In the contemporary philosophical thought it becomes the crucial problem how to accommodate our everyday
notion of ourselves with the scientific understanding of us, humans. There plainly is a clash between the "human
being" as a moral, conscious, intentional being and the scientifically constituted view of the "homo sapiens".
We will follow and discuss some of the most important conceptions of "conditio humana", i.e. of the fundamental,
essential or in other ways leading conceptions of "what makes us human".
As a result, this course aims to introduce students into the "problem" of defining what is the "truly" human feature or
the "essentially human" character.
Among others, we will be dealing with:
1. the problem of dualistic conceptions of the human being.
2. attempts at a holistic or synthetic concpetion of the human being.
3. evolutionary conceptions of homo sapiens and its philosophical implications.
4. the "singularity" (or individuality) and "generality" (or universality) of a (human) person.
5. the problem of living a (truly) human life: everyday ethics and philosophical anthropology.
Last update: Mgr. Lenka Halbichová (08.07.2016)
V současném filosofickém diskursu se živě diskutuje otázka, jakým způsobem lze uvést v soulad každodenní pojem, jenž o sobě, coby lidech, máme, s vědeckým pojmem člověka. Je patrné, že existuje rozpor mezi tím pohledem na člověka, jenž klade do popředí jeho povahu morální, vědomé, intencionální bytosti, a vědecky konstruovaným určením "homo sapiens". V tomto kurzu se budeme věnovat a diskutovat důležité koncepce "conditio humana", lidského určení, tj. klíčovým pojetím "toho, co nás dělá lidmi".
Requirements to the exam
Last update: Mgr. Jakub Marek, Ph.D. (20.09.2018)
Students will write a multiple choice test (approx. 10 questions, 1 open question) based on the class readings (75%) and class discussions (25%).
Students will be required to submit short (200 words) annotations of class readings.
Grading will be based on:
20% work in the class (discussion)
40% annotations
40% test
Syllabus
Last update: Mgr. Jakub Marek, Ph.D. (15.10.2019)
1.10.
Introduction - Philosophical Anthropology as the Study of Images of the Human
8. 10.
class cancelled - immatriculation
15.10.
The Myth of Intelligence. How to recognize "Homo Sapiens"?
Turing, Alan, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence", Mind 49, pp. 433-460, in Heil´s Anthology
22.10.
class cancelled - conference
29.10.
Philosophical Dualism. The Body-Mind Problem.
Descartes, Rene, Meditations on the First Philosophy (excerpts, pp. 35-50), in Heil´s Anthology
5.11.
There Are No Owls. Robots, Androids, and "More Human than Human".
Dick, Philip K., Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Doubleday 1968 (1st Printing).
Blade Runner, Ridley Scott (dir.), 1982.
student presentation
10.11. SUNDAY
Substitute class - City as the Outward Expression of Existential Needs, a Guided Tour of Prague and a colloquium (start at 1PM, until approximately 5PM)
12.11.
Giving a Ride to My Genes. The Body We Do Not Know.
Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press 1976 (1st Printing), pp. 1-65.
student presentation
19.11.
Culture Strikes Back: The Superorganic View of the Human
Kroeber, Alfred L., "The Superorganic", American Anthropologist 19/2 (1917), pp. 163-213.
student presentation
26.11.
class cancelled - conference
3.12.
Morality, Self-Deception, Values. The Anatomy of How to Become Who We Are.
Nietzsche, Friedrich, The Genealogy of Morals, 1st Essay, pp. 10-34.
10.12.
Conditio Humana in Mozart´s Don Giovanni
Mozart, W.A., Don Giovanni (any performance, preferably after reading the libretto)
