Conferences in the framework of the research project “Europe’s ‘cultural heritage’ reconsidered: rupture and continuity in European cultural orientations.”
directed by Bo Stråth and Peter Wagner
The Human Subject and Community in European Philosophy and Theology: Perspectives from East and West
Organiser: Kristina Stöckl (EUI)
Date: 19/05/2006
Place: Sala Europa (Villa Schifanoial
at the European University Institute, Florence.
Outline
Europe is frequently taken to be synonymous with modernity and with a Western
world that features liberal democracies, market economies, secular societies, and
individualistic identities. In reality, the modern constellation of Europe is tension-ridden in the
light of the success of populist parties in several European countries, the crises of some
major European economies, the return of the religious into the orbit of secular society, and
the critique of positivism in the sciences and in philosophy. In addition, countries with a cultural
and religious background different from the Occident, i.e. Orthodox Eastern Europe and
Turkey are returning to the Western European political horizon, and this raises important
questions about the cultural heritage of Europe and about the extent to which Europe is
ready to face its own multiplicity. Europe’s self-understanding is being challenged from
within by voices critical of the liberalist, capitalist and individualist features of modernity and
from outside by newcomers who do not share all the characteristics of the modern trajectory
of Europe.
One salient issue in this respect is the treatment of the human subject and
community, whose classical framing of individualism and liberalism has been
discussed controversially in contemporary political philosophy. The workshop aims
to discuss a variety of perspectives on the human subject and community which arise out of
the multiplicity of the European cultural and intellectual traditions and which share the
consciousness of the problematic and potentially inadequate nature of the liberalist
individualist paradigm and the awareness of the non-viability of substantive formulations of
subjectivity and collectivity in the light of totalitarian experiences of the 20th century. The
workshop wants to provide a forum for speakers of different philosophical and religious
backgrounds who reflect on the questions how we conceptualize community and what
notions of the self and its relation to the other lie at its basis. What do their approaches have
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in common? How are they different? How do these approaches go beyond merely critiquing
the modernist paradigm of individualist liberalism? What can they – and their dialogue –
contribute to a better understanding of the challenges facing an ever closer and larger
Europe?
The workshop invites speakers to present a range of Western perspectives on the
human subject and community that may derive from a religious, non- or anti-religious,
communitarian or post-modern background. The scope is the formulation of a
metaphysics without abandoning the fundamental predicament of the person’s freedom.
From the Eastern perspective, the workshop invites speakers with an Orthodox
background. This focus is motivated by the fact that 20th-century Orthodox thought has
shared much of contemporary Western philosophy©s concern with the inadequacy of classical
metaphysics and has proposed alternative views on anthropology and ontology based on Orthodox theology. The intellectual ©gesture© of much of this theology – a retrieval of the
very beginnings of thinking about God, man and the world in the works of the Byzantine
Church Fathers – is reminiscent of the recognition of the need to go beyond established
paradigms in contemporary Western philosophy. The conference aims
substance to this preliminary observation in a direct exchange of ideas between the invited
speakers.
Politics of Agreement? Consensualism in Austria and Finland
Workshop at the European University Institute/RSC (Bo Stråth) in cooperation with the EU Project “A Framework for Socio-Economic Development in Europe? The Consensual Political Cultures of the Small West European States in Comparative and Historical Perspective” .
Organiser: Helmut KONRAD (University of Graz)
Henrik STENIUS (University of Helsinki)
Bo STRÅTH (EUI)
Date: 27 October 2005
Place: Villa Schifanoia/La Capella
The Roman Empire in Comparative Perspective
Workshop – organised in the framework of the research project „Europe’s ‚cultural heritage‘ reconsidered: rupture and continuity in European cultural orientations“ directed by Bo Stråth (HEC) and Peter Wagner (SPS)
Organiser: Johann P. Arnason
Coorganised by EUI, the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences and the Israel Academy of Science
Date: 9-10 May, 2005
Place: Villa Schifanoia, Sala Europa
Outline
The decline of the Roman Empire is often regarded as the most significant single historical process that gave birth to Europe. This workshop will critically examine both the explanations for what is known as ‚decline‘ of the law-based, universally-minded, yet imperial polity and the socio-cultural restructuring in its aftermath. Particular themes to be addressed are:
Comparative perspectives on the Roman Empire: From city-state origins to imperial crisis: It has become increasingly clear that a broader comparative study of empires would improve our understanding of the Roman case, and since it can be argued that the Roman experience has had a uniquely strong and lasting influence on European notions of empire, a comparative approach would also help to develop a less Eurocentric vision of the field. This part of the workshop will discuss the Roman Empire’s city-state origins, its growth into a pan-Mediterranean civilizational complex, and the trends that led to its third-century general crisis. The comparative perspective must be very selective – it will include earlier Near Eastern empires, especially the Assyrian trajectory from city-state to empire, but also some discussion of contrasts and parallels with the early phase of Chinese imperial history.
The Roman world as a matrix of civilizational development, with particular reference to the formation of Western Christendom: Here, the emphasis will be on late antiquity (from the 4th to the 7th centuries, to use the most plausible but not uncontroversial chronological definition) as a mutation of the classical world. The rediscovery (or, as some critics would have it, the invention) of late antiquity is a relatively recent development with far-reaching implications for our view of European history, but it has not gone uncontested. It will, therefore, be important to hear the case for both sides and to discuss ways of reformulating what one historian has called the „vanishing paradigm“ of the fall of Rome. The workshop’s agenda relates most directly to the formation of Western Christendom, but this question must be considered in the context of a plurality of roads beyond late antiquity.
Cultural Dialogue
Workshop – organised in the framework of the research project „Europe’s ‚cultural heritage‘ reconsidered: rupture and continuity in European cultural orientations“
Organiser: Bo Stråth and Peter Wagner
Date: 28/10/2004
Place: Villa Schifanoia, Sala Europa
Registration: sylvie.pascucci@iue.it
Aim
This workshop aims to theoretically develop alternatives to the „clash of civilisations “ approach. Theoretical means critically reflecting key concepts in modernity, religion, culture and dialogue. What is cultural dialogue and what are its preconditions?
