Critique, in the most general sense, is a mode of investigation meant to challenge ideas and
discover how they stand up to scrutiny. In a narrower sense, the ‘critical tradition’ is a specific
modality that descends to us formally from the 18th century, beginning with figures in the
Enlightenment, most notably Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804), continuing through to modern and
post-modern thought exemplified in movements like Critical Theory, semiotics, and literary
theory. In this course, we will survey this tradition with a specific focus on ethics and aesthetics.
What is the role of art, and what can it disclose to us about the human condition, society, and our
ethical commitments? How does society structure our moral and aesthetic sensibilities? How are
value systems related to faculties like reason and sentiment? What normative implications follow
from our understanding thereof?
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
Critique, in the most general sense, is a mode of investigation meant to challenge ideas and
discover how they stand up to scrutiny. In a narrower sense, the ‘critical tradition’ is a specific
modality that descends to us formally from the 18th century, beginning with figures in the
Enlightenment, most notably Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804), continuing through to modern and
post-modern thought exemplified in movements like Critical Theory, semiotics, and literary
theory. In this course, we will survey this tradition with a specific focus on ethics and aesthetics.
What is the role of art, and what can it disclose to us about the human condition, society, and our
ethical commitments? How does society structure our moral and aesthetic sensibilities? How are
value systems related to faculties like reason and sentiment? What normative implications follow
from our understanding thereof?
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
Cíl předmětu -
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
· Identify and track movements within the critical tradition in western thought.
· Explicate and critically analyze themes regarding ethics, aesthetics and society.
· Synthesize and contextualize myriad and sometimes [seemingly] disparate ideas.
· Understand how to deconstruct and formulate philosophical arguments.
· Conduct sound academic research.
· Reflect upon the deeper meaning of texts and how they relate to subjects beyond
circumscribed fields.
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
· Identify and track movements within the critical tradition in western thought.
· Explicate and critically analyze themes regarding ethics, aesthetics and society.
· Synthesize and contextualize myriad and sometimes [seemingly] disparate ideas.
· Understand how to deconstruct and formulate philosophical arguments.
· Conduct sound academic research.
· Reflect upon the deeper meaning of texts and how they relate to subjects beyond
circumscribed fields.
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
Podmínky zakončení předmětu -
Students will be assessed on one academic essay and one oral examination:
The essay, approximately 1,500 words on a topic of the student’s choosing related to any of the
themes or texts discussed throughout the course, will be due at mid-term. The project should be a
critical enterprise, i.e., it should aim to advance an original, sophisticated argument and not
merely offer an exposition of certain texts or ideas. Papers should be formatted according to
academic standards specified in the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). This examination
constitutes 40% of the student’s final grade.
The oral examination will be a one-on-one critical discussion with the instructors on themes
relevant to the course, approximately 30 minutes in length, scheduled during the final exam
period. This examination constitutes 40% of the student’s final grade.
Additionally, a compulsory informal essay approximately one page in length on a variable topic
will be due at the beginning of the term. While this exercise will not be graded, no further written
work will be accepted until the student has completed this one.
As class discussions are an indispensable component of the course, attendance is important.
Reasonable accommodations may be made in exceptional circumstances, but please
communicate any foreseeable absences or complications as much in advance as possible. A
written or oral makeup assignment will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Attendance
constitutes 20% of the student’s final grade.
Grading Scale (in %)
90 - 100 Pass (First)
80 - 89 Pass (Second)
70 - 79 Pass
0 - 69 Fail
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
Students will be assessed on one academic essay and one oral examination:
The essay, approximately 1,500 words on a topic of the student’s choosing related to any of the
themes or texts discussed throughout the course, will be due at mid-term. The project should be a
critical enterprise, i.e., it should aim to advance an original, sophisticated argument and not
merely offer an exposition of certain texts or ideas. Papers should be formatted according to
academic standards specified in the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). This examination
constitutes 40% of the student’s final grade.
The oral examination will be a one-on-one critical discussion with the instructors on themes
relevant to the course, approximately 30 minutes in length, scheduled during the final exam
period. This examination constitutes 40% of the student’s final grade.
Additionally, a compulsory informal essay approximately one page in length on a variable topic
will be due at the beginning of the term. While this exercise will not be graded, no further written
work will be accepted until the student has completed this one.
As class discussions are an indispensable component of the course, attendance is important.
Reasonable accommodations may be made in exceptional circumstances, but please
communicate any foreseeable absences or complications as much in advance as possible. A
written or oral makeup assignment will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Attendance
constitutes 20% of the student’s final grade.
Grading Scale (in %)
90 - 100 Pass (First)
80 - 89 Pass (Second)
70 - 79 Pass
0 - 69 Fail
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
Metody výuky -
The course is taught by Shawn Christopher Vigil and Brice Cantrell under the supervision of Dr. Aleš Novák.
Contact:
2quillswriting@gmail.com
bdcantre45@gmail.com
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
The course is taught by Shawn Christopher Vigil and Brice Cantrell under the supervision of Dr. Aleš Novák.
Contact:
2quillswriting@gmail.com
bdcantre45@gmail.com
Poslední úprava: Kučabová Veronika, Bc. (03.01.2024)
Sylabus -
Week I: General Introduction, Discussion on art, ethics, and society.
Week II: Kant, “First Section: Analytic of Aesthetic Judgment,” in Critique of Judgment, pp. 35
74.
Week III: Nietzsche, “The Birth of Tragedy,” in The Nietzsche Reader, pp. 42 - 73.
Week IV: Marx, “Estranged Labor,” in Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, pp. 28 -
35.
Week V: Horkheimer & Adorno, “The Concept of Enlightenment,” in Dialectic of
Enlightenment, pp. 1 - 34.
Week VI: Horkheimer & Adorno, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” in
Dialectic of Enlightenment, pp. 94 - 136.
Week VII: Horkeheimer, “Materialism and Metaphysics,” in Critical Theory, pp. 10 - 46.
Week VIII: Horkheimer, Eclipse of Reason, pp. 3 - 39.
Week IX: Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” in
Illuminations: Essays and Reflections, pp. 217 - 251.
