Class Introduction to Contemporary Thought

This course unit offers an introductory approach to the main authors and major debates that have shaped, and continue to shape, culture, philosophy, and political thought in contemporary societies. Based on a selection of authors, different (and divergent) hypotheses and responses to the philosophical, political, and cultural challenges characteristic of contemporary societies will be introduced and explored, through concepts that have accompanied the history of thought, such as truth, justice, and freedom.

Not applicable

The break with the ancients and the foundation of modernity: Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Rousseau. The Kantian contribution: idealism and universalism. The ideologies of modernity: liberalism, conservatism, and socialism. Modernity and the "disenchantment of the world": Max Weber. Origins of Totalitarianism: Hannah Arendt. Pluralism: John Rawls. "Liquid Modernity", Deconstruction and the origins of Postmodernity. Post-liberalism: John Gray and Patrick Deneen Continuity, rupture, and the major themes of contemporary thought.

The course unit will include Oxford-style debates, individual oral presentations, as well as the analysis and development by students of case studies that exemplify the major debates shaping contemporary thought.  

Arendt, H. (2006). As Origens do Totalitarismo. Dom Quixote. Baehr, P. (2001). The “iron cage” and the “shell as hard as steel”: Parsons, Weber, and the stahlhartes¿Gehäuse metaphor in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. History and Theory, 40(2), 153–169. Bauman, Zygmunt (2000). Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000. Deneen, P. (2019). Porque Está a Falhar o Liberalismo?. Gradiva. Derrida, J. (1993). The Deconstruction of Actuality An Interview with Jacques Derrida. Entrevista publicada na revista Radical Philosophy. rp68_interview_derrida.pdf (radicalphilosophyarchive.com) Kant, I. (1784). An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (Translated by Ted Humphrey) Hackett Publishing, 1992.  Strauss, L. (1989). The Three Waves of Modernity. In H. Gildin (ed.), An Introduction to Political Philosophy: Ten Essays by Leo Strauss. Wayne State University Press Detroit.