LECTURE NOTES:

PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais
Humphrey House #201
Phone # 337-7076
latiolai@kzoo.edu
Offices Hours:

1) Mon. 1:00 -- 3:00
2) Tue. 3:00 - 4:00
3) By Appointment.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

1. Guignon, Charles & Pereboom, Derek: Existentialism Basic Writings: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre (Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis/Cambridge, 1993).
2. Beauvoir, Simone de, The Second Sex (New York, Vintage Books, 1989) [Handout].
3. Butler, Judith. The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection (California: Stanford University Press, 1997).

SECONDARY LITERATURE:

1. Dreyfus, Hubert: Being In The World: A Commentary on Division One of Being and Time. (Massachussets: The MIT Press, 1991).
2. Olafson, Frederick. Principles and Persons: An Ethical Interpretation of Existentialism (John Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1967).
3. Olafson, Frederick. What is A Human Being? A Heideggerian View (Cambridge University Press, 1995).

FILMS: (Shown on Wednesday Evenings, 8:00 PM, Recital Hall):

• Babette's Feast.
• The Hairdresser's Husband.
• The Conversation.
• Ikuru (To Live).
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
• The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Memento
• Nobody's Fool.
• The Passenger.

The primary goal of this course is to introduce students to existentialism as a philosophical movement critical of the predominance of Graeco-Hellenic philosophy within the Western tradition (See detailed course description after Reading Schedule). Films are used as cinematographic artworks that raise important issues associated with particular existentialist figures. Paper assignments allow students to offer philosophical interpretations of such artworks.

EVALUATION:

Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, quizzes, two midterm examinations, and a final paper.

Class Participation		20%
Midterm Essays	1 @ 20% =	20%
Weekly Quizzes	8 @ 5% =	40%
Final Paper	1 @ 30 =	20%

POLICIES:

Students are expected to follow the reading schedule and to come to class prepared to actively discuss the texts they have read. More specifically, students must bring their texts to class with marginal notes, highlighted or underlined passages of particular importance, and 3 written questions to pose for discussion. Quizzes offer students the opportunity to identify and clarify central terms and concepts. The midterm assignment allows students to an essays on the key philosophical issues and arguments of the course, and the final paper offers 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 grade reduction. Late papers will be marked down a half grade for the first day and a full grade for the second day. All work must be turned in at the end of term, unless alternative assignments have been given by the instructor.

WEEK ONE

1. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION: EXISTENTIALISM AS A CRITIQUE OF INTELLECTUALISM:

TUESDAY: DEFINITION OF "EXISTENTIALISM" AS A SCHOOL OF THOUGHT:

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

• Guignon, Introduction (pp. X111-XXXV111).
• Handout.

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

WEEK TWO

TUESDAY: THE DEMANDS OF PSEUDONYMOUS AUTHORSHIP & JOHANNES DE SILENTIO'S ADMIRATION OF ABRAHAM

• Kierkegaard Introduction (Guignon, pp. 1-18).
• Fear and Trembling
  • Preface.
  • "A Panegyric Upon Abraham"
  • "Problemata: Preliminary Expectoration" (Guignon pp. 26-55).

THURSDAY: KNIGHTS OF FAITH; KNIGHTS OF RESIGNATION.

• Fear and Trembling [Continued].
• Discussion of Babette's Feast.

WEEK THREE

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

• Fear and Trembling
  • "Problem 1"
  • "Problem 2" (Guignon, pp. 55-77).

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

THURSDAY: ANTI-CLIMACUS'S DEFINITION OF THE SELF AND JOHANNES CLIMACUS'S
CONCEPT OF SUBJECTIVE TRUTH.

• Sickness Unto Death (Guignon, pp. 78-85).
• Concluding Unscientific Postscript (Guignon, pp. 85-92).
• Discussion of The Hairdresser's Husband.
• Midterm Assignment

WEEK FOUR

TUESDAY: HUSSERL'S PHENOMENOLOGICAL REDUCTION AS CONTEMPLATIVE REFLECTION: THE DREAM OF A COGNITIVE SCIENCE:

• Husserl's Phenomenology and Anthropology (Guignon, 276-289).
• Lecture: Philosophy as Conceptual Analysis: The Phenomenological Reduction.

WEDNESDAY: FILM #4: The Conversation (OU 103, 8:00 PM).

3. HEIDEGGER'S CONCEPT OF BEING IN THE WORLD AND AUTHENTICITY

THURSDAY: HEIDEGGER'S PHENOMENOLOGY:

• Discussion of The Conversation.
• Heidegger Introduction (Guignon, pp. 183-211).

• Heidegger Introduction (Guignon, pp. 183-211) [Continued]
• Being and Time (Guignon, pp. 211-254).

WEDNESDAY: 1. FILM #5: Ikiru (OU 103, 8:00 PM).

THURSDAY: HEIDEGGER'S CRITIQUE OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY.

• Being and Time (Continued).
• Discussion of The Conversation.
• Discussion of Ikiru.

WEEK SIX

TUESDAY: HEIDEGGER'S CONCEPTS OF AUTHENTICITY: THE "CONCRETE SITUATION"

• Being and Time (End).

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

THURSDAY:

• Discussion
• Introduction to Hegel's Master/Slave Dialectic:

4. SARTRE'S REINTERPRETATION OF AUTHENTICITY: RADICAL CHOICE,
BAD FAITH, AND THE MASTER/SLAVE DIALECITC

WEEK SEVEN

TUESDAY: FACTICITY AND FREEDOM: SARTRE'S INTERPRETATION OF Being and Time & HEGEL'S MASTER/SLAVE DIALECTIC.

• Sartre Introduction (Guignon, pp. 255-276).
• The Humanism of Existentialism (Guignon, pp. 290-308).
• Being and Nothingness (309-359).
• Hegel's Master & Slave [handout]

WEDNESDAY: 1. FILM #8: Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf (OU 103, 8:00 PM).

THURSDAY: BAD FAITH, FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE STRUGGLE OF THE GAZE.

• Assorted Secondary Articles on Hegel's Master/Slave Dialectic & Freedom
• Discussion Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf.

WEEK EIGHT

TUESDAY:

• Robert Pippin's "Leading a Free Life" from Hegel's Practical Philosophy.

THURSDAY:

• Robert Pippin's "The Freedom of the Will: Psychological Dimensions" from Hegel's Practical Philosophy.
  
  

FRIDAY EVENING HEGEL CONFERENCE KEYNOTE ADDRESS & SATURDAY CONFERENCE:

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

WEEK NINE

TUESDAY: THE APOLLONIAN AND DIONYSIAN

• Nietzsche Introduction (Guignon, pp. 93-118).
• The Birth of Tragedy (Guignon pp. 119-123).

6. NIETZSCHE'S LATER CONCEPT OF THE WILL TO
POWER & BUTLER'S THEORY OF GENDERED IDENTITY:

THURSDAY: THE OVERMAN

• The Gay Science (Guignon, pp. 123-172).
• Twilight of the Idols (Guignon, pp. 172-183).
• Selections from The Psychic Life of Power.

WEEK TEN:

TUESDAY: SUBJECIVITY AS CONSTITUTIVE RESTRICTION:

• Selections from The Psychic Life of Power.

WEDNESDAY: 1. FILM #7: Flawless (OU 103, 8:00 PM).

THURSDAY: SUBJECTIVITY AND SELF:

• Selections from The Psychic Life of Power.