The course explores, both theoretically and empirically, the meaning of Europe, understood in its historical, cultural and normative developments. The course will survey the existing definitions of specifically European features or processes, such as humanism, the Enlightenment, the recognition of the intrinsic value of the individual and his/ her rights and duties, and the normative definition of freedom, tolerance, and equality.

One of the special interests of the course will be to compare the various definitions that such specific characteristics in their historical development and to ask whether there is something particularly European about them. The course will end by opening the debate about the appropriation of such specific values as democracy, freedom, tolerance etc. by a European intellectual tradition. Are these values the result of Europe-specific cultural developments or can they be extrapolated to include other regions of the world or humanity as such?