Die Arbeit liefert eine Gesamtinterpretation des geschichtsphilosophischen Klassikers von Giovanni Battista Vico "Prinzipien einer neuen Wissenschaft über die gemeinsame Natur der Völker" (1744). Neben einer Interpretation des verum-factum-Prinzips als erkenntnistheoretische Grundlage des Werks und einer Rekonstruktion seines Geschichtsbildes schließt die Dissertation einen Vorschlag zur ideengeschichtlichen Einordnung Vicos sowie eine Diskussion der Aktualität seiner Geschichtsphilosophie ein. Es wird gezeigt, dass die rezeptionsgeschichtlich tonangebenden idealistischen und theologischen Interpretationsansätze dem Werk unangemessen sind. Als Alternative wird eine naturalistische Lesart entwickelt. Diese lebensrealistische Lesart zielt auf den Nachweis ab, dass Vico den menschlichen Geschichtsprozess als evolutionären und zugleich sinnvollen Vorgang begreift, dessen Ziel im Überleben der menschlichen Gattung besteht. Vicos Theorie der geschichtlichen Selbstregulierung stellt hierbei die symbolische und soziale Produktivität des Menschen als körperliches Naturwesen ins Zentrum, wobei die Entstehung von sozialen Institutionen und symbolischen Weltbildern als nicht-intendiertes Resultat subjektiv-sinnlicher Handlungsmotive begriffen wird. Detailliert herausgearbeitet wird die Leitidee Vicos, dass soziale Institutionen durch vorrationale Fiktionen stabilisiert werden, die der menschlichen Einbildungskraft entspringen. Insofern sind es soziale Mythen, die die Gesellschaft zusammenhalten. Mit der Orientierung seines systemtheoretisch angelegten Geschichtsdenkens an menschlichen Überlebensfragen vertritt Vico einen Standpunkt, der bis heute nichts Aktualität verloren hat.

The thesis deals with critical views of the post-war American society as found in three literary works: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The thesis's aim is to introduce briefly the post-war society and then, on basis of text analysis, to provide criticism expressed by each book mentioned above. Divided into four main parts, it describes the post-war situation in the United States (political, social and cultural) and thereafter it focuses on the books itself. It provides a short biographical summary of each author's life but it mainly targets the criticism the book contains. The post-war period was significant because of the change it brought. The society of the 1950s was characterized by many "booms" that contributed to its development. The main features of this period were consumerism and materialism; these were also the principal things subjected to criticism. The question the thesis wants to answer is whether this criticism was justified or not. This objective is realized in the conclusion. Based on all facts provided by the thesis, the answer is that the criticism was justified; however, it is not so easy and it is necessary to read the whole thesis to understand all reasons that led to this conclusion and to think over...

Donkeys have been useful helpers to people especially at transporting burdens and in agriculture for thousands of years. Nowadays they make livelihoods of rural as well as urban inhabitants over all continents easier. The use of donkeys in agriculture and transport is vanishing in developing countries due to the mechanization. We know only little about how and why people keep breeding of donkeys in developing countries. Theoretical part of the thesis tries to summarize previous basic knowledge about breeding and using donkeys. It focuses on domestication of donkeys, their use in history in different parts of the world, current position of donkeys and partly on relations between men and animals from the view of Human-Animal Studies. A research in a part of Polabí lowland is added. The main practical aim of the thesis is to take a look at the phenomenon of breeding donkeys in the Czech Republic in the present and bring any findings about why do people breed donkeys in modern times in this developing country. Research finds how are donkeys bred, what reasons lead breeders to get donkeys and what their real use is. The thesis contributes to popularization of this theme among experts and laymen and suggests methodology for research of breeding donkeys in other areas as well.

This diploma thesis aims to map the work that Ronald Inglehart published after the year 2000 and to include it in the concept of historical sociology. In my work I deal with a total of seven books, which I subject to critical reflection and at the same time I compare with other authors who commented on the given topics. The work will touch on theories of modernization, democratization, secularization and to a lesser extent civilization analysis. I will also add remarks and observations from the point of view of quantitative methodology, as Inglehart's theories are based on a large amount of quantitative data based on questionnaire surveys. The first part of my work deals with modernization theory, the next part deals with secularization and the third part focuses on the analysis of civilization. In modernization and secularization, I will first introduce versions of the theories that Inglehart and co-authors published during the first decade of the 21st century. After that, I will always reflect on recent work (2017- 2021). In the civilization part, which is the shortest, I will summarize his findings across his work. At the end of his work, Inglehart also makes predictions about future society. I also intend to analyze these findings in my diploma thesis. At the end of the work I evaluate the...

Between Text and Context: The Theory of the Literary Field and Cultural Materialism as Models of Mediation Josef Šebek, Mgr. Abstract In his dissertation Between Text and Context: The Theory of the Literary Field and Cultural Materialism as Models of Mediation the author deals with the problem of mediation between literary text and its social context. He focuses on two important contemporary context- oriented approaches to literature: the theory of literary field, developed by Pierre Bourdieu, and cultural materialism, first formulated by Raymond Williams and further elaborated by Alan Sinfield and Jonathan Dollimore. He interprets these two theories as basic, mutually complementary models of mediation: the theory of literary field presupposes the existence of a (semi-)autonomous literary micro-world, whereas cultural materialism stresses the full integration of the literary text into the social context, the "social material process" (Williams). After an introduction outlining the problem, the author concentrates on Bourdieu's theory of the literary field, his "new science of works," and on contemporary post-Bourdieusian approaches (those of Alain Viala, Anna Boschetti, Jacques Dubois, Gisèle Sapiro, Pascale Casanova, Bernard Lahire, Jérôme Meizoz, Geoffroy de Lagasnerie) which employ, develop, and modify...

The thesis deals with the Czechoslovakian philosophy in the nineteen-sixties. It focuses not only to its historical description but intends to enter its philosophical thinking from inside and analyse its principal categories. Especially it focuses on the category of work and examines its various formulations, developed in different theoretical perspectives of Czechoslovakian philosophers. This allows distinguish these perspectives in their similarities on one hand and differences on the other. The thesis notably focuses on so called "Hegelian movement" and its evaluation of category of work. This movement, which is in fact the Czechoslovakian variation to the philosophy of praxis, formulates the category of work in its philosophical meaning, i. e. as an ontological category decisive for an origin of the reality and human being. It was originally Hegel, who developed this meaning of category, and Czechoslovakian Hegelian movement continued in developing his ontology adopted through Marx. The Czech philosophers enriched it with aspects of socialistic humanism. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part explains historical conditions of philosophical scientific performance in Czechoslovakia. The second interprets the texts of Czechoslovakian Hegelian philosophers and their expositions of category...

The thesis deals with the Czechoslovakian philosophy in the nineteen-sixties. It focuses not only to its historical description but intends to enter its philosophical thinking from inside and analyse its principal categories. Especially it focuses on the category of work and examines its various formulations, developed in different theoretical perspectives of Czechoslovakian philosophers. This allows distinguish these perspectives in their similarities on one hand and differences on the other. The thesis notably focuses on so called "Hegelian movement" and its evaluation of category of work. This movement, which is in fact the Czechoslovakian variation to the philosophy of praxis, formulates the category of work in its philosophical meaning, i. e. as an ontological category decisive for an origin of the reality and human being. It was originally Hegel, who developed this meaning of category, and Czechoslovakian Hegelian movement continued in developing his ontology adopted through Marx. The Czech philosophers enriched it with aspects of socialistic humanism. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part explains historical conditions of philosophical scientific performance in Czechoslovakia. The second interprets the texts of Czechoslovakian Hegelian philosophers and their expositions of category...