What does it mean to be a human being? Throughout history, philosophers and scientists have
puzzled over this question, offering taxonomies that took account of everything from physico�biological
composition, mental faculties like reason, phenomenal experiences including self�awareness, language,
emotion, sociality, and much more. This course aims to explore
fundamental features of humanity through an interdisciplinary lens. What is consciousness?
What is an appropriate model of thinking? What is the significance of moods and feelings? How
should we navigate the dynamic between rationality and emotion? What ethical import does our
conception of ourselves have? These questions and more will be illuminated through an
exposition and deep analysis of historical literary texts and contemporary scientific insights.
Last update: Bc. Veronika Kučabová (13.06.2023)
What does it mean to be a human being? Throughout history, philosophers and scientists have
puzzled over this question, offering taxonomies that took account of everything from physico�biological
composition, mental faculties like reason, phenomenal experiences including self�awareness, language,
emotion, sociality, and much more. This course aims to explore
fundamental features of humanity through an interdisciplinary lens. What is consciousness?
What is an appropriate model of thinking? What is the significance of moods and feelings? How
should we navigate the dynamic between rationality and emotion? What ethical import does our
conception of ourselves have? These questions and more will be illuminated through an
exposition and deep analysis of historical literary texts and contemporary scientific insights.
Aim of the course -
Last update: Bc. Veronika Kučabová (13.06.2023)
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
• Identify and situate historical trends in the western philosophical and scientific canon.
• Explicate and critically analyze the complexities of a variety of issues.
• Synthesize and contextualize myriad and sometimes [seemingly] disparate ideas and
themes.
• 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.
Last update: Bc. Veronika Kučabová (13.06.2023)
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
• Identify and situate historical trends in the western philosophical and scientific canon.
• Explicate and critically analyze the complexities of a variety of issues.
• Synthesize and contextualize myriad and sometimes [seemingly] disparate ideas and
themes.
• 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.
Syllabus -
Last update: Bc. Veronika Kučabová (13.06.2023)
Week I: General Introduction, Discussion on the question, “What is humanitas?”
Week II: Chalmers, “Consciousness and Its Place in Nature,” in Philosophy of Mind, pp. 247 -
272.
Week III: Aristotle, Excerpts from Nicomachean Ethics in Readings in Ancient Greek
Philosophy. (Guest lecture by Tatia Bassileos).
Week IV: Cicero, “Tusculan Disputations 3 and 4, Book 4,” in Cicero on the Emotions, pp. 42 -
70.
Week V: Hume, “Book II: Of the Passions, §3: Of the influencing motives of the will,” pp. 265 -
268, and “Book III: Of Morals, Part 1: Of virtue and vice in general,” pp. 293- 306, in A Treatise
of Human Nature.
Week VI: Kant, “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Section I: Transition from common
rational to philosophic moral cognition,” in Practical Philosophy, pp. 49 - 60.
Week VII: Freud, “Beyond the Pleasure Principle, §1-3,” in The Penguin Freud Reader, pp. 214
239.
Week VIII: Heidegger, “A. The Existential Constitution of the ‘There’, §29. Being there as Stateof-mind,” in Being and Time, pp- 172 - 179.
Week IX: Ayer, “Critique of Ethics and Theology,” in Language, Truth, and Logic, pp. 104 -
117.
Week X: Held, “The Ethics of Care as Moral Theory,” in The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political,
and Global, pp. 9 - 28.
Week XI: Haidt, “The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to
Moral Judgment.”
Week XII: Dreyfus, “Misrepresenting Human Intelligence,” in Artificial Intelligence: The Case
Against, pp. 41 - 54.
Last update: Bc. Veronika Kučabová (13.06.2023)
Week I: General Introduction, Discussion on the question, “What is humanitas?”
Week II: Chalmers, “Consciousness and Its Place in Nature,” in Philosophy of Mind, pp. 247 -
272.
Week III: Aristotle, Excerpts from Nicomachean Ethics in Readings in Ancient Greek
Philosophy. (Guest lecture by Tatia Bassileos).
Week IV: Cicero, “Tusculan Disputations 3 and 4, Book 4,” in Cicero on the Emotions, pp. 42 -
70.
Week V: Hume, “Book II: Of the Passions, §3: Of the influencing motives of the will,” pp. 265 -
268, and “Book III: Of Morals, Part 1: Of virtue and vice in general,” pp. 293- 306, in A Treatise
of Human Nature.
Week VI: Kant, “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Section I: Transition from common
rational to philosophic moral cognition,” in Practical Philosophy, pp. 49 - 60.
Week VII: Freud, “Beyond the Pleasure Principle, §1-3,” in The Penguin Freud Reader, pp. 214
239.
Week VIII: Heidegger, “A. The Existential Constitution of the ‘There’, §29. Being there as Stateof-mind,” in Being and Time, pp- 172 - 179.
Week IX: Ayer, “Critique of Ethics and Theology,” in Language, Truth, and Logic, pp. 104 -
117.
Week X: Held, “The Ethics of Care as Moral Theory,” in The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political,
and Global, pp. 9 - 28.
Week XI: Haidt, “The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to
Moral Judgment.”
Week XII: Dreyfus, “Misrepresenting Human Intelligence,” in Artificial Intelligence: The Case
Against, pp. 41 - 54.
Course completion requirements -
Last update: Bc. Veronika Kučabová (13.06.2023)
Students will be assessed on a summative essay of approximately 3,000 words on a topic of their
choosing related to any of the themes or texts discussed throughout the course. 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). The examination
constitutes 80% of the student’s final grade.
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
Last update: Bc. Veronika Kučabová (13.06.2023)
Students will be assessed on a summative essay of approximately 3,000 words on a topic of their
choosing related to any of the themes or texts discussed throughout the course. 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). The examination
constitutes 80% of the student’s final grade.
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
