Political Philosophy 3800-FP23-F
The ontology of politics points to the foundations of philosophical knowledge about politics, models of political community such as: polis, civitas, state and systems: democracy, aristocracy, monarchy, republic, empire.
Political theology takes into account religiously founded models of power, such as theocracy or the metaphor of the political body embedded in medieval theology, it also takes into account the concept formulated by Carl Schmitt.
The main issues of political philosophy point to the political determinants and consequences of various models of rationality: theoretical and practical reason, along with their contemporary understanding.
Mastering space and people. As part of the political community, law and the philosophy of law develop, and with them models of mastering space and models of ownership - dominion and empire, and finally human rights, taking into account self-determination at the individual and collective level.
War and its basic concepts: realism and just war theory refer to peace as one of the main goals of the political community, considered by many philosophers (eg Hobbes) to be the most important.
Philosophical positions on time include the theory of eternal return, but also a linear approach to political time: the myth of beginning and destiny, the category of development and progress, progress in politics is often accompanied by the concept of revolution, which is opposed by conservatism.
The philosophical foundations of political science, in turn, point to the specificity of political knowledge (the category of raison d'état) and its affinity with other sciences, such as biology (biopolitics).
We will discuss these issues in future meetings.
Type of course
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Acquired knowledge:
The graduate knows and understands:
K_W02, in-depth research methods and argumentation strategies of political philosophy
K_W03, specialized philosophical terminology in Polish
K_W05, the main directions of development and the most important new achievements in the field of political philosophy
K_W08, in-depth norms constituting and regulating social structures and institutions and the sources of these norms, their nature, change and ways of influencing human behavior
K_W10, in depth the role of philosophical reflection in shaping politics
K_W11, in-depth relationship between the formation of philosophical ideas and changes in culture, society and politics;
Acquired skills:
A graduate is able to:
K_U01, independently interpret a philosophical text, creatively and innovatively comment and confront theses from various texts
K_U02, determine the degree of importance of the theses for the researched problem or argumentation
K_U03, analyze complex philosophical arguments, identify their theses and assumptions, establish logical and argumentative relationships between theses
K_U04, identify advanced argumentation strategies in oral and written statements
K_U06, creatively and innovatively use philosophical and methodological knowledge in formulating hypotheses and constructing critical arguments
K_U09, construct and creatively reconstruct arguments from the perspective of various philosophical positions, taking into account the types of argumentation specific to each of them and noticing the similarities and differences between them
K_U10, write creative monographs based on self-selected literature, using original, innovative approaches and take into account.
Acquired social competences:
The graduate is ready to:
K_K02, recognizing gaps in their knowledge and skills and looking for ways to remove these gaps
K_K03, independently undertaking and initiating professional activities as well as planning and organizing their course
K_K04, perceiving and formulating ethical problems related to own research work and responsibility towards colleagues and other members of society, and to be active in solving these problems
K_K05 active participation in social and cultural life; is interested in innovative philosophical concepts in connection with other parts of cultural and social life and encourages the implementation of these concepts
Assessment criteria
Exam on date "0", which is based on solving a test with closed questions (checking knowledge in the field of exercises) - 30%
and open (skills check) - 55% or oral exam - 85%
Activity during the lecture 15%
Number of absences: 2 in a semester
The rules for passing exercises can be found on the subpage of the exercise group.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: