Faculty of Arts

Individualization as a modernization social phenomenon is of a highly ambivalent character. On the one hand, it represents the emancipation of individuals from general pressures of the society, from the traditional relations of domination and material dependence, the reduction of social pressure on the reproduction of traditional, typified social roles and lifestyles associated with social status and gender. On the other hand, individualization leads, under the current conditions, to increasing isolation of individuals in the context of instrumentalized, anonymous and fragmentary social relations and contacts, ultimately to forms of social deprivation. Emancipation creates room for an individual and subjectively gripped biography, for individual subjectively answering the question of good life, which promotes the ideal of individual self-realization as a new ideal of behavior and good life. However, the parallel process of social isolation seriously restricts and distorts the possibilities of its application. Based on this contradiction, this paper focuses on the critical exploration of the ways and forms of applying the ideal of self-fulfillment in contemporary society.

Until the mid-20th century can be observed romantically (almost utopian) minded optimism, that accompanied technological progress. Technical innovations have been evaluated mainly in terms of their positive contribution, especially in the economic sphere. In the second half of this century, the technological optimism gradually faded and was replaced by skepticism and negativism. Hans Jonas is among the first philosophers who managed to discern and appreciate the high-risk potential of technological power. Jonas formulated an ethical theory that might be able to adequately respond to the perils of a technological society. This paper focuses on Jonas' understanding of the perils of technological practice within his concept of modern society which, due to the way it functions, threatens its own existence. Our aim is also to point out contemporary obstacles to applying his ethical solutions.

Until the mid-20th century can be observed romantically (almost utopian) minded optimism, that accompanied technological progress. Technical innovations have been evaluated mainly in terms of their positive contribution, especially in the economic sphere. In the second half of this century, the technological optimism gradually faded and was replaced by skepticism and negativism. Hans Jonas is among the first philosophers who managed to discern and appreciate the high-risk potential of technological power. Jonas formulated an ethical theory that might be able to adequately respond to the perils of a technological society. This paper focuses on Jonas' understanding of the perils of technological practice within his concept of modern society which, due to the way it functions, threatens its own existence. Our aim is also to point out contemporary obstacles to applying his ethical solutions.

The present article tries to interpret the historicist concept of social contract JJ Rousseau, presented in Discourse on the origin of inequality among men, as a critique of modern society which defines the scope of everything that is artificial and acquired in human life, thus what may be subjected to constructive criticism and possible change.

The article examines Rousseau’s theory of the general will as a certain
model of participatory politics aimed at the active involvement
of citizens in the collective formation of the public sphere. The
study points out that the normative basis of this political theory
is Rousseau’s reflexive concept of individual freedom as self-determination,
and its own goal is then to formulate the necessary
social conditions needed for the successful fulfillment of individual
freedom. From the perspective of this relationship, the purpose of
the article is to point out the inherent assumptions, limitations and
criticism of the researched theory.

Be yourself, it is the extended slogan of (post)modern
culture that celebrates the imperative of individual self-realization.
From a formal point of view, the ideal of authenticity is unambiguous
and comprehensible, but the essential problem lies in determining
its content. In conditions of radical ethical pluralism and
preferred moral subjectivism, its requirement seems to be absolutely
justified. On the other hand, this ideal sharply contrasts with
the hedonistic and consumer character of modern society, which
narrows the authenticity of an individual and reduces his self-realization
to the economic aspect of consumption. From this point of
view, it is not surprising that in the discourse of authenticity appear
some confusions, contradictions, warped and degraded forms of
this ideal. The aim of the paper is to frame the ethical ideal of the
authenticity of human existence as the ethical issue of good life in
the conditions of modern plural society, emphasizing the necessary
implications for the realization of the ideal of human authenticity
in moral and political terms.

Aim. The aim of this study is to provide a selected theoretical-methodological analysis of the concept of negative freedom in relation to the political sphere of its application, to reveal and clarify the main political implications and normative claims that its recognition implies for political theory. Concept. From a methodological point of view, the study is based on three justified assumptions: (1) that in modern political philosophy the idea of individual freedom is the main normative basis for political theories, (2) that philosophical development has brought several competing concepts of this idea and (3) that from its own content the concept implies basic requirements for its social and political application. For the purposes of theoretical-methodological analysis, we distinguished two different moments in the concept of individual freedom (freedom as a question of will and freedom as a question of practice) and from their point of view we examined the selected concept of negative freedom in an attempt to reveal its implicit claims at the political level. Results. In the article, we have succeeded in formulating and arguing for the thesis that the concept of negative freedom in its applicability programmatically leads to a modus vivendi model of politics. We have shown that the concept of freedom and the model of politics are interrelated and normatively interdependent. Conclusion. The main conclusion of the study is that the above model of politics cannot be generalised and considered equally acceptable for all conceptions of freedom and the good life.

Slovo na úvod 1 Všeobecná charakteristika teórií spoločenskej zmluvy 2 Klasické teórie spoločenskej zmluvy 2.1 Thomas Hobbes a obrana absolutizmu štátnej moci 2.2 John Locke a zastupiteľská vláda 2.3 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, sociálna kritika a spoločenská vôľa 3 Moderné teórie spoločenskej zmluvy 3.1 John Rawls a spravodlivosť ako férovosť 3.2 Robert Nozick a teória minimálneho štátu Odporúčaná študijná literatúra

The article deals with the issue of human subjectivity and the ideal of authenticity in the concepts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Søren Kierkegaard. By reconstructing and analysing their argumentation, we try to create a space for their mutual comparison at the level of the discourse on authenticity. The paper points out their different ideological and methodological approaches, as well as common motives and themes, seeking to highlight the similarity of their normative conclusion. Both philosophers agree on the question of defence of the ideal of authenticity, while propounding the same thesis that the expression and the means of authenticity is the self-determining freedom of human.

O ne of the main topics of contemporary moral and political philo sophy is a dispute between so-called perfectionism and supporters of the neutrality of the liberal state. Defenders of neutrality argue that the state should hold a neutral position in respect of values and political action and should not enforce or pursue any ideals of the common good. For the proponents of neutrality this is thus an illegitimate reason for political acts and not only for the enforcement of unacceptable ideals, but also of acceptable or desirable ones. The question of values or of a common good should remain exclusively a matter for the individual, and not a matter of society and the state. The state should remain neutral in the question of the concept of the good and the good life. In contrast, the defenders of perfectionism base their case on the fact that there are certain values, ideals of goodness and ideals of the good life, that can be considered moral objectively and politically binding. The state should therefore strive to support and promote these values. Perfectionism in the current moral and political philosophy has multiple meanings and is sufficiently ambiguous. Generally it can be said, that as a concept it refers to the moral and political theories which define and defend different concepts of good, of a good life and of man's well-being and how moral objectively and politically binding conceptions of the good are possible. Traditionally, perfectionism is associated with ethical theories that characterize the good in terms of an analysis of human nature. Currently, this dispute between the defenders of perfectionism and of neutrality is underway in at least two different areas. On the one hand, as the dispute inside liberalism itself (for example, in this connec- The autonomy of the individual and the neutrality of the state / Ciprian Turčan.

Zaměření časopisu: Vědecký recenzovaný časopis ACTA HUMANITAS se zaměřuje na publikování vědeckých a odborných studií a článků, recenzí a informací ze společenských věd (filosofie, politologie, sociologie, historie apod.). Jeho široké zaměření nabízí prostor pro vědecké a akademické pracovníky, kteří na jeho stránkách mohou předkládat výsledky vlastního výzkumu či přinášet náměty k vědeckým diskusím.

The study focuses on the theoretical-methodological analysis of the concept of social freedom as a special concept of individual autonomy in relation to the social conditions of its applicability. The aim of the analysis is to reveal and clarify the main political implications and normative claims that result from it for political theory. The thesis is formulated and argued in the article that the philosophical concept of social freedom in its applicability programmatically leads to a model of the politics of emancipation as a process of social transformation and political overcoming of recognized forms of unfreedom, historical forms of social oppression and domination. Social understanding of individual freedom becomes the normative basis of politics as a form of collective activity through which associated individuals govern the social conditions of their lives. By comparing the two basic forms of emancipatory politics – class politics and identity politics – the main problems of such an understanding of politics are discussed.