About Institute
Institute of Philosophy and Ethics is a workplace with more than fifty-year history and its tradition is linked mainly to the so-called “Presov School” which is the name used for the Evangelical College in Presov founded in 1667 and being active until the mid-20th century.
Department of Philosophy
Science and Research
Scientific and pedagogical team of the Institute of Philosophy is known at home and abroad for its scientific production, publications, organization of scientific events and training of young scientific generation. Currently their attention is focused on research in the field of history of philosophy, theoretical, and practical philosophy in international and national contexts.
The main topics of interest are: analysis and research of ancient philosophy and reflection of Socratic tradition from antiquity to the present; the place of Cynicism in Socratic tradition; Enlightenment philosophy; research of Immanuel Kant´s philosophical heritage; history of philosophy in Slovakia and the Czech Republic; contemporary philosophy and methodology (methodeutics of science); thematisation of anthropological issues in the history of philosophy and reformulation of anthropological question in contemporary philosophy; axiological reflection of the status of science in philosophical reflection and contemporary culture; philosophical aspects of social criticism; neo-varieties of pragmatic projections of human reality.
Since 2012, the Institute of Philosophy has been publishing scientific papers in the research of Immanuel Kant in Slovak, English, and German language in a journal Studia Philosophica Kantiana.
International Cooperation
- Kant-Forschungsstelle, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
- Immanuel-Kant-Forum, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
- Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Krakow
- Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń
- Szegedi Tudományegyetem, Szeged
- Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), São Paulo
- Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow
Department of Ethics
The history of the Department is closely connected with the development of the study of philosophy at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prešov (FF PU). Within this study, ethics has been developed for a long time, which led to the establishment of a single-discipline study programme in ethics - a specialisation within philosophy. This programme was opened for the first time in the academic year 1997/1998 for study alongside employment. A year later, a full-time course of study was also opened in the form of combined teaching of academic subjects in ethics. As part of the comprehensive accreditation in 2004, the following study programmes were accredited for both bachelor and master degrees: Ethics (2.1.5), Ethics in combination (2.1.5) (with aesthetics, later in 2011 with social work) and Teaching of Academic Subjects in Ethics in combination (since 2005/2006, ethics education in combination). In 2005 we obtained the rights of habilitation and inauguration in the field of Ethics (2. 1. 5).
The Department of Ethics as an independent scientific-pedagogical workplace was established in 2005 as part of the reorganization changes at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prešov as part of the Institute of Philosophy and Ethics, and it remained in this form until 2013. In 2010, the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics became part of the Department of Ethics. This university department was unique in Slovakia and in the Central European region. The status of a UNESCO Chair in this period confirms the high quality of scientific research and educational activities focused on bioethics. Since 1 January 2014, the Department of Ethics has acquired the status of an independent institute at the Faculty of Arts PU in Prešov under the name of the Institute of Ethics and Bioethics (IEB). In August 2024, the Department was again merged with the Institute of Philosophy, thus renewing the original Institute of Philosophy and Ethics.
The scientific and pedagogical team of the department is well known in Slovakia and abroad for its scientific production, publishing activities, organization of scientific life and education of the young scientific generation. The focus of the team's work is the professional training of students of ethics, whose profile requires specialization for the needs of social and pedagogical practice. In addition to educational and pedagogical activities, the members of the department are actively involved in the solution of scientific research tasks, the results of which are currently published and also used in the education of students. Currently, the department focuses on research in the field of ethics (especially applied and professional ethics) in both international and national contexts, concentrating on the following main areas of interest:
- the existing status and perspectives of professional ethics in Slovakia with a focus on health care, education, economy (management) and public administration;
- the existing status and perspectives in the field of applied and professional ethics, such as economic ethics, management ethics, medical ethics, bioethics, nursing ethics, public administration ethics, political ethics, teacher ethics and environmental ethics;
- the history of ethics and ethical thinking in Slovakia in the period from the 16th to the 20th century;
- the development and research of consequentialist ethics;
- the development of ethical theory and its place in the preparation of teachers of ethics education.