Organized by Prof. Manuel Knoll and Prof. Douglas Giles.
Weekly meetings will take place on Tuesdays 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (US Central Time) beginning on March 18, 2025. There will be 8 seminar sessions.
Content
Political discourses have become ever-more polarized and contentious. Opposing political standpoints, such as the “left” and “right” are so different at a fundamental level that they often appear entirely incomprehensible and “evil” to each other. Mass media and social media amplify these differences by creating self-affirming orientation worlds, such as “filter bubbles” and “echo chambers.” Individuals may strongly identify with their political beliefs, party, movement, or nation as the strongest foothold in their life. And people may have the impression that they live in entirely different orientation worlds.
By using an orientation-philosophical lens, one can see that these different standpoints go hand in hand with different plausibilities, truths, and beliefs. They are often based on contrasting moralities, which affirm themselves as good and reject other morals as evil. But every morality is also blind toward itself, unaware of its own limitations and blind spots.
In this seminar, we will use the terminology of the philosophy of orientation in order to analyze historical and contemporary political positions with regard to their plausibilities, morals, and beliefs. How do political worldviews orient and guide individuals’ lives, all the way down to their everyday routines, their relationships, and their bodies? What are the blind spots of current political positions? And what are the differences between politics, morals, religions, and ideologies?
The seminar is discussion-based; this means participants are expected to read the respective chapters before the meetings to be able to discuss them with the group during the seminar sessions. No prior philosophical or academic training is necessary to participate. Please apply by March 11, 2025, via the application form below by briefly explaining 1.) your professional and/or academic background, 2.) your philosophical interests, and 3.) your motivation for joining the seminar (50 words per field).