EXISTENTIALISM

WINTER 2000

PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais
Humphrey House #202
Phone # 337-7076
latiolai@kzoo.edu
Offices Hours:
 1) Mon. 2:00 - 3:45
 2) Tue. 10:30 - 11:30
 3) By Appointment.
 

REQUIRED TEXTS:
 

 1.  Guignon, Charles & Pereboom, Derek: Existentialism Basic Writings: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre (Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis/Cambridge, 1993).

 2.  Bakhtin, M. M. [1981]:  The Philosophy of the Act (University of Texas Press, Austin 1981).

SECONDARY LITERATURE:

 1.  Dreyfus, Hubert: Being In The World: A Commentary on Division One of Being and Time.

 2.  Olafson, Frederick:
  a)  Principles and Persons: An Ethical Interpretation of Existentialism (John Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1967).
  b)  What is A Human Being?  A Heideggerian View (Cambridge University Press, 1995).

 3.  Beauvoir, Simone de, The Second Sex (New York, Vintage Books, 1989).

 4.  Butler, Judith.  "Circuits of Bad Conscience," Chapter Two The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection (California: Stanford University Press, 1997).

FILMS: (Shown on Wednesday Evenings, 8:00 PM, Dewing 103):

 1.  Babette's Feast.
 2.  The Hairdresser's Husband.
 3.  The Conversation.
 4.  Ikuru (To Live).
 5.  Nobody's Fool.
 6.  The Passenger.
 7.  The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

COURSE GOALS:

  To introduce students to existentialism as a critique of traditional Western philosophy (See detailed course description after reading schedule).

EVALUATION:
     Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, fidelity to an academic journal, two midterm examinations and a final paper.

Class Participation Seminar presentations and
discussion 20%
Midterm examinations 2 @ 15% each 30%
E-mail Correspondence
& Quizzes 4 @ 5% =  20%
Final Paper 10-15 pages 20%
 
 

POLICIES:
          Open, respectful and critical discussion is crucial to this course.  E-mail
     correspondence provides students with lecture materials important for our interpretation and
     criticism of texts, which prepare them for participation in classroom discussion, and quizzes
     allow students to evaluate their comprehension of basic terms, positions and arguments.
     Midterm assignments and the final paper offer students the opportunity to respond in depth
     to a single topic.  The final paper is due on the day scheduled for the final examination.  3
     unexcused absences will result in a full point reduction of the course grade, and later papers
     may be accepted with full point reduction for each day after the deadline.

1.  HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION: EXISTENTIALISM AS A CRITIQUE OF
TRADITIONAL WESTERN PHILOSOPHY.
 

TUESDAY:  COURSE MECHANICS
                                                                                                                                                       WEEK ONE
 

THURSDAY: THE VOLUNTARIST CRITIQUE OF INTELLECTUALISM & THE EXISTENTIALISM
ETHIC OF AUTHENTIC INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS:

          1.  Guignon, Introduction (pp. X111-XXXV111).

          2.  Handout.
 
2.  KIERKEGAARD'S ANALYSIS OF DEFINING RELATIONS: LOVE OF ANOTHER
AS ANALOGY FOR FAITH

TUESDAY: THE DEMANDS OF PSEUDONYMOUS AUTHORSHIP UPON THE READER & JOHANNES
DE SILENTIO'S ADMIRATION OF ABRAHAM
                                                  WEEK TWO

          1.  Kierkegaard Introduction (Guignon, pp. 1-18).
 
          2.  FEAR AND TREMBLING, Preface, "A Panegyric Upon Abraham" &
          "Problemata: Preliminary Expectoration" (Guignon pp. 18-48).

WEDNESDAY:

          1. FILM #1: Babette's Feast  (Dewing 103, 8:00 PM).
 

THURSDAY: KNIGHTS OF FAITH; KNIGHTS OF RESIGNATION.

          1.  FEAR AND TREMBLING, Preface, "A Panegyric Upon Abraham" & "Problemata:
          Preliminary Expectoration" (Guignon pp. 18-48) [Continued].

          2.  Discussion of Babette's Feast.
 

TUESDAY: THE TELEOLOGICAL SUSPENSION OF THE ETHICAL & RELIGIOUS ABSOLUTION.

                                             WEEK THREE

          2.  "Problem 1" & "Problem 2" (Guignon, pp. 48-70).

WEDNESDAY: THE TELEOLOGICAL SUSPENSION OF THE ETHICAL & RELIGIOUS ABSOLUTION.

          1.  FILM #2: The Hairdresser's Husband (Dewing 103, 8:00 PM).
 

THURSDAY: ANTI-CLIMACUS'S DEFINITION OF THE SELF AND JOHANNES CLIMACUS'S
CONCEPT OF SUBJECTIVE TRUTH.
          1.  Sickness Unto Death (Guignon, pp. 70-77).

          2.  Concluding Unscientific Postscript (Guignon, pp. 77-85).

          3.  Discussion of The Hairdresser's Husband.

          4.  Midterm Assignment #1.
 

3.  NIETZSCHE'S EARLY DUALISM AND LATER CONCEPT OF THE WILL TO
POWER:

TUESDAY: THE APOLLONIAN AND DIONYSIAN         WEEK FOUR

          2.  Nietzsche Introduction (Guignon, pp. 85-111).

          3.  The Birth of Tragedy (Guignon pp. 111-115).

WEDNESDAY:

          1. FILM #3: The Bacchae (Dewing 103, 8:00 PM).

4.  SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR CRITIQUE OF ESSENTIALISM AND ITS AFTERMATH:

THURSDAY:  THE OVERMAN

          1.  The Gay Science (Guignon, pp. 115-164).

          2.  Twilight of the Idols (Guignon, pp. 164-175).

          3.  "Women's Situation and Character," Simon de Beauvoir.

TUESDAY: CONSCIENCE AS INTERNALIZED REGULATIVE NORMS: NIETZSCHE AND MODERN
GENDER STUDIES:                                        WEEK FIVE
 
          1.  "Circuits of Bad Conscience" [hand out].

          2.  "Women's Situation and Character" (Continued).

          3.   Distribute Handout: Husserl's Cartesian Meditations (Excerpt).
 

WEDNESDAY:

  1.  FILM #5: The Conversation (Dewing 103, 8:00 PM).

5.  HEIDEGGER'S CONCEPT OF BEING IN THE WORLD: CARE, CONSCIENCE
AND AUTHENTICITY
 

THURSDAY: HUSSERL'S PHENOMENOLOGY: PHILOSOPHY AS CONTEMPLATIVE REFLECTION
 
          1.  "Women's Situation and Character" (Continued).

          2.  Lecture: Philosophy as Conceptual Analysis: The Phenomenological Reduction.
 
 

TUESDAY: THE EXPERIENCE OF DISRUPTION REVEALS OUR SITUATION & HEIDEGGER'S
CRITIQUE OF TRANSCENDENTAL REFLECTION             WEEK SIX
 
          1.  Heidegger Introduction (Guignon, pp. 175-203).

          2.  Being and Time (Guignon, pp. 203-247).
 

WEDNESDAY:
           1.  FILM # 6: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Dewing 103, 8:00 PM).

THURSDAY: HEIDEGGER'S CRITIQUE OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY.

          1.  Being and Time (Continued).

          2.  Discussion of The Conversation.
 
 
TUESDAY:  HEIDEGGER'S CONCEPTS OF AUTHENTICITY: THE "CONCRETE SITUATION"
                                        WEEK SEVEN
 
          1.  Being and Time (End).
 
          2.  Midterm Assignment #2.
 

WEDNESDAY:
          1.  FILM #7: Ikuru (Dewing 103, 8:00 PM).
 
 

6.  BAKHTIN'S EARLY WORKS: THE EXISTENCE OF THE ACT

THURSDAY: ONCE-OCCURRENT BEING AND THE TIME OF OUR LIVES.

          1.  Discussion of Ikuru.

          2.  The Philosophy of the Act.
 
TUESDAY: ONCE-OCCURRENT BEING AND THE TIME OF OUR LIVES.
                                        WEEK EIGHT

          1.  The Philosophy of the Act.
 

THURSDAY: MORAL UNIVERSALITY AND AESTHETIC INDIVIDUALISM
 
          1.   The Philosophy of the Act.
 

7.  SARTRE'S REINTERPRETATION OF AUTHENTICITY: RADICAL CHOICE AND
BAD FAITH

TUESDAY:  FACTICITY AND FREEDOM: SARTRE'S INTERPRETATION OF Being and Time.
                                          WEEK NINE

          1.  Sartre Introduction (Guignon, pp. 247-268).

          2.  The Humanism of Existentialism (Guignon, pp. 268-287).

          3.  Being and Nothingness.

WEDNESDAY:

          1.  FILM #8: The Passenger (Dewing 103, 8:00 PM).
 

THURSDAY: SARTRE'S CONCEPT OF EXISTENTIALISM.

          1.  Discussion of The Passenger.

TUESDAY: BAD FAITH, FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY. WEEK TEN

          1.  Review.
 

THURSDAY: REVIEW & COURSE EVALUATIONS
 

FINALS WEEK: