The Neuwaldegg Summer Seminar is the annual "signature" conference of the Neuwaldegg Institute. This week-long learning experience is designed to focus the attention of participants from a variety of fields upon key ideas and concepts which are foundational to every free society. A team of professors with expertise in different aspects of philosophy present an array of issues to stimulate reflection on the constitutive elements of stable democracies and genuine freedom.

The professors combine lecture and seminar formats as well as informal discussion to help their audience consider the concepts and principles which constitute the bedrock of healthy social life, the origin and justification of these ideas, and the consequences of their denial.

For the first such seminar over 50 graduate students from 14 countries of Central and Eastern Europe came to Schloss Neuwaldegg, with the greatest numbers from Russia, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Participants were recommended by the deans of their departments and represented a variety of faculties, including law, politics, business, and medicine.

This year the four-course format was as follows:

The Existential Quest (Dr. Matthew Cuddeback) Understanding our world, including ourselves - human beings - demands answers to questions about being in general. What has the human mind discovered about the nature and origin of being, and how can reflection on this theme enrich the practical side of life?

Wisdom and Knowledge (Dr. Gavin Colvert) The dangers of propaganda and the surpassing value of freedom of expression are illumined by a consideration of the question of truth and falsehood. The limits and possibilities of human reason is a much discussed issue both in modern philosophy and in post-Soviet society.

Contemporary Ethical Reasoning (Dr. John Cuddeback) Professor Cuddeback outlined classic conceptions of human striving, from the early Greeks to post-modern thinkers, as a backdrop for discussion of current social and political issues, such as corruption and responsible citizenship.

Individuals in Society (Dr. Daniel McInerny) Do human beings come together through some sense of allegiance transcending particular interests, or is self-interest alone sufficient to bond human beings into a society? Professor McInerny outlined the development of the modern understanding of the political order, inviting students to evaluate a political system's ability to foster the unity and fulfillment of its members.

Go here to read some testimonials from participants