Invitation for the lecture “Why Today It Is Worth to Understand Culture as an Existential Whole” (09.10.2025)

European Centre for Philosophy of Culture (Faculty of Philosophy, UW) invites for the lecture: 

“Why Today It Is Worth to Understand Culture as an Existential Whole”

The lecture will be delivered by 

Professor Yevhen Bystrytsky 

(National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) 

Abstract: 

In the lecture, I would like to emphasize the changes in the philosophical understanding of culture, primarily in the meaning of the concept of culture. This means viewing culture not only through the lens of humanity’s spiritual progress and its expression in artistic and intellectual works, but also as an everyday way of national life. These shifts in meaning can be explored in contemporary discussions of “culture wars” in multicultural countries and, especially, in current debates between so-called liberals and communitarians. However, from a philosophical position “within” the lived experience of an existential war we are experiencing – that is, a war for the existence of national culture as a whole – such changes may be better understood in terms of existential ontology.

Date: October 9^th, 1:15-2:45pm

Place: Krakowskie Przedmieście 3, room 4

Yevhen Bystrytsky, Leading Fellow and Professor in the Department of Philosophy of Culture, Ethics, and Aesthetics at the Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. His research interests include theory of knowledge, phenomenology, and ontology, all of which are reflected in his work on philosophy of culture. He is the author of two monographs focusing on the problem of understanding and on human personality, as well as numerous articles (www.bystrytsky.org). In addition, he has both authored and edited several collective volumes on philosophy of culture, including his contribution on politics and culture to The Political Analysis of Postcommunism: Understanding Postcommunist Ukraine (University of Texas Press, 1997). He is also a member of the editorial board of the journal Filosofs’ka dumka.