Philosophy Department

1200 Academy St. Kalamazoo, MI 49006
 

 EXISTENTIALISM

 WINTER, 1999

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

TEXTS:
 

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

 2.  Olafson, Frederick A: What is A Human Being?  A Heideggerian View(Cambridge University Press, 1995).

 3.  Husserl, Edmund Cartesian Meditations (Excerpts)
 

SECONDARY LITERATURE:

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

 2. Olafson, Frederick: Principles and Persons: An Ethical Interpretation of Existentialism (John Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1967).
 

FILMS:

 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 40%
Midterm examinations 2 @ 15% each 30%
Journal Required though ungraded 10%
Final Paper 10-15 pages 20%
 
 

POLICIES:

          Open, respectful and critical discussion is the life-blood of this
     course.  Journals prepare participants for classroom deliberation, and the final
     paper offers students the opportunity to respond in depth to a single topic.
     Journals will be collected every three weeks, and the final paper is due on the
     day scheduled for the final examination.  3 unexcused absences will result in
     a full grade reduction.
 
 

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

TUE, JAN 5TH: COURSE MECHANICS
                                                   WEEK ONE
 

THURS, JAN 7TH: THE VOLUNTARIST CRITIQUE OF INTELLECTUALISM & THE
EXISTENTIALISM ETHIC OF AUTHENTIC INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS:

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

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

TUE.  JAN 12TH: THE DEMANDS OF PSEUDONYMOUS AUTHORSHIP UPON THE
READER:
                                                  WEEK TWO

          1.  Kierkegaard Introduction (Guignon, pp. 1-18).
 

THURS. JAN 14TH: JOHANNES DE SILENTIO'S ADMIRATION OF ABRAHAM.

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

TUE. JAN 19TH: KNIGHTS OF FAITH; KNIGHTS OF RESIGNATION.
                                             WEEK THREE

          1.  FILM #1: Babette's Feast.
 

THURS. JAN 21ST: THE TELEOLOGICAL SUSPENSION OF THE ETHICAL &
RELIGIOUS ABSOLUTION.
          1.  Discussion of Babette's Feast.

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

TUE. JAN 26TH: ANTI-CLIMACUS'S DEFINITION OF THE SELF AND JOHANNES
CLIMACUS'S CONCEPT OF SUBJECTIVE TRUTH.            WEEK FOUR
 

          1.  Sickness Unto Death (Guignon, pp. 70-77).

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

          3.  FILM #2: The Hairdresser's Husband (Evening film).

          4.  Midterm Assignment #1.
 

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

THURS. JAN 28TH: THE APOLLONIAN AND DIONYSIAN
          1.  Discussion of The Hairdresser's Husband.

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

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

TUES, FEB 2ND: THE OVERMAN                        WEEK FIVE

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

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

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

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

THURS. FEB 4TH: THE EXPERIENCE OF DISRUPTION REVEALS OUR SITUATION.
 

          1.  FILM #3: The Conversation.

          2.  Handout.
 

TUE. FEB 9H:  HEIDEGGER'S CRITIQUE OF TRANSCENDENTAL REFLECTION.
                                             WEEK SIX
          1.  Heidegger Introduction (Guignon, pp. 175-203).

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

THURS, FEB 11TH:  HEIDEGGER'S CRITIQUE OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY.
 

          1.  Being and Time (Continued).

          2.  Olafson, "Inside and Outside" & "Perception as Presence."

          3.  Discussion of The Conversation.
 

TUES, FEB 16TH:  HEIDEGGER'S CONCEPT OF AUTHENTICITY.
                                             WEEK SEVEN
          1.   Olafson, "Presence and Absence" & "Individuation."

          2.  FILM #4: Ikuru.

THURS, FEB 18TH: HEIDEGGER'S ACCOUNT OF THE "CONCRETE SITUATION."
 

          1.  Olafson, "Polarity and Agency," "Bodies" & "The entity
          each of us is."

 
TUE, FEB 23RD: KEEPING TRACK OF TIME.             WEEK EIGHT
 

          1.  FILM #5: Nobody's Fool.

          2.  Midterm Assignment #2.
 

THURS, FEB. 25TH: KEEPING TRACK OF TIME (CONT).
 
          1.  Discussion of Nobody's Fool.

TUE, MARCH 2ND:  FACTICITY AND FREEDOM: SARTRE'S INTERPRETATION OF
Being and Time.                                     WEEK NINE

          1.  FILM #6: The Passenger.
 

THURS, MARCH 4TH: SARTRE'S CONCEPT OF EXISTENTIALISM.

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

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

          3.  Discussion of The Passenger.

TUE, MARCH 9TH: BAD FAITH, FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY. WEEK TEN

          1.   Discussion of The Passenger.
 

THURS, MARCH 11TH: REVIEW & COURSE EVALUATIONS
 

FINALS WEEK:
 
 

    In this course, we will examine the works of several "existentialist" philosophers:
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre.  These philosophers attempt to unseat
traditional, "teleological" and "cognitivist" conceptions of human subjectivity.  From the
Ancient Greeks we inherit the idea that the self is a "rational," "thinking," or "cognitive"
being defined by an inherent purpose or telos.  According to this conception, the drama of
human life is played out in a thinking being's appraisal of its beliefs.  Knowledge, not will --
truth, not passion -- assume center stage here.  Against this "intellectualist" view of the self,
existentialists emphasize another strand of Western civilization: our "Judeo-Christian"
inheritance.  Accordingly they emphasize the role of choice, decisions or "volition" in human
life.  For the existentialists, the drama of human life is less a matter of truth than will.
Accordingly, they view desire, emotions, choice and chance in a decidedly more favorable
light than traditional intellectualist philosophers.
     Existentialism is generally associated -- particularly in the minds of North-American
readers -- with the image of a solitary individual confronting questions of a distinctively
personal nature.  Against the wide-spread enthusiasm for existentialism as promoting
"individualism" or the idea that human life is essentially isolated or private, I will argue that
the existentialist we read are concerned less with "individuality" than with the quality of our
ethical relations to others.  Throughout the course, we will be concerned with how such
philosophers conceptualize our "bonds" with others.
     We will compare and contrast how such philosophers view the role of emotion, desire
and choice in interpersonal relations.  More specifically, we will survey their efforts to
reconstellate traditional philosophical dichotomies between thought/being, body/mind,
rationality/irrationality and feeling/reason.