Philosophy & History of Philosophy (e-books)

E-book

Ján Hreško

This teaching guide is intended for teachers and instructors who are introducing new readers to Dante’s Divine Comedy, in particular the first cantica, Inferno, offering support and a grounding in the cultural background of one of the most important works of European medieval literature. Rather than forming yet another academic contribution to the study of Dante and his work, the guide focuses on using a guided seminar reading method within study groups and fostering meaningful discussions about the central themes and issues of the Inferno. Under the guidance of a teacher, students are encouraged to engage actively with the motifs and moral universe of this classic literary work – a primary source that cannot be replaced by any retelling. The proposed interpretations draw on established scholarly commentaries to deepen the readers’ understanding of the text, and each lesson is accompanied by a selected bibliography. The guide includes thematic introductions presenting Dante Alighieri as both author and protagonist within the Divine Comedy. It also offers carefully selected questions designed to foster textual comprehension and stimulate discussion during seminar readings of selected cantos of the Inferno. In addition, the publication includes special lessons on associated literary and artistic works. The guide features a wealth of original illustrations and an extensive range of visual materials. The course thus builds upon the traditional practice of seminar-based readings of works by the great authors, an approach which continues to form part of the curriculum at many liberal arts colleges, by integrating innovative techniques into this established educational method.

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E-book

Pavol Tholt

The work presented in the following text is an attempt to analyze Patočka's perspective on the emergence and essence of mathematical natural science in the 17th century. During this period, Patočka's attention was particularly drawn to Descartes' philosophy and Cartesianism, as well as the philosophies of Galileo, Bacon, and Leibniz.

Patočka himself devoted continuous and exceptional attention to these questions, as evidenced by several monographic works and numerous articles and studies he wrote on the subject.

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E-book

Róbert Stojka

The aim of the presented monograph is primarily to introduce Patočka's concept of the philosophy of history as comprehensively as possible, although I am aware that this is by no means an easy task. This difficulty arises not only because, as already mentioned, there is currently no extensive and exhaustive work on this topic.

While there is a relatively large number of studies devoted to Patočka's concept of the philosophy of history, none of them, however, examine this concept from a comprehensive perspective as a unified whole – most focus on specific partial issues (and there are many) stemming from this concept. This fact, incidentally, serves as clear evidence to me that this is undoubtedly a highly demanding topic.

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E-book

Vladimír Leško - Milovan Ješič - Pavol Tholt

The philosophical work of the most significant Czech philosopher of the 20th century, Jan Patočka (1907–1977), stands out for its unique intellectual originality.

Even at the time of its creation, it significantly transcended the narrow boundaries of the contemporary Czechoslovak spiritual space and uniquely connected our country with the most advanced philosophical teachings of Western thought, in which Husserl's phenomenology and Heidegger's fundamental ontology played a dominant role. Certainly, it would be a great mistake to reduce the decisive position of Patočka's philosophical work merely to the reception and critical-creative elaboration of Husserl's and Heidegger's philosophy.

In this context, we cannot overlook the decisive contribution of Eugen Fink, who introduced Patočka to the intricacies of Husserl's and Heidegger's philosophy. Both thinkers then continued in a lifelong creative philosophical dialogue. However, it is also necessary to mention Patočka's intense interest in the works of Scheler, Ingarden, Landgrebe, as well as Sartre and others.

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E-book

Vladimír Leško - Milovan Ješič - Eugen Andreanský

The philosophical work of Immanuel Kant, the founder of German classical idealism, is one of those which, by the strength of its theoretical legacy, is permanently inspiring even in contemporary philosophical activities. This is an indisputable fact that cannot be seriously objected to. The philosophical teachings of Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology, his successor Martin Heidegger, as well as several representatives of analytic philosophy, are proof of this fact. The above fact led the authors of this work to the idea of devoting a separate collective monograph to the indicated problem. 

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E-kniha

Vladimír Leško - Katarína Mayerová (eds.)

The main aim of the present work is to try to capture the decisive mode of Heidegger's philosophical understanding of the central problem of Greek philosophy, the problem of being, in the teachings of Anaximander, Heracleitus, Parmenides, Plato, and Aristotle. The authors of each section present their own understanding of Heidegger and his distinctive philosophical reception of Greek philosophy. In this context, it should be noted that the authors themselves sought their own point of view. With Heidegger's work in general, it is almost impossible to find the same interpretive consonance. This is also true for his reception of the Greek heritage. However, it is all the more professionally provoking for further philosophical investigations.

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E-book

Kristína Bosáková

Attempting to confront Gadamer's teachings not only with the giants of Greek philosophy but also with Hegel and Heidegger is no easy task. However, Gadamer's entire historical-philosophical work is most prominently associated with these ancient thinkers and the two geniuses of German philosophical thought. Therefore, there is no avoiding it. Without this confrontation, all my efforts would be, in a certain sense, futile. Whether and how I succeed is another question. Every reader will surely form their own judgment.

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E-book

Mária Mičaninová

Scholars whose works constitute medieval philosophy were active as theologians, jurists, physicians, and sometimes even poets. Among them, there is hardly anyone who could be described exclusively as a philosopher.

For theologians and (religious) jurists, the primary source of their philosophical reflection was the Bible or the Qur’an. The second source was the philosophical heritage of the preceding antiquity, in which the figure of Aristotle and his commentators dominated. The Peripatetic legacy was complemented by followers of Plato in the long line of so-called Neoplatonic philosophy (e.g., Plotinus, Iamblichus, and Proclus), which in its beginnings developed within the environment of Hellenistic schools.

It is therefore not surprising that the main philosophical problem for medieval scholars was the relationship between theology and philosophy, or faith and reason, and, consequently, the relationship between theology and metaphysics. In the context of Christian thought, this was already discussed in the 2nd century, when some Church Fathers questioned the value of secular learning for those to whom the truth had been revealed by God.

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E-book

Lukáš Šutor (ed.)

Contributions in the field of psychology address current issues such as normative beliefs and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption, the characteristics of loneliness, questions of pupil personality and the perception of teachers’ interaction styles. They also consider hyperexcitability (excessive psychological excitability), research theorems on injustice, and fundamental concepts and their theoretical connections in the field of self-regulation research within the context of executive functions.

In philosophy, the authors focus on selected aspects of works belonging to major currents of world philosophy (Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Plotinus, Descartes, Patočka).

In literary studies (Slovak studies), the topics include modeling the theme of death in prose texts, the depiction of technological progress in space science fiction films, and the translation work of K. Strmeň, Návštevy (Anthology of World Lyric Poetry).

In the field of social work, the authors present contributions on current trends in preventing burnout syndrome in helping professions, the use of logotherapy in foster care, certain factors enabling the emergence, development, and spread of socially pathological phenomena (“cyberbullying”), religiosity and the value of human life, and an empirical analysis of the competencies of social workers in institutional care for people with intellectual disabilities.

The political science contribution analyzes selected institutions and documents within the European system of human rights protection, while the British and American studies paper examines the relationship between metaphor and metonymy in the interpretation of the meaning of new English compounds.

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