Philosophy 1

Course guarantor:

Peter Zamarovský

Lecturer:

Peter Zamarovský

Tutor:

Peter Zamarovský

Supervisor:

Department of Economics, Management and Humanities

Synopsis:

The aim of the course is to familiarise students with the principal figures, schools, and concepts of ancient philosophy. Particular attention is paid to the interdisciplinary character of philosophy and to the enduring significance of ancient philosophical ideas for contemporary debates in science, technology, economics, and politics.

Requirements:

Syllabus of lectures:

1. Philosophy and thinking. Mythical, philosophical and scientific accounts. The first philosophers.

2. Thales and the Milesian school. Seeking the basic principle, reductionism, hylozoism, and the conception of the soul.

3. Pythagoras and his school, present-day residues of Pythagoreism (numerology, reincarnation)

4. Heraclitus, dynamical approach, the question of identity.

5. The school of Eleya, Xenophanes, Parmenides, problems with negative concepts.

6. Anaxagoras, Empedocles and pre-atomism.

7. Atomism, the absolute determinism and freedom, problems of materialism.

8. The crisis of knowledge, the Sophists. Protagoras (Is man the measure of everything?)

9. The life and death of Socrates. Method of dialogues, Socrates' moral paradox.

10. The imperfect Socratic schools, Megarians, the paradox of the liar.

11. Plato, his life and philosophy. The realm of forms-ideas. The allegory of the cave: ideal state or totality?

12. Aristotle and the peak of classical philosophy, logic, physics and cosmology. Aristotelianism and Scholastics.

13. Epicurus, moral philosophy, antient concept of the swerve and quantum mechanics. Stoicism and logic, Pyrrhonism (scepticism)

14. Philosophy in Alexandria, Euclid and mathematics.

Syllabus of tutorials:

1. The concept of philosophy. Examples of myths.

2. Seeking the basic principle, reductionism, hylozoism, and the conception of the soul.

3. Present-day residues of Pythagoreism (numerology, reincarnation)

4. Heraclitus, examples of interpretation.

5. The school of Eleya, problems with the methodology of cognition (the conception of free space).

6. The concept of matter in ancient times and today.

7. The importance of atomism in natural science. Problem of determinism.

8. The crisis of knowledge, the Sophists. Is man the measure of everything? Examples.

9. The importance of the method of dialogue.

10. The paradox of the liar, and its modern versions

11. The realm of forms-ideas and present-day science. The meaning of the allegory of the cave.

12. Aristotle's logic and physics.

13. Interesting moments of Epicureanism and Stoicism. Euclides Stocheia today.

14. Pyrrhonism (scepticism), modern scepticism.

Study Objective:

Study materials:

Zamarovský, P.: FROM PHILOSOPHY TO SCIENCE, ČVUT, Praha 2022

Note:

Further information:

https://moodle.fel.cvut.cz/courses/BE0B16FI1

Time-table for winter semester 2025/2026:

	06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
Tue	roomT2:A3-415 Zamarovský P. 16:15–17:45 (lecture parallel1) Dejvice roomT2:A3-415 Zamarovský P. 18:00–19:30 (lecture parallel1 parallel nr.101) Dejvice
Wed
Thu
Fri

Time-table for summer semester 2025/2026:

Time-table is not available yet

The course is a part of the following study plans: