Print syllabusTotalitarian Regimes in Central European Countries in the 20th Century
General data
| Course ID: | WF-FI-KOBYLTOTAL-WO |
| Erasmus code / ISCED: |
08.1
|
| Course title: | Totalitarian Regimes in Central European Countries in the 20th Century |
| Name in Polish: | Totalitarian Regimes in Central European Countries in the 20th Century |
| Organizational unit: | Institute of Philosophy |
| Course groups: | |
| ECTS credit allocation (and other scores): |
(not available)
|
| Language: | English |
| Learning outcome code/codes: | FI2_W06 FI2_W07 FI2_W08 FI2_W12 FI2_W16 FI2_U04 FI2_U17 FI2_K05 FI2_K06 FI2_K08 |
| Short description: |
The primary aim of the course is to show the 20th century as the most dramatic period in the history of the European continent. The unimaginable barbarianism of the last century affected particularly the nations of Central Europe. Today, the birth, rise and consequences of totalitarian systems are the subject of many historical, sociological or political studies. |
| Full description: |
The primary aim of the course is to show the 20th century as the most dramatic period in the history of the European continent. The unimaginable barbarianism of the last century affected particularly the nations of Central Europe. Today, the birth, rise and consequences of totalitarian systems are the subject of many historical, sociological or political studies. The totalitarian systems have yet to be thoroughly analyzed in philosophical terms. In-depth philosophical analysis can help to reveal the real story behind the rise and functioning of Communism, Fascism and National Socialism. It appears that in the philosophical studies on totalitarianism, a particularly important role may be played by the category of nihilism. As we ask questions about the understanding of good and evil after Auschwitz and the Gulag, we may find that nihilism as the truth about the disintegration of the permanent foundations of morality and culture leads us to a more profound understanding of the dark mysteries of the last century. During the classes the totalitarian systems will be presented in the wider context of the history of ideas and the ethical concepts. Topics 1. The history of Central Europe in the 20th century 2. The philosophical roots of totalitarian systems 3. Birth and development of Communism 4. Specificity of the fascist state 5. Ideology of National Socialism 6. A vision of new morality in totalitarian systems 7. The concept of revolutionary morality 8. Nihilism and totalitarianism 9. Totalitarian forms of crimes and slavery 10. Ethical evaluation of totalitarian regimes 11. Good and evil after Auschwitz and the Gulag 12. Solidarity Movement and the fall of the Berlin Wall 13. Philosophical analysis of Post-communism 14. From Post-communism to liberal democracy 15. European memory of totalitarianism |
| Bibliography: |
Bibliography Hannah Arendt, The origins of Totalitarianism, Harcourt Brace and Company, New York 1951. Alain Besançon, A Century of Horrors: Communism, Nazism, and the Uniqueness of the Shoah, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington 2007. Stéphane Courtois (ed.), The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1999. Leslie Holmes, Post-Communism: An Introduction, Duke University Press, Durham 1997. Padraic Kenney, A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2003. Andrzej Kobyliński, From Nihilism to Communism. In Search of the Philosophical Roots of Totalitarian Regimes, Acta Moralia Tyrnaviensia VI, University of Trnava, Trnava 2015, p. 151-160. Andrzej Kobyliński, Post-Communism, Liberalism and Solidarity in the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe after 1989, Seminare. Poszukiwania Naukowe 39(2018)4, p. 105-113. Andrzej Kobyliński, From Paul Vladimiri to Gustavo Zagrebelsky. Constitutional Justice in the Age of Hybrid Warfare, Studia Philosophiae Christianae 53(2017)3, p. 97-113. Andrzej Kobyliński, The Marxist Concept of Revolutionary Morality According to Leon Trotsky, Acta Moralia Tyrnaviensia VII, University of Trnava, Trnava 2017, p. 113-124. Marta Rabikowska, The Everyday of Memory. Between Communism and Post-Communism, Peter Lang Verlag, Bern 2013. Georg Weigel, The Final Revolution. The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism, Oxford University Press, New York – Oxford 1992. |
| Efekty kształcenia i opis ECTS: |
KNOWLEDGE Students describe the rise and functioning of Communism, Fascism and National Socialism in Central European Countries in the 20th. SKILLS Students are able to analyze and interpret philosophical texts on the totalitarian systems. COMPETENCES Students recognize that nihilism as the truth about the disintegration of the permanent foundations of morality and culture leads us to a more profound understanding of Communism, Fascism and National Socialism - of the dark mysteries of the last century. ECTS credit points: 1. Attending classes - 30 hours 2. Reading texts - 90 hours 3. Submitting one essay - 60 hours 30 + 90 + 60 = 180 hours, which equals 6 ECTS credit points |
| Assessment methods and assessment criteria: |
Requirements of credits • Attending classes • Reading texts and taking part in the discussions • Submitting one essay on a chosen topic concerning Totalitarian Regimes in Central European Countries in the 20th Century (7-8 pages) |
Copyright by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw.
