Berlin | Otium Academy

Worldview is a system of ideas, beliefs and values that forms the core of our personality and gives us guidelines for making decisions and actions in this world. But are we aware of our worldview? Do we actively shape our worldview or does it develop spontaneously and chaotically, under the influence of various factors (most of which we are not aware of)? Do we create a worldview or is it created for us? Can we think critically and reasonably? How to change a passive position to an active one regarding your own thinking and worldview? Today these questions are especially relevant.

Why?

Because today individuals are being influenced to an unprecedented degree by propaganda, aggressive ideologies and manipulative technologies of a high level of effectiveness.
Because we live in an era of loss of guidelines and erosion of evaluation criteria in all areas of our practices.
Because the world is becoming more complex and today we need holistic knowledge and the ability to think critically and systematically.
Because modern man, passively and unconsciously exposed to various influences, is especially vulnerable and emotionally unstable.
Because you need to learn to make strong decisions in a complex world.

A conscious and actively formed worldview is:

The condition of individual freedom from external aggressive and destructive influences.This is a condition of dignity and self-control.
The foundation of maturity and wisdom of the individual in an era of radical disruption of all established ideas and values.This is the basis of our autonomy and uniqueness.
The ability to make independent and informed decisions in an unstable and unpredictable world.This is the possibility of subjectivity and sovereignty.
The foundation of internal stability and mental balance against the background of external storms and shocks.This is the foundation of the inner fortress.

What is the purpose of our classes? What will the workshop participants ultimately learn?

The ability to take an active position regarding one’s own worldview.
Developing skills for consciously forming your own picture of the world.
Teaching the most important art for a person: how to become the architect of your own worldview.
Teaching holistic thinking.
Skills for building your own self-education system.
The art of making difficult decisions.

Lecturer — Andrey Baumeister

Ukrainian philosopher, specialist in ancient and medieval philosophy, ontology, metaphysics, philosophy of law and philosophical textual criticism.

Translator of philosophical texts from Latin, ancient Greek, German and French into Ukrainian.

Doctor of Philosophy (2015), until September 3, 2023, Professor of the Department of Theoretical and Practical Philosophy of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Currently, he is a free philosopher.

WORCKSHOP PROGRAM:

First day — Friday

The lecture: What does it mean to think? Why do we need to think critically?

The main topics:

What are the main prejudices associated with thinking?
Consciousness, self-awareness, thinking.
Thinking and the brain (thinking and cognitive sciences).
Thinking and emotions.
Thinking and everyday experience. Common sense and expert knowledge.
Why thinking is not limited to brain activity.
Doubt, opinion, belief, knowledge.
Structure of thinking: concepts, categories, judgments.
Concepts, concepts, ideas, discourse.
What does it mean to think? What is critical thinking?
Why do we need critical thinking?
Advantages and disadvantages of expert knowledge.
Citizen knowledge. What should a mature and responsible citizen know?
Thinking and practice.

Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany,the first city in terms of population and second in area in the European Union.

It is one of the 16 states within the Federal Republic of Germany and is entirely located within the federal state of Brandenburg. The city is located on the banks of the rivers: Spree (which is why it is called “Athens on the Spree”) and Havel in the center of the federal state of Brandenburg.

The historical city center lies in a lowland, the modern city is located on the hills (Teltow and Barnim).

There are two main versions of the origin of the name “Berlin”. According to the first, the city got its name from the German word for “bear”, according to the second - from the Slavic word for “swamp”.

Second day - Saturday

Lecture “What does it mean to understand yourself? How to consciously build your worldview?”

Main topics:

How is critical thinking related to worldview?
Why awareness and knowledge are not enough for critical thinking.
Worldview and picture of the world. What is the difference?
Worldview: core and periphery.
Worldview and “background knowledge.”
Worldview structure: ideas, beliefs, virtues, values and goals.
Sources of formation of my worldview.
Pseudo-worldview, unconscious (implicit) worldview and imposed worldview.
Open and closed worldview.
Worldview and life experience.
Worldview and a happy, meaningful and fulfilling life.

Topic of the practical lesson: Discussion of the essay “My Worldview”.

When writing an essay, it is important to consider the following aspects:

What factors shaped your worldview? What personalities, encounters, life events, books and films have shaped you?

When did you start asking yourself “ultimate” (“worldview”) questions? What motivated you to ask yourself such questions? And what helped you answer them?

When did you think about your own worldview and become aware of it?

What about your worldview did you realize during the process of writing the essay?

How would you describe the core of your own worldview?

How did your worldview change and under the influence of what factors?

How does your worldview relate to your decisions and actions?

Visit to the “Old Museum” in Berlin (Ancient Collection)

The main task of visiting the “Old Museum”: meeting with the worldview and way of thinking of the Ancient World

The main stations on this route are:

The Iliad and Troy: the birth of European civilization
"Iliad" - Aristotle - "Aeneid" Virgil - Roman idea
How storytelling shapes worldview and reality (political, cultural and social)
The path from Troy to Rome and the foundations of European civilization

Old Museum (Altes Museum)- an art museum in Berlin, Mitte district, the first of the buildings of the Museum complex on the “Island of Museums” (Museumsinsel).

Until 1845 it was called the Royal Picture Gallery. The museum building was created in 1823-1830 according to the plan of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III and according to the design of the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the style of “Prussian Hellenism” to house the art collection of the family of Prussian kings.

After restoration in 1966, the museum houses a collection of art objects from the Antique Collection (Antikensammlung) and part of the coin collection (Münzkabinett).

Third day – Sunday

Lecture “Fundamentals of holistic thinking”

Main topics:

What is holistic thinking and why is it important?
Creating a holistic picture of the world: at the intersection of various knowledge and competencies.
Cognitive distortions. Classification and examples of cognitive distortions.
How propaganda works. Four strategies for mind manipulation: (1) opinions instead of facts, (2) fragmentation, (3) de-contextualization, (4) re-contextualization.
Why we are vulnerable and sometimes helpless in the face of propaganda.
Fragmented thinking: examples.
Thinking without context: examples.
Creating a new context for influencing public consciousness: examples.
From discourse to narration (narrative). Man as a story-telling creature.
Why we learn through stories. The role of symbols and myths in our life orientations.
Examples of “big stories”: return (the journey of Odysseus), discovery (exit from Egypt), eternal quest (Faust).
History, tradition, identity. What history are you a part of?

15:00–17:00 – Visit to the Bode Museum in Berlin

Main theme: the path from Rome to Constantinople and the Christian civilization of Europe

Stations along the way:

The Roman Empire: the crisis of the West and the transfer of the Roman heritage to the East (Constantinople)
The idea of Christianity
The Birth of Europe and the European Idea
Christianity, Judaism and Islam
From Christian civilization to the modern world

The Bode Museum is an art museum as part of the Museum Island ensemble in Berlin, which houses exhibitions of the Sculpture Collection, the Museum of Byzantine Art and the Coin Cabinet.

On October 17, 2006, the museum opened after a six-year restoration.

Until 1945, the museum bore the name of Kaiser Friedrich. In 1956, by order of the Minister of Culture of the GDR, Johannes R. Becher, the museum was named after Wilhelm von Bode.

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