The topic of the Alien, as the opposite of one's own, has long been one of the hot topics across the social sciences. However, Bernhard Wadlenfels' responsive phenomenology aims to investigate the Alien at the level of its very essence and views every experience as a response to the Alien, disturbing the boundaries of our order. The Alien comes with a demand for a response that we cannot avoid, and which inevitably affects us on multiple levels. The Alien, a radicalized form of otherness, acts here as a hyperphenomenon, emerging with every experience that reflects our subjectivity. It establishes a hierarchical relationship in which we are forced to react with a response that we must first create.

In the dissertation, the creative essence of this specific form of responsivity plays a central role. Research tries to point out its appearance through the dialogical aspects of phenomena such as surprise, startlement or anxiety. However, the main object of interest is the creative process in art, where is illustrated several forms of the phenomena of the Alien and their critical roles in creative experience and its outcome. Insight from the perspective of responsive phenomenology should thus provide expanded possibilities for thinking about improvisation and the attributes and limits of free artistic expression.

The dissertation responds from a philosophical-anthropological perspective to the topical issue of the extensive and ongoing change of geological-climatic conditions on planet Earth. These changes are captured by the concept of the Anthropocene, which is defined by the basic idea of the extensive human impact on the functionality of the Earth System as a whole. In addition to the intense interest in anthropogenic influences, the basic idea of the Anthropocene has also produced a variety of perspectives through which the word “human” is interpreted in discussions of the Anthropocene. While the conceptual pluralism in anthropology points to the transdisciplinary aspect of the Anthropocene discourse, from a philosophical perspective there is a lack of mutual theoretical understanding of the term “human” and clarification of its overall meaning in the context of the Anthropocene. The objective of this dissertation is to develop a systematic understanding of the concept of “human” within the context of the Anthropocene. This will be achieved by elucidating the meaning of selected conceptions of the human and critically analyzing the relationship between these conceptions and the concept of the Anthropocene.

Rebellion is a neglected philosophical concept whose importance today cannot be underestimated. In contemporary society, we are contending with a dangerously misconceived notion of individual freedom, which sees the individual’s sphere of autonomy as unlimited and impervious to outside interference. This leads to all kinds of irrational rebellions, most recently witnessed in the revolt against public health measures during the pandemic. This raises important philosophical questions about the nature of freedom and rebellion, and it is obvious that in order for rebellion to be constructive and genuine, it requires a set of clear ethical rules and conditions.

The main focus of the dissertation is a historical analysis of the concept of rebellion. The research works with the theories of the Russian anarchists, Mikhail Bakunin, and Pyotr Kropotkin, and the French philosopher Albert Camus, all of whom consider rebellion as originating from the notion of freedom. Beyond this common thread, the work explores a deeper, so far not-fully explored, historical and conceptual connection, of Camus being profoundly influenced by the Russian anarchists. In exploring their connection, the research looks for ideas, which could be critically translated into a philosophical concept of rebellion that could be of use today.

The topic of the influence of selected Russian intellectuals, specifically the Russian Slavophile circle, on the thinking of Ľudovít Štúr was already addressed in the works of Tibor Pichler and Tatiana Ivantyšynová. However, the authors themselves raised questions regarding the character and intensity of this influence. This dissertation thus builds on the issue of the "reversibility" of Štúr's thinking, which presupposes changes in Štúr's approach to national emancipation and a shift towards the Russian cultural paradigm. In the context of differing perspectives on Štúr's ideological continuity or discontinuity, the thesis leans towards the former position and formulates the hypothesis that, in terms of ideological content, Štúr's thinking did not exhibit an uncritical shift.

The research is based on the three-phase division of Štúr's thinking, proposed by Tibor Pichler, which includes: 1) evolutionary rationalism, 2) revolutionary monarchism, and 3) tsarist fundamentalism. Štúr is perceived primarily as an intellectual actor in national transformation, who theoretically legitimized the Slovak national emancipation process. Special attention is therefore given to Štúr's specific interpretation of German Romanticism and idealistic-rationalist philosophy in terms of the national-social demands of the Slovak ethnicity. It is assumed that the original handling of the categories of reasonableness, freedom, necessity, history, nation, subjectivity, and objectivity in the first phase already brought Štúr's thinking closer to that of the Slavophiles. In this context, the thesis focuses on Štúr's theologism and Slavic Romanticism. The research objectives include: a comparison of the thinking of Štúr and the Slavophiles, the definition of the degree of Štúr's ideological originality and independence, the classification of Štúr as an intellectual actor of national transformation, and the determination of the degree of Štúr's ideological continuity in the three outlined phases.

This research aims to develop a novel, philosophically grounded approach to the problem of misinformation on social media. Up to now, academics and companies have explored technical solutions such as debunking or suspending misinformation-spreading accounts. Similarly, the current body of research, both in philosophy and in the social sciences, is focused on the features inherent to misinformation itself. This leaves a significant gap in understanding the role of people who tend to engage with false claims. This research aims to address this gap by using natural language processing (NLP) techniques to examine the epistemic characteristics of misinformation consumers. The main thesis is that in order to combat misinformation on social media, we shouldn’t focus on the endless struggle of curbing false content but rather on the underlying epistemic vices (that is, harmful thinking patterns like closed-mindedness) that allow it to flourish. The project proposes a novel approach to combating misinformation by targeting the algorithmic design of social media platforms to promote the dissemination of accurate information and foster epistemic virtues (that is, beneficial thinking patterns) among users. The project has both a practical and a philosophical side. The practical side focuses on developing solutions that can be applied to combat misinformation on social media. The philosophical side of the project delves into the root causes of why misinformation spreads. It examines how social media platforms can encourage negative thinking patterns (epistemic vices) that make users more susceptible to believing false information. The project also considers the ethical implications of regulating social media platforms and argues that some restrictions on free speech can be justified if they improve the overall quality of public discourse.