010099 VU Transformations of Contemporary Atheism (2024S)

The course focuses on analyzing the changes in the concept of atheism in European thinking and society during the modern period. It will concentrate on several levels that relate to this phenomenon. The first will be the semantic level, then the philosophical level and finally the socio-political level. The course will aim to show that modern atheism is essentially an ideological and political concept whose analytical use in science is quite limited. The attention will be paid not only to the analysis and critical reflection of the "classical" forms of modern atheism (e.g. "Enlightenment" atheism, Marxist atheism, Positivist atheism, etc.) but also its contemporary forms, especially so-called new atheism, as well as the recent attempts to critically deal with the phenomenon of atheism in modern Western society, which is connected with attempts to redefine it and apply new typologies, as well as the introduction of new categories, especially the category of unbelief.

Structure of the course:
1. Basic definition of atheism
2. Genealogy of the term and its oldest use
3. Modernist redefinition of atheism
4. From the theological category to the political category
5. Enlightenment atheism
6. Marxist atheism
7. Positivist atheism
8. Existentialist atheism
9. Atheism, secularism, and modern society. Attempts to create an analytical category
10. The so-called new atheism
11. Sociological perspective and concept of unbelief
12. Atheism from a CSR perspective

Method of the course:
Lectures, discussions, reading materials