Projects / Programmes
Conditions and Problems of Contemporary Philosophy
January 1, 2009
- December 31, 2014
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.10.00 |
Humanities |
Philosophy |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.03 |
Humanities |
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion |
philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of history, history of philosophy, philosophy of culture, philosophical anthropology, ethics, aesthetics, ontology, epistemology, psichoanalisys, history of political thought, subject
Researchers (14)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The »Conditions and Problems of Contemporary Philosophy« program is continuing its hitherto research work at the Institute of Philosophy, and thus in the five year period from 2004 to 2008 it will be focused on three main themes:
1) Investigation of the transformation of traditional philosophical categories (being, truth, subject, object, will, man, life, etc.) in postmodern philosophical thought. The research work will try to situate the conceptual transformation in postmodern philosophical thought and the rise of the new problematic within the wider frame of philosophical, scientific, epistemological, cultural, as well as politico-economic processes in the contemporary world, including Slovenia. The aim of the research work is to elaborate an answer to the question whether and in what way, under the conditions of a globalized world, philosophy as a field of pure thought is still possible today. Special emphasis will be placed on: the conceptual and methodological connections of postmodern philosophy with contemporary social and human sciences, particularly the conditions and results of the encounter with the psychoanalysis of Freud and Lacan, as well as with linguistics, epistemology, jurisprudence, history and anthropology; an analysis of separating the problematics of subject and subjectivization in postmodern philosophy (Badiou, Lyotard, Foucault, Negri, Agamben, Derrida, Habermas, etc.); rethinking of the status of ethics and of ethical discourses in philosophy and the connection of philosophy with the contemporary sciences; a new consideration of the political as a consequence of the breakdown of classic notions of universality, of the social link and of community; rethinking new technologies, cyberspace and the virtualization of space itself; a critical reconsideration of vitalistic and neo-darwinist currents in contemporary philosophy, biophilosophy and biotechnology, ethology, new conceptions of body and life, etc.
2) An inquiry into the philosophically relevant history of political thought and research on the history of the philosophical and scientific formation of the modern world. In investigating the history of political thought, special emphasis will be placed on the conceptualization of power in the tradition of Western thought, the articulation of the concept of state and hitherto poorly investigated connections between sovereignty, religion, and the rise of trade, economy, and world war. A particular part of the research work consists of the deconstruction of historiographic revisions of the memory of the Nazi and fascist occupation of Slovenia (1941-45), the partisan resistance movement, collaboration activities and post-war mass killings, and an analysis of the interpretation of history as trauma. The aim of the research work is to contribute to a clarification of various problems: historical memory and historical trauma, civil and religious war, the formation of a political space and the rise of representative democracy, European colonial and society-forming projects, and the formation of an interstate system and supranational identities (Empire, Europe). The basic departure point for the investigation of the philosophical and scientific history of the formation of the modern world will be that philosophical and purely scientific viewpoints regarding this process are inseparable, and that medieval philosophy presents an intersection point of the ancient episteme and modern philosophy. Within this framework, special emphasis will be placed on the relationship between philosophy, theology, and science on one hand, and the epistemological, philosophical, and scientific transformations of the high medieval age, renaissance, and early modern age, on the other. The aim of the scientific research work is to expose those epistemological elements which separate modern from pre-modern philosophy and science.
3)An investigation of philosophical aesthetics and the philosophical problematic of visuality and t
Significance for science
The research programme “Conditions and Problems of Contemporary Philosophy” has been conceived so as to illuminate significantly – from different perspectives – some of the most important challenges that contemporary philosophy is confronting today, both from within itself and in relation to other contemporary social and human sciences. It contributed to a critical review of philosophy itself, its critical self-reflection, and consideration of its present condition, while being productive and stimulating for the development of science in general. By way of developing clearer and more distinct fundamental philosophical concepts and suitable analytic tools and procedures, it contributed to the strengthening of philosophy as a scientific field and its relevance for numerous other scientific areas. In considering philosophy itself as a source of creativity and innovation, the proposed research programme differed from other studies which are devoted to promoting various models for the understanding of the globalised world. Indeed, in situating the creativity and innovation of philosophy as the central terms of its research, the proposed research programme aimed at showing how philosophy informs our value systems and our critical discourse, how it contributes to our sense of the periodisation of history and culture, and finally, how it helps us understand new ways of thinking and new practices in almost any area of intellectual endeavour: science, technology, the arts, ethics, economy, politics, etc.
Significance for the country
Developed critical and self-critical philosophical thought is an integral part of the broader culture of a particular society and, together with other fields of knowledge, contributes to its high-quality sustainable development. The programme dealt with topics that are crucial for philosophy today and touched on the fundamental question of human existence in the world. The programme as such had positive synergetic effects on all spheres of broader social development. It had direct relevance to the complex system of science, as well as for the fields of education and cultural activity. One of the aims of the programme was to develop clearer and more distinct fundamental philosophical concepts, which contributed to a better understanding of the challenges and dangers faced by contemporary democratic societies today. The departure point of the research programme proposal entitled “Conditions and Problems of Contemporary Philosophy” was the assumption that the development of contemporary Slovene philosophy and its affirmation in an international academic sphere could significantly contribute to the promotion of Slovenia in its effort to establish itself as an equal partner at the scientific, politico-economic, and cultural levels. The aim of this research programme was therefore to improve our understanding of how global political, social, and cultural interactions and interdependencies are developing and changing and how they are taking place in different, new forms that have major impacts on contemporary Slovene society, its institutions, as well as contemporary identity forming. In taking up the challenges that contemporary philosophy faces and in disseminating its achievements in the academic and non-academic sphere, the research programme also contributed to promoting democratic political culture in Slovenia as well as to developing the political and cultural autonomy of Slovenia in an international context. The development of philosophical thought, which is on a par with the practical and theoretical requirements of its age, is of course an inseparable composite part of the development of contemporary disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
Audiovisual sources (1)
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
