Philosophy, Love and Sex 2 2500-PL-PS-FO-28

The main objective of the course is to introduce students to the issues of the philosophy of sex and to acquire competences enabling them to independently conduct a conversation in the Socratic dialogue formula in a selected thematic area. Students will become acquainted with various narratives on love and sex. In antiquity, love was described as a form of madness, a powerful irrational force overpowering the human will, a state into which man falls and which can bring him bliss or doom. Exploring the Western philosophical tradition, we will answer the questions: is it possible to conceptualise love (and sex); has anything changed in our perception of sexuality since antiquity; what is the background of the contemporary changes in the perception of sexuality; is it possible and necessary to cultivate the "art of love". As we broaden our own horizons, we will question some views in favour of others. By searching for the essence of love, exploring its socio-cultural aspects, objects of love and its effects, students will deepen their understanding of the function of love and sex in the context of conscious human life. Issues such as friendship, love, family love and self-love, sexual optimism and pessimism, polyamory, homosexuality, BDSM, masturbation, the harm of consensual sex, rape, sexual perversion, and many others will be critically examined. Through reading classic texts and iconic articles that have passed into the thematic canon, we will develop valuable philosophical skills (intellectual flexibility, clarity of thought, definitional skills and critical rationality) useful in the work of a psychologist.