Philosophy and Religion

Prerequisites:
Students are required to have an adequate knowledge of general culture, a good grasp of the fundamental concepts of the Christian religion and other monotheistic religions, a suitably wide vocabulary, and a general knowledge of the Slovenian language, in order to be able to follow the lectures, understand the study materials, take part in the tutorial, and produce seminar papers in line with the requirements of meaningful organization of the subject matter, rational substantiation, and logical reasoning. A previous bachelor’s or master’s education in a field of study belonging to the humanities or social sciences is an asset.

Content :
The course is designed as an overview of the fundamental questions and movements in the philosophical and theological heritage of the Western world. The ideational and methodological starting point is philosophical anthropology of a personalistic direction, which offers a comprehensive view of man as a free, thinking, emotional, social, and spiritual-religious being. In terms of content, the course consists of three intertwined elements: 1. a cultural history element providing an overview of the main movements and representatives of Western philosophy: ancient (Plato, Aristotle, Cicero), medieval (Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure), early modern (Descartes, Kant, Hegel), and (post)modern (Nietzsche, Heidegger, Derrida) philosophy; 2. a conceptual element providing an overview of the main philosophical disciplines and methods: logic, metaphysics, anthropology, ethics, political philosophy; 3. a religious studies element providing an overview of the main (contemporary) questions on man as a spiritual-religious being: the essence of religiousness and Christianity as a religion of the European environment, the relation between religion and reason, the relation between religion and ethics, the role of religion in society, the meaning of secularisation, etc.

Readings:

Obvezna literatura/Required readings:

• Sacks, Jonathan. 2019. Veliko partnerstvo. Ljubljana: Družina.
• Newman, John H. 2014. Razvoj krščanskega nauka. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.

Priporočljiva literatura/Recommended readings:
Aristoteles. 1994. Nikomahova etika. Prev. K. Gantar. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica.
Gilson, Etienne. 2002. Duh srednjeveške filozofije. Prev. J. Zupet. Ljubljana: Družina.
Newman, John H. 2014. Razvoj krščanskega nauka. Prev. J. Zupet. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.
Stres, Anton. 1994. Človek in njegov Bog. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.
Stres, Anton. 1996. Svoboda in pravičnost. Oris politične filozofije. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.
Veber, France. 2000. Filozofija. Ljubljana: Študentska založba.

Objectives and competences: :
The main objective of the course is to introduce students to the fundamental theoretical and cultural history processes and key questions in the field of Western philosophy and philosophy of religion. This is inextricably linked to the next objective, to familiarize students with the fundamental philosophical and theological terminology vis-à-vis the principal philosophical, religious, and other schools of thought in the history of European culture. This all leads to the objective of training the students to understand the fundamental philosophical and theological texts, which in turn enables them to acquire an in-depth ideational, cultural, and spiritual understanding of contemporary times and ideological schools of thought. Thus, the objectives of the course are an indispensable constituent part of forming a broadly educated, ethically conscious and socially responsible legal professional.

General competences
The main general competences for this course are: 1. the ability to consider – and the promotion of considering – ethical values, socially responsible thinking, and critical attitude to events in society in decision-making, regardless of the object of the decision and the level of decision-making; 2. initiative and independence in decision-making; 3. capability of independent work and teamwork in professional activity and scientific research.

Course-specific competences
The main course-specific competences are: 1. the ability to use the fundamental philosophical and theological terminology; 2. the ability to understand and assess contemporary ideological schools of thought; 3. the capability to interconnect knowledge from different fields (interdisciplinarity); 4. the capability to place new information and interpretations in the context of the development of the discipline; 5. knowledge of using analysis, synthesis, and prediction of solutions to and effects of phenomena in intercultural communication and international business.

Intended learning outcomes:
Having passed the exam, the students will, in particular, be able to: 1. recognize and evaluate the fundamental ideational processes and ideological schools of thought in European spiritual culture; 2. read and interpret the fundamental texts in the fields of philosophy, ethics, and (Christian) theology; 3. engage in discussions of fundamental past and contemporary ethical and ideological schools of thought; 4. logically and comprehensively develop and express their own philosophical or religious viewpoints.

Learning and teaching methods:
The course shall consist of lectures presenting the relevant topics and questions, including their detailed explanation. This shall be complemented by asking questions and engaging in discussions between students and the lecturer as well as among the students themselves. The course shall also include seminar papers or essays, which require students’ personal efforts based on reading and commenting on selected texts.

Assessment:
The requirements for students are divided into two parts: getting a grasp of the content of the prescribed literature for the oral exam and the regular submission of essays (as seminar papers) based on the prescribed study literature or selected philosophical works. It is not possible to take the exam without having submitted the essays.

Weight (in %)
Ustni izpit (60 %) in oddani eseji (seminarski izdelki) (40 %)

Lecturer's references:
Prof. Anton Stres studied theology in Ljubljana and Paris and received his doctorate in theology in Ljubljana in 1974 and the one in philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic Institute in Paris in 1984. From 1973 to 2005, when he retired with the title Professor Emeritus, he taught philosophy at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana, where he also held the offices of the Vice-Dean and Dean and of the Head of the Institute of Philosophy and Social Ethics. For eight years he was the editor of the journal Theological Quarterly, for twenty-five years he was the President of the Slovenian Commission of Justice and Peace, he was also the counsellor of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Vice-President of the Conference of the European Justice and Peace commissions. He was a member of the Council for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as a member of the Yugoslavian Forum for human rights. For fifteen years, he headed the Commission for Regulating the Relationship between Church and State in Slovenia. During all this time, he wrote numerous articles dealing with topical issues at the transition from the totalitarian regime to democracy. His bibliography comprises over 400 titles of books and brochures as well as scientific, technical and popular articles, of which eighteen are separate books and brochures in the fields of history of philosophy, philosophical theology, ethics, human rights, political theory, philosophy and spirituality. He took over the offices of the President of the Catholic Institute and of the lecturer in philosophy at the Faculty of Business Sciences in autumn 2015.

Sicris code: 11932
Complete bibliography: https://bib.cobiss.net/biblioweb/biblio/si/slv/cris/11932

Refererence
Stres, Anton. 1994. Človek in njegov Bog. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.
Stres, Anton. 1996. Svoboda in pravičnost. Oris politične filozofije. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.
Stres, Anton. 1998. Zgodovina novoveške filozofije. Ljubljana: Družina.
Stres, Anton. 2018. Filozofski leksikon. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.