LECTURE SERIES

19TH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY: INTELLECTUAL HEROES AND KEY THEMES

TUE 4, 11, 18 AND 25 NOV, AND 2 DEC – 19:30 TO 21:30
Karl Dittrich Hall, Student Services Centre, Bonnefantenstraat 2

Rene Gabriëls, PhD
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, UM

In the 19th century, philosophers reflected on their precursors of the Enlightenment (Kant, Rousseau and Voltaire) and the aftermath of the French Revolution. Inspired in part by Romanticism, they initiated a new way of thinking and developed revolutionary ideas about the socio-economic and cultural problems they had to deal with. This series introduces you to the work of five of the most influential philosophers of the 19th century: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), Karl Marx (1818-1883), Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Discussing the main works of these intellectual heroes will give you a better understanding of the key themes of modern philosophy: the struggle for recognition, voluntarism versus determinism, theory and praxis, fear and anxiety, liberty and power. You will also be introduced to some of the most important philosophical movements of thought: Marxism, liberalism, existentialism and nihilism.

The individual lectures
1. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (4 Nov)
2. Arthur Schopenhauer (11 Nov)
3. Søren Kierkegaard (18 Nov)
4. Karl Marx (25 Nov)
5. Friedrich Nietzsche (2 Dec)


Costs of the whole series
UM students €10 / UM employees and students from other schools €25 / Others €50

 

 
 

04 November 2025

11 November 2025

18 November 2025

25 November 2025

02 December 2025