Center for Law and Society

Füstös szivarszobák: A média és a politika kapcsolata

Political and state theory of the Catholic Church in the 20th century

The aim of the course is to introduce students interested in the social sciences and philosophy to the 20th century political and political theory tradition of the Catholic Church and to provide a space for discussion of different approaches.

Collision points: the interface between law, philosophy and theology

Social justice is understood in three ways in the history of thought (state theory, philosophy of law, political philosophy, social theory, social philosophy): as welfare, as freedom, and as virtue. Focusing on practical debates, we will look at these theories of justice through the lenses of law, philosophy and theology.

What do we owe the Ceasar? – State theories in Christian thought

The course will explore the great traditions of Christian political thought on the state, focusing on five authors. From the early Christian period to the present day, we will explore issues that are still relevant today through the significant texts of the most prominent authors of the period.

Reflections on Legal Philosophy

The aim of the course is to deepen the work of the Law and Society Centre, to get involved in research, to help school members in their choice of workshop, to discuss the scientific competition, class, specialised and workshop theses. Junior researchers and workshop members also participate in joint work, effectively helping each other to deepen their knowledge of legal theory. Participants bring their own texts or other related studies to the class, all of which are read and discussed after the student has led the session with a presentation. Fellows and guest lecturers involved in the work of the Centre will also be invited.

Law and Cinema

Through the analysis of a major work of cinema, we discuss the relationship between the individual, society and law from different perspectives.

Reading Great Works

The most eminent representatives of humanities, irrespective of historical period and discipline, have always devoted great attention and energy to constantly broadening their horizons, to learning about as many aspects of the world around them as possible beyond their professional interests, and to expanding their education. The aim of the course is to introduce students to the essays of Magyar and European authors, in the spirit of humanist education, in order to broaden their horizons and their general literacy, and to help them develop critical thinking.

Utopias and Dystopias in Social Theory

Utopias are a great tradition in social theory, and a significant subset of these are negative utopias, or in other words dystopias, counter-utopias, sometimes called uchronias. The literary and cinematic formations of these are the subject of this course.

Political Theology and Secular Religions

All the great typical concepts of state theory are secularised theological concepts. Political theology deals with issues such as sovereignty, the rule of the people, dictatorship, economics and environmentalism. Secular religions originate from the enlightenment, from the separation of Church and state, from secularisation. For long, the notion had been that rationalism leads to the slow fading and disappearance of religion. But now it seems that homo naturaliter religiosus: if one does not belong to a traditional organized religion (or a new religious movement), then one tends to fulfil one’s anthropologically funded religious needs and longings by other, pseudo-religions, by the so-called secular religions.

Who is an Intellectual?

Through the reading of major texts, we will examine what it has meant in history and what it means to be an intellectual today. We will shape each other’s perspectives and make important choices, decisions. On the one hand, the subject has a historical arc: the intellectual vocation, which emerged in the Middle Ages, goes through significant turns in the modern age until it reaches the cultural struggles of the postmodern age, with the doubts and question marks of the Magyar regime change. On the other hand, the subject also draws a vocational arc by exploring related basic concepts such as general literacy, classical literacy, the role of the intellectual, the literate class, the formation of social opinion, the canon, the nation, knowledge and the university.