University of Oldenburg. Institute of Philosophy

Summer term 2026

• Dipesh Chakrabarty - A critical reading of "Provincialising Europe"

• The question of God - philosophy of religion as a critique of religion

Winter term 2025/26

• Postcolonial theory in criticism - from Said to Ndlovu-Gatsheni
• What is anti-Semitism?
• Introduction to the political philosophy of modernity: from Hobbes to Mouffe

Summer term 2025

• Introduction to the philosophy of law
• Materialist theories of racism

Winter term 2024/25

• Postmodern anti-realism. Michel Foucault's agonal interpretationism
• Carl Schmitt - Philosophy of the (geo-)political: state, partisan, large-scale spatial order
• Introduction to the political philosophy of modernity: from Hobbes to Arendt

Summer term 2024

• Postcolonial theory in criticism - from Said to Mbembe
• What is anti-Semitism? Part 2
• David Hume's critique of religion

Winter semester 2023/24

• Introduction to the philosophy of law
• What is antisemitism? Part 1
• Current positions of anti-racism

Summer term 2023

• Concepts of the political. Introduction to the political philosophy of modernity
• A classic of the Counter-Enlightenment: Joseph de Maistre's "Anti-Social Contract" - with digressions on the New Right and the discussion on "cultural appropriation"
• Postcolonial theory in critique - from Said to Mbembe

Winter semester 2022/23

• What is antisemitism?
• Silent compulsion - concepts of power in Marx
• Introduction to the philosophy of law

Summer term 2022

• Philosophy of Zionism
• Introduction to the political philosophy of modernity
• Interest-based ethics

Winter semester 2021/22

• Marxism, State and Anarchy - Max Adler's "The State Concept of Marxism"
• What is antisemitism? Philosophical, psychological and social-theoretical perspectives
• Theories of power from Hobbes to Foucault

Summer term 2021

• Problems of anti-racism: "Critical Whiteness" from a philosophical perspective
• Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political/Theory of the Partisan
• Introduction to the philosophy of law
• Economic and ideological criticism in Karl Marx

Winter semester 2020/21

• A classic of the Counter-Enlightenment: Joseph de Maistre's "Anti-Social Contract"
• What is anti-Semitism? Philosophical, psychological and social-theoretical perspectives
• Postmodern Marxism? Louis Althusser's "Ideology and ideological state apparatuses"

Summer term 2020

• Postcolonial theory in critique
• Problems of anti-racism: "Critical Whiteness" from a philosophical perspective
• Karl Marx as an introduction. Alienation - Capital - Revolution
• Dictatorship as a topic of political philosophy: Marxism - Fascism - Liberalism

Winter semester 2019/20

• From Karl Marx to post-Marxism
• Introduction to the philosophy of law
• Philosophy of understanding. Hermeneutics and hermeneutic criticism

Summer term 2019

• What is antisemitism? Philosophical, psychological and social-theoretical perspectives
• Interest-based ethics
• Introduction to political philosophy - from the modern era to the present day

Winter semester 2018/19

• From conservatism to the 'New Right' - theoretical sources and current contributions
• Karl Marx as an introduction. Alienation - Capital - Revolution

Summer semester 2018

• Racism and anti-racism from a philosophical perspective
• Concepts of the political. Introduction to political philosophy
• Dictatorship as a topic of political philosophy
• Research colloquium: Political existentialism - from Carl Schmitt to the Invisible Committee

Summer term 2017

• What is anti-Semitism? Philosophical, psychological and social-theoretical perspectives
• Moral philosophy of collective guilt. From Hannah Arendt and Karl Jaspers to the present day
• What is law? Introduction to the philosophy of law
• Basic motifs of the political philosophy of right-wing populism and fascism - using the example of Carl Schmitt

Winter semester 2016/17

• The political philosophy of populism. "Hegemony" and "radical democracy" in Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe
• Theories of property from antiquity to the present day
• Research colloquium on political philosophy and colloquium for doctoral theses and dissertations

Summer term 2016

• Philosophical contributions to the theory of fascism
• Erich Fromm: Psychoanalysis, social theory and ethics
• Interest-based ethics - contractarianism and utilitarianism
• Defence of democracy: Hans Kelsen vs. Carl Schmitt

Winter semester 2015/16

• Philosophical interpretations of the Shoah
• What is law? Introduction to the philosophy of law
• Alienation and labour. Basic concepts of Marx's social philosophy
• Introduction to the materialist theory of the state

Summer term 2015

• Plato's Sophists on politics and justice
• Concepts of power in modern philosophy
• Concepts of the political. Introduction to political philosophy
• Acceleration, 'market totalitarianism' and alienation - practices of subjectivisation in capitalism
• Carl Schmitt's political existentialism

Winter semester 2014/15

• Hannah Arendt's theory of modernity. Labour, mass society and the 'banality of evil'
• Introduction to the materialist theory of the state
• Alienation and labour. Basic concepts of Marx's social philosophy
• Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan"

Summer term 2014

• Concepts of the political. Introduction to political philosophy
• Jean-Paul Sartre and Moishe Postone. Critical theory of anti-Semitism
• Utilitarianism - 'utility' as a moral principle?
• Introduction to the critical theory of the Frankfurt School: late capitalism - authoritarian character - culture industry

Winter term 2013/14

• Critique of commodity aesthetics - on the philosophy of advertising and consumption
• Theories of property from antiquity to the present day
• Alienation and labour - basic concepts of Marx's social philosophy
• Colloquium for final theses
• Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan" - The foundation of modern moral and state philosophy in the spirit of 'exact science'

Summer term 2013

• Acceleration, market totalitarianism and alienation - practices of subjectivisation in capitalism
• Interest-based ethics
• Colloquium for final theses
• John Locke - human rights and property individualism.

Winter term 2012/13

• Philosophy of Democracy - On the Relationship between Reason, the Public Sphere and Parliamentarism
• Jean-Paul Sartre and Moishe Postone: Critical Theory of Anti-Semitism
• David Hume - The origin of morality, law and property
• Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan" - The foundation of modern moral and state philosophy in the spirit of 'exact science'
• Legal positivism. Introduction to the philosophy of law

Summer term 2012

• Carl Schmitt - Sovereignty, the political and representation
• Interest-based ethics
• Critique of Politics - Introduction to the Materialist Theory of the State

Winter semester 2011/12

• Human Rights, Tolerance and Property Individualism. John Locke's 'Two Treatises on Government'
• Legal positivism - introduction to the philosophy of law with special reference to German continuities
• Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan" - The foundation of modern moral and state philosophy in the spirit of 'exact science'

Summer term 2011

• Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics
• Utilitarianism - 'Utility' as a moral principle?
• Introduction to the critical theory of the Frankfurt School: late capitalism - authoritarian character - culture industry

Winter term 2010/11

• Aristotle: Politics
• Political philosophy as a critique of politics: Introduction to the materialist theory of the state
• Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan" - The foundation of modern moral and state philosophy in the spirit of 'exact science'

Summer term 2010

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Cultural Criticism and Social Contract
• The Concept of Law - Introduction to the Philosophy of Law

Winter term 2009/10

• Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan" - The foundation of modern political philosophy in the spirit of theoretical reason
• Limits of the Enlightenment? Anti-Semitism as a philosophical problem
• Carl Schmitt's concept of the political

Summer term 2009

• Private property - "deeply rooted in the nature of man"? Theories of property in modern philosophy
• Late capitalism - authoritarian character - culture industry. Introduction to the thinking of the 'Frankfurt School'

Justus Liebig University Giessen. Institute for Political Science

Winter term 2017/18

• Carl Schmitt's concept of the political - between right-wing populism and political existentialism

• Alienation and labour - basic concepts of Marx's social philosophy
• Theories of property from antiquity to the present day
• Introduction to the materialist theory of the state

Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. Philosophy Seminar

Winter semester 2019/20

• What is antisemitism? Philosophical, psychological and social-theoretical perspectives

Summer term 2019

• Introduction to political philosophy from antiquity to the present day

Winter semester 2018/19

• Karl Marx as an introduction. Alienation - Capital - Revolution

Winter semester 2017/18

• The theoretical foundations of right-wing and left-wing populism

Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Institute for Social and Cultural Sciences

Winter term 2014/15

• Theories of anti-Semitism (together with Sven Ellmers)

Summer term 2014

• Introduction to the critical theory of the Frankfurt School: late capitalism - authoritarian character - culture industry (together with Sven Ellmers)

Winter term 2013/14

• What money can't buy. Justice and injustice in the market society (together with Sven Ellmers)

Summer term 2013

• Culture and Politics in Critical Theory (together with Sven Ellmers)

Winter term 2012/13

• Classics of Social Philosophy (together with Sven Ellmers)

Winter term 2011/12

• Fundamentals of Critical Theory (together with Sven Ellmers)

Summer term 2011

• Political Philosophy. The contract theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Rawls (together with Sven Ellmers)

Carolo-Wilhelmina University of Technology, Braunschweig. Institute of Social Sciences

Summer term 2012

• Karl Marx, Das Kapital, Volume 1

Winter term 2011/12

• Legal positivism. Introduction to legal theory with special reference to German continuities

Summer term 2011

• Interdisciplinary Social Research and Critical Social Theory. Introduction to the thinking of the 'Frankfurt School'

Winter term 2010/11

• Interdisciplinary Social Research and Critical Social Theory. Introduction to the thinking of the 'Frankfurt School'

Winter term 2009/10

• Limits of Enlightenment? Social psychology of anti-Semitism
• Interdisciplinary Social Research and Critical Social Theory. Introduction to the thinking of the 'Frankfurt School'

Summer term 2009

• Introduction to social theory: Conceptual foundations of the social sciences
• Introduction to social psychology
• Interdisciplinary social research and critical social theory. Introduction to the thinking of the 'Frankfurt School'

Winter term 2008/09

• 'Disenchanted modernity' or 'religion of everyday life'? The concept of ideology
• State and society in the thinking of the Enlightenment
• Interdisciplinary Social Research and Critical Social Theory. Introduction to the thinking of the 'Frankfurt School

Summer term 2008

• Interdisciplinary Social Research and Critical Social Theory. Introduction to the thinking of the 'Frankfurt School'
• Introduction to materialist theories of the state

Winter term 2007/08

• Introduction to materialist theories of the state