6 ECTS credits
150 h study time
Offer 2 with catalog number 4015446FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.
In this seminar we approach the issue of the Enlightenment and its actuality by reading, analyzing and discussing exemplary source texts structured by particular themes. It concerns texts of the historical Enlightenment and contemporary interpretations. The following themes are discussed: What is Enlightenment? (Kant, Mendelssohn, Foucault); Dialectic of the Enlightenment? (Horkheimer & Adorno); Radical Enlightenment (Spinoza, Traité des trois imposteurs); Freedom of thought and speech versus tolerance (Spinoza, Locke); Prejudices (Kant, Jaucourt, D’Holbach); Miracles (Hume, Spinoza); Evil (Bayle, Leibniz, Kant, Hume); Materialism, naturalism and freedom (D’Holbach, Diderot); History and progress (Condorcet, Rousseau). The seminar concludes with an open discussion, Quodlibet, that focuses on the themes that have been central throughout the sessions, texts and discussions, in particular: Enlightenment and democracy - critique and myths of the Enlightenment.
Source texts, critical articles, Powerpoints with audio, e-lesson recordings via Canvas: required.
Sonja Lavaert, Vrijheid, gelijkheid, veelheid. Het moderne democratie-denken van Machiavelli tot Spinoza en zijn kring, Brussel, VUBPress, 2020, ISBN 978 90 5718 793 3: recommended.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
LEC Paper determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the LEC Paper category, the following assignments need to be completed:
The exam consists of a termpaper.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Philosophy and Moral Sciences: Ethics and Humanism (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Philosophy and Moral Sciences: Philosophy (only offered in Dutch)
Research Master of Philosophy: Standaard traject
Master of Teaching in Arts and Humanities: History (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Teaching in Arts and Humanities: Art History and Heritage Studies (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Teaching in Arts and Humanities: Philosophy (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Teaching in Arts and Humanities: Ethics and Humanism (only offered in Dutch)