Fundamental concepts in culture

The main goal of this course will be to make an initial acquaintance with the basic concepts of culture. This will be achieved with the use of the Fucaultian notion of "Episteme", meaning, the system of beliefs dominating a given era. In that context, we will examine the system of beliefs of three main eras: The classical and the modern eras, as well as the era of the critique of modernity. The system of beliefs will be examined each time in four perspectives: The ontological perspective dealing with the question of what is; the epistemological perspective dealing with the question what can be known about what is; the ethical-social perspective dealing with the question of the proper conduct of man in particular and society in general, and the aesthetic perspective dealing with questions about the essence of art and beauty.