VILLA STEINER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM | Seminar 1

Person, Freedom, and Flourishing

Understanding the human person in a changing world

This one-week seminar explores what it means to be human under conditions of change—where questions of freedom, responsibility, and human flourishing can no longer be taken for granted.

Dates:  14–20 June 2026  ·  Vienna, Austria   

Format:  Small group · Intensive study · Integrated action learning

Fee:  €1,200 · Rolling admissions until May 15

For those who resist superficial answers and seek to develop sound judgment and personal orientation.

Viktor Frankl emphasized that the human person cannot be reduced to biology, psychology, or circumstance. Even under pressure, human beings remain capable of freedom—the freedom to seek meaning, assume responsibility, and orient their lives beyond mere adaptation.


This seminar takes this insight seriously. Under the guiding perspective of Person, Freedom, and Flourishing, it brings together philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, ethics, and anthropology to explore what it means to be human in a changing world.


Participants examine questions of identity and agency, vulnerability and resilience, and the conditions under which human beings can flourish—across work, relationships, and adversity.

What Participants Gain

  • Clarity about meaning, purpose, and responsibility— across study, work, and personal decisions.

  • Stronger judgment in complex situations
    — beyond rules, opinions, or quick answers.

  • Sustained attention and habits for serious work
    — intellectual, professional, and personal.

  • A small learning community
    — one that often leads to lasting personal friendships.

What You'll Study

Four interconnected strands that explore personhood, freedom, and human flourishing from philosophical, psychiatric, and ethical perspectives. 20 hours academic core.

6 HOURS

Being Human: Foundations in Philosophical Anthropology

Central themes of philosophical anthropology—rationality, agency, relationality, and embodiment—are traced from Aristotle to contemporary thought. Different accounts of the human person are examined in their implications for ethics, culture, and social life, highlighting why debates about human nature remain decisive for questions of dignity, freedom, and responsibility.

OUTCOME

Clarity about personhood and why different accounts of the human person matter for dignity, freedom, and responsibility.

4 HOURS

The Fragile Mind: Insights from Psychiatry

Mental health is approached as shaped by biological factors, personal history, relationships, and social environment. Drawing on clinical and existential psychiatry, with particular attention to vulnerability and resilience, trauma and integration, and the role of meaning, relationships, and habits of thought in psychological well-being.

OUTCOME

Sound judgment about vulnerability, resilience, and the conditions that support psychological well-being.

4 HOURS

AI and the Self: Rethinking Humanity in the Age of Algorithms

Advances in AI sharpen questions of judgment, responsibility, and self-understanding. Attention is given to what distinguishes human meaning, creativity, and agency from algorithmic processes, and to how technology reshapes assumptions about rationality and decision-making—without replacing human judgment.

OUTCOME

A differentiated view of human agency and judgment in a technologically mediated world.

6 HOURS

Meaning, Freedom, and Human Flourishing

Meaning, freedom, and responsibility are considered as integrated dimensions of a well-lived human life. Human flourishing is approached not as optimization or success, but as orientation over time—across work, relationships, failure, and decision-making—connecting philosophical anthropology, mental health, and technological change.

OUTCOME

Orientation toward freedom and responsibility as lived capacities across work, relationships, and adversity.

Aloysius Ventham

Academic Director Villa Steiner Enrichment Program

Claudia Navarini

Professor of Moral Philosophy at Università Europea di Roma.

Raphael Bonelli

Neuroscientist and psychiatrist. Director of the IRPP, Vienna

Action Learning

Learning in this seminar does not stop at conceptual understanding.

Alongside academic sessions, Action Learning connects reflection with lived experience.

Action Learning is integrated into each seminar week (12 hours). It connects the academic core with real questions from participants’ own context—through guided reflection, dialogue, and shared examination of experience.

Action Learning at Villa Steiner

SEMINAR Context & Framework

FAQs

Answers to common questions about the seminar.

  • Who is this seminar for?

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  • What academic background is expected?

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  • What is the time commitment?

    The seminar runs as a one-week intensive in a residential format. Full participation is expected throughout the week, including sessions, discussions, and shared meals as part of the common academic life.

  • What is the workload of the seminar?

    Each one-week seminar is structured around approximately 20 hours of academic sessions and 12 hours of Action Learning.


    Academic sessions include lectures, guided discussions, close reading of texts, and individual reflection.

    Action Learning is integrated into the rhythm of the week and includes structured reflection, dialogue in small groups, encounters with practice, and cultural formats such as Coffeehouse Reading and Culture and the City.


    The workload is intensive but deliberately paced to allow for sustained attention, serious study, and meaningful exchange over the course of the week.

  • Is accommodation included?

    Beschreiben Sie den Artikel oder beantworten Sie die Frage, sodass interessierte Besucher der Website weitere Informationen erhalten. Sie können diesen Text mit Aufzählungszeichen sowie kursiver oder fetter Schriftart hervorheben und Links hinzufügen.

  • What does the fee include?

    The fee covers the full academic program, accommodation, meals, and all seminar-related activities during the week.

  • How selective is admission?

    Admission is selective and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Particular attention is given to motivation, intellectual engagement, and the overall composition of the group.

  • Are scholarships available?

    A limited number of merit-based scholarships are available. Applicants may indicate their interest during the application process.

NEXT STEPS

Apply for Person, Freedom, and Human Flourishing

Applications close May 15, 2026. Rolling admissions—early application recommended.

Apply for June 2026