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Online Subject Courses

Instructor: Dr. Frieder Otto Wolf
Language of instruction:
English
Course type:
Online subject course
Contact hours:
The coursework corresponds to an on-site course in term I amounting to 48 contact hours.
Course days
: see class schedule
Time: 8 am - 12:30 pm CET
ECTS credits
: 5
Course fee:
€ 1,250

Course Description

Philosophy has constituted a central element in the emergence of modern German culture. In the late 18th century, German philosophy participated in the broader European Enlightenment culture, which was in turn connected to the development of modern empirical science. Under the impression of the historical changes brought about by the French Revolution and by the ‘Industrial Revolution’ in Great Britain, a special constellation of German philosophy emerged at the end of the 18th century, which has deeply left its mark on subsequent philosophical thinking far beyond Germany.

This philosophy course addresses the historical reality of this ‘German moment of philosophy’ in two subsequent phases: In the first part, we follow the emergence and full deployment of German philosophy from its Kantian beginnings to Hegel’s grand but fragile synthesis, trying to understand its richness as well as its fragility. In a second part, we discuss the later renewal of German philosophy in the late 19th century and its historical tragedy in the 20th century. This will include a discussion of the new beginnings of philosophy since the mid-19th century, from Marx, and Nietzsche, via Frege to Husserl and Wittgenstein, who have been reacting to the scientific and political revolutions of the late 19th and early 20th century. Martin Heidegger as an established pro-Nazi philosopher and Max Horkheimer as the leading philosopher of the “Frankfurt School” driven into exile are studied as philosophers immersed into the Night of the 20th century.

Finally, post-World War II developments in philosophy (as exemplified by Jürgen Habermas) will be looked at as pathways out of the self-destructive turn the ‘German moment of philosophy’ in Germany had taken in the first decades of the 20th century, and as passages into an emerging world philosophy.

The course will be based upon contemporary attempts at rethinking a global philosophical perspective. The focus is on the tension between the Enlightenment heritage of a universalizing human philosophy and a national culture project, as well as on the tension between classicist rationalism and romantic emotionalism in its construction as a series of philosophical projects. From the perspective of a German version of the dialectics of the Enlightenment, the German philosophers of the 19th and 20th centuries will be studied in context - combining the reading of key texts with a reconstruction of their historical contexts and their interaction.

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule)
Instructor: Sebastian Olényi
Language of instruction:
English
Course type:
Online subject course
Contact hours: 
The coursework corresponds to an on-site course in term I amounting to 48 contact hours.
Course days
: see class schedule
Time
: 8 am - 12:30 pm CET
ECTS credits
: 5
Course fee:
€ 1,250

Course Description

Our global challenges like climate change, social inequality and economic development mean that sustainability is more than a buzzword: The concept is being operationalized by companies, NGOs and policy makers. On a policy level, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris climate agreement and the Green New Deal are setting the stage, on a business level, standards like Environmental Social Governance (ESG) reporting or ecovadis, supply chain integrity and voluntary certification as well as diversity crucial to long-term economic success.

How are companies innovating towards more sustainability today? What are the criteria, the success factors and the strategic approaches to tackle consumer, policy, employee and societal demand for more sustainability? 

In this course, we will look at current sustainability frameworks, sustainable companies and sustainable innovation. The participants will get to know and to apply collaborative online tools to evaluate existing company sustainability approaches and to create their own business-related sustainability strategies.

The course will include at least two executives as guest speakers who will evaluate the created strategies and provide insights into their own approaches.

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule)