Objectives and competences

Students should be able to distinguish between two basic concepts: (1) perceiving tradition as transmission of cultural and natural heritage on the one hand, and as a rediscovery and creative enrichment of the values of culture and ethics on the other, and (2) distinguishing between the constant orientation towards the good, which is part of generally applied ethics, and the practical and changing realization of this ethics in the moral demands of Slovenian tradition, history, and mentality.

Prerequisites

None required.

Content (Syllabus outline)

• Tradition:

• • General cultural phenomenon of tradition 
  • Double definition of tradition 
  • Tradition as transmission of knowledge and values 
  • Tradition as rediscovering and enriching values 

• Ethics:

• • Basic concept of ethics 
  • Basic distinction between good and evil 
  • Basic ethical values 
  • Universality of ethical norms 

• Morality:

• • Definition of morality 
  • Historical awakening and development of morality 
  • Perspective of moral development in light of basic ethical principles 

• Connection between tradition and ethics:

• • Importance of ethics in shaping tradition 
  • Tradition as the foundation of ethical stability and obligation 
  • Importance of tradition for establishing rationalism in shaping ethical culture 
  • Ethical freedom as evaluating tradition 

• Ethical values provided by tradition:

• • Respecting human autonomy 
  • Developing mutual responsibility 
  • Dignity of the human being 
  • Transfer from a subject’s isolation into an interpersonal relation 

• Ethics and tradition among Slovenians: 

• • The origin of ethical rigor among Slovenians 
  • Influence and presence of Protestant ethics 
  • Influence of cultural tradition on shaping Slovenian interpersonal ethics 
  • Influence of cultural landscape on shaping Slovenian tradition and ethics 

• Ethics and tradition in an overview of postmodernism (according to Paul Ricœur): 

• • Finding the basic difference reflected in Slovenian tradition 
  • Confirming one’s own identity in relation to the other 
  • Relationship towards the image of the other as the basic paradigm of new interpersonal relations 
  • From sacral to holy 

• Future symbols of ethics and tradition (according to Emmanuel Levinas): 

• • Suffering people and the new ethical pre-consciousness 
  • The child and the revelation of new responsibility 
  • Woman and the hospitality of endless dimensions 
  • Closeness of animals and plants as the language of giftedness 

Readings

• Girard, R. 1972. La Violence et Sacré, Paris: Grasset.
• Levi Strauss, Cl. 1962. La Pensée sauvage, Paris: Plon.
• Levinas, E. 1998. Etika in nekončno. Čas in drugi, Ljubljana: Tretji dan – Družina, Ljubljana.
• Ricoeur, P. 1990. Soi-meme comme un autre, Paris: Seuil.
• Vidal, J. 1990. Sacré, Symbole, Creativitée, Louvain-la-neuve: Centre d’hitoire des religions.
• Kovač, E. 1992. Slovenska nacionalna zavest, Ljubljana: Družina.

Assessment

• Attendance and active participation in lecture classes and lab classes. 
• Writing and defending a term paper. 
• Oral exam in the overall course content.