropological background of the debate? This kind of questions is to be posed and discussed when reading a selection of primary sources, state-of-art interpretations and even confronting these with observations of present social sciences.
Students are expected to submit a 2500 words final academic essay. The word count should include all footnotes, endnotes, and quotations but should exclude the bibliography. Please include the word count on the title page of your coursework. Moreover, students are free to make a choice to write an essay on topics discussed and inspired by seminar programme or write an independent essay.
Students are encouradged to sign for Virtue_Kunca MS Team here: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/channel/19%3a40c5f99f3fc34026b075dfdd737e7836%40thread.tacv2/Obecn%25C3%25A9?groupId=01a59a2f-1022-408b-852b-4834ad7d1e26&tenantId=e09276da-f934-4086-bf08-8816a20414a2 and explore files attached.
Last update: Kunca Tomáš, PhDr., Ph.D. (14.09.2022)
Are the good, amiable qualities of man, virtues, or the bad, hateful ones, vices, the true foundation of human sociability, and consequent formation of society towards its civil and commercial stage? Dilemma famously exposed by Mandeville and still acute not only thanks to his disturbing arguments which are quite frequently misunderstood. What Mandeville really said, what was the main set of arguments proposed by his antagonists, what is say anthropological background of the debate? This kind of questions is to be posed and discussed when reading a selection of primary sources, state-of-art interpretations and even confronting these with observations of present social sciences.
Students are expected to submit a 2500 words final academic essay. The word count should include all footnotes, endnotes, and quotations but should exclude the bibliography. Please include the word count on the title page of your coursework. Moreover, students are free to make a choice to write an essay on topics discussed and inspired by seminar programme or write an independent essay.
Students are encouradged to sign for Virtue_Kunca MS Team here: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/channel/19%3a40c5f99f3fc34026b075dfdd737e7836%40thread.tacv2/Obecn%25C3%25A9?groupId=01a59a2f-1022-408b-852b-4834ad7d1e26&tenantId=e09276da-f934-4086-bf08-8816a20414a2 and explore files attached.
Last update: Kunca Tomáš, PhDr., Ph.D. (14.09.2022)
Syllabus - Czech
* Mandatory:
HARRISON, P. The Fall of Man and the Foundation of Science. Cambridge: CUP, 2007, pp. 245 - 258. MANDEVILLE, B. The Fable of the Bees, Volume One. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1988, pp. 41 - 57, 322-369. TOLONEN, M.. Mandeville and Hume: Anatomists of Civil Society. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2013, pp. 41 - 65, 65 - 102.
* Recommended:
HARRIS, J. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of British Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Last update: Kunca Tomáš, PhDr., Ph.D. (14.09.2022)
