UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BOHEMIA IN ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
Study programmes & Course catalogue
for academic year 2025/2026
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BOHEMIA IN ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
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Course: The Self, Identity and Aesthetic Experience

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Course title The Self, Identity and Aesthetic Experience
Course code UUK/0SIEZ
Organizational form of instruction Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Kubalík Štěpán, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1) The subject as the centre of modern philosophy (Henrich on the basic structure of modern philosophy) 2) The crisis of the modern conception of the subject in the twentieth century (Ricoeur on the crisis of the Cartesian conception of the subject in Western philosophy). 3) The social constitution of self-consciousness 1 (George Herbert Mead). 4) The social constitution of self-consciousness 2 (Paul Ricoeur). 5) Narrative constitution of the subject 1: David Novitz on human nature. 6) Narrative constitution of the subject 2: Frank Kermode on the meaning of ends. 7) The narrative nature of history: Hayden White on the narrative nature of historiography. 8) Paul Ricoeur on the function of hermeneutic distance in understanding a work of art. 9) Jan Mukařovský on the unity of the artist's consciousness as a fundamental principle of the unity of the work 1: The notion of the motor gesture. 10) Jan Mukařovský on the unity of the artist's consciousness as the basic principle of the work's unity 2: The concept of semantic gesture. 11) The idea of the self-reflexive nature of aesthetic experience 1: aesthetic disinterestedness, distance. 12) The idea of the self-reflexive nature of aesthetic experience 2: Receptive aesthetics. 13) Summary, repetition.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Work with text (with textbook, with book)
Learning outcomes
Within the philosophy and aesthetics of the twentieth century, authors from different intellectual traditions (hermeneutics, structuralism, pragmatism, reception aesthetics) can trace a converging conception of the subject and identity: the subject is constituted in social interaction and various cultural codes are involved in its formation, while the experience of artworks occupies a fundamental place in this process. The course will trace the elaboration of this thesis in selected authors, always paying attention to the question of how the contribution of the experience of artworks to the constitution of the subject relates to the aesthetic nature of this experience: in other words, how to reconcile an aesthetic experience that is traditionally described as disinterested or distanced with a process that is supposed to have very personal and practical consequences.
The course offers students a critical insight into the different ways of thinking about the subject, identity or self-awareness and aesthetic experience that influence the contemporary debate on this topic.
Prerequisites
The course presupposes the basic ability of argumentation and basic knowledge of philosophy and cultural area. Also the ability to read in English is required.

Assessment methods and criteria
Interview, Interim evaluation

Active attendance at the lectures, individual preparation for discussions about relevant literature.
Recommended literature
  • Descartes, René; Glombíček, Petr,; Marvan, Tomáš. Meditationes de prima philosophia = Meditace o první filosofii. 1. vyd. Praha : OIKOYMENH, 2001. ISBN 80-7298-036-X.
  • Henrich, Dieter; Havelka, Miloš,; Karásek, Jiří; Chvatík, Ivan. Základní struktura filosofie moderní doby. 1. vyd. Praha : OIKOYMENH, 2009. ISBN 978-80-7298-277-6.
  • Iser, Wolfgang. Proces čtení ve fenomenologickém pohledu. Aluze, 2002.
  • Jankovič, Milan. Cesty za smyslem literárního díla. Vyd. 1. Praha : Karolinum, 2005. ISBN 80-246-1013-2.
  • Kermode, Frank. Smysl konců : studie k teorii fikce. Vyd. 1. Brno : Host, 2007. ISBN 978-80-7294-250-3.
  • Mead, George Herbert. Mind, Self, and Society. Chicago, London, 1962. ISBN 0-226-51667-9.
  • Miroslav Červenka. Čtenář jako výzva: Výbor z prací kostnické školy recepční estetiky. Brno, 2001. ISBN 80-86055-92-2.
  • Mukařovský, Jan; Jankovič, Milan,; Červenka, Miroslav. Studie. I.. Vydání první. Brno : Host, 2000. ISBN 80-7294-000-7.
  • Mukařovský, Jan; Jankovič, Milan,; Červenka, Miroslav. Studie. II.. Vydání první. Brno : Host, 2001. ISBN 80-7294-000-7.
  • Novitz, David. Umění, narativ a lidská povaha. Aluze, 2009.
  • Ricoeur, Paul. Krize subjektu v západní filozofii. Kritický sborník, 1983.
  • Ricoeur, Paul. Life in quest of narrative. David Wood (ed.), On Paul Ricoeur: Narrative and Interpretation. Routledge, 1991. ISBN 9780203416815.
  • Ricoeur, Paul. The function of fiction in shaping reality Paul Ricoeur. Man and World, 1979.
  • Ric?ur, Paul; Koubová, Alice. Úkol hermeneutiky : eseje o hermeneutice. Vyd. 1. Praha : Filosofia [FÚ AV ČR], 2004. ISBN 80-7007-185-0.
  • Ric?ur, Paul; Lyčka, Milan. O sobě samém jako o jiném. Vydání první. Praha : OIKOYMENH, 2016. ISBN 978-80-7298-438-1.
  • White, Hayden V. Metahistorie : historická imaginace v Evropě devatenáctého století. Vyd. 1. Brno : Host, 2011. ISBN 978-80-7294-376-0.
  • Zuska, Vlastimil. Estetická distance?dialog sebereflexe. Estetika, 1995.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BOHEMIA IN ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE, date of update: 14.06.2025 23:50. Data created for academic year 2025/2026