VYBRANÉ KAPITOLY Z DEJÍN HELENISTICKEJ A STREDOVEKEJ FILOZOFIE

Selected Chapters from the History of Hellenistic and Medieval Philosophy

This course book is intended for students of Civic Education in all forms of study for the course History of Hellenistic and Medieval Philosophy. The selection of the topics and main representatives was led by the following strategy. 1) We have chosen those topics and authors considered to be most crucial and formative in the given period. 2) We have concentrated on issues that influence can be observed in contemporary thinking. 3) We privileged topics and approaches that have a practical dimension, i.e., the one related to the care of the self and our communities.

The textbook is divided into three main chapters. The first chapter is dealing with Hellenism, its general characteristics and three main Hellenistic movements: Stoicism, Epicureanism and Scepticism. The second chapter is dedicated to Neo-Platonism. The focus here is on Plotinus, in particular on his metaphysics of the One, the Spirit and the Soul (which profoundly shaped the philosophical thought of the Middle Ages), and on the practical and contemplative dimension of his philosophy (which influenced western mystics). The third main chapter is concerned with medieval philosophy. From a large number of topics and authors of this era, two key topics and two key authors are selected: the Problem of Universals and the Arguments for God’s existence, and the philosophy of Agustin and Thomas Aquinas.

Each of the main chapters is divided into subchapters. At the end of each subchapter, further questions are given. The main purpose of the questions is to draw the reader’s attention to connections between the topics covered by the subchapter and the contemporary issues and to stimulate further reflection and implementation of the gained knowledge. The textbook includes a supplement of selected texts of the period under discussion.