The faculty of philosophy saves those who are not accepted in other ways

This has been confirmed for Kosova Prees himself by the Chief of the US Department of Philosophy, Christa Staff. Asked whether this affects the quality of the studies, Stefi says that the choice of studies is in the hands of students and that the department enjoys such intense interest.

I think it's in the free will and desire of interested ones to come to philosophy or not. The University of Pristina announces the competition for philosophy on the basis of the Department of Philosophy's request and with the approval of the faculty Council, and the same is true for other aspects, and the Department of Philosophy has the satisfaction that it can expect young students who want to study philosophy as their goal”, he says.

He also says that youths who study philosophy have numerous opportunities on the job market.

Despite that, several Kosovo municipalities began reducing and removing philosophy and logic subjects from the curriculum last year.

The move, criticised by cognitive education analysts, is not looking reasonable even for Parliamentary Commission for Education Chairman Ishmael Kurtesh.

He says that before a subject is removed or added, deep analysis should be made by education experts, while philosophy finds it necessary to be taught as subjects before going to university, in particular to students who choose human sciences.

A part of students who finish high school can go and study social subjects, including philosophy, but even if they are involved in political science or human science, philosophy is the basis of human science, which must be learned before going to the University”, says Kurteshi.

Meanwhile, the Kosovo Association of Philosophers now operates for four years, which teaches to promote young philosophers. Among its philosophers, there are not only students and graduates of philosophy but also young people from various fields of study or even people who do not study any academic program.

According to the head of this association, Ridvan Emin, the main criterion one must meet to be part of this association is to have love for knowledge.

Emini says Kosovo offers young people enough space to deal with philosophy, and added that their association is an additional aid to those who want to take over philosophy even beyond academic level.

And we as an association primarily promote philosophy, but of course, as part of the agenda or the goal of the association is to have an advantage over the younger generation, to offer them different projects so that they can see what philosophy is and then have the opportunity to come and study philosophy. We had some projects that were more primary, as you know, the Kosovo philosophers were closed, in the sense that they weren't part of any international or regional philosophy organization, and in 2016 the ShFK has become a member of the Forum Associations of Philosophy, which are within the U.S. NESTO's”, Emini declares.

And another group that is trying to turn the love of knowledge into young people are students and former students of philosophy, known as Virtual Sophies, who have recently founded the Center for Philosophy and Art.

One of the founders of this center, Ardian Batusha, says that their main purpose is to get philosophy out of academic circles and to practice it more in everyday life.

Batusha says that they are aiming to convert this center into a Paris coffee, which aims to promote existential philosophy.

We as a group think philosophy more than a story of thought. We think so because we think that philosophy makes no sense if it is not practiced in life - that is, if philosophy is not in relation to life, it loses meaning in some form. Therefore, our main purpose in establishing this center is to make philosophy and life together - to bring philosophy to an earthly level - to restore philosophy to life. I can give you an example of how we designed it. When we started with the Virtual Sophists, our goal was to promote existential philosophy, both extenciism, and historically, if seen, it promotes that, that is, the philosophy of life”, Batusha said.

Otherwise, this group also organizes the Book Club dedicated to philosophical characters.

Recently, some three philosophical magazines have been published in Kosovo, and activities of this nature are largely maintained by informal organizations and groups.