Ondřej Černý

Since my birth in 1991 I have been able to experience Europe as a whole in which the borders of our country are not and ought not to be the limits of our thought. Nonetheless, Prague became my home, and I received my secondary education at the Johannes Kepler Gymnasium, studying under the influence of numerous inspiring personalities from 2003, with a short interruption in the winter of 2010. Then, a generous scholarship enabled me to spend a term at Winchester College and enjoy the delights of traditional British education. In Winchester my intention to study Classics germinated. Later I received a generous scholarship from the Bakala Foundation and in the autumn of 2011 I started my studies at St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford. I have been following the renowned course of Literae Humaniores, a beautiful four-year mixture of Classical Philology, Archaeology, Ancient History and Philosophy. Now, in the second part of my course – bearing the fitting title ‘Greats’ – I specialize in classical Greek philosophy and literature with a supplement of slightly more modern philosophy (esp. that of Descartes, Leibniz, Berkeley and Kant), but I also maintain an interest in other parts of the western philosophical tradition, which is best understood holistically. I believe, however, that ancient and early modern text still represent a well-established and inspiring gateway to philosophical thought for contemporary Europeans. This makes them especially valuable in education, the domain in which I wish to engage professionally one day – whether at a secondary school, which gives the teacher great responsibility as well as an opportunity to enform the interests and goals of young people, or in academia, where teaching is accompanied by research. After a one-year medical leave in 2014/2015, I finished my undergraduate studies in 2016 with a First Class degree, the Dean Ireland Prize for an excellent performance in Literae Humaniores and the Henry Wilde Prize for an excellent performance on my Philosophy papers in particular. I also won a full scholarship from the Faculty of Philosphy at the University College, who are taking over the burden from the Bakala Foundation, thus enabling me to continue my studies in Philosophy at Oxford for two more years. Within the ‘BPhil in Philosphy’ (a master’s degree, despite its name), I would like to deepen my understanding of Ancient Philosophy (esp. Plato & Aristotle), but also broaden my general philosophical competence across the systematic disciplines (e.g. Philosophy of Language, Metaphysics, Epistemology). The Oxford BPhil should equally prepare me for further study and, insha’Allah, for academic work.