Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy
In this course we will investigate a number of the most important philosophical developments in France and Germany in the 20th century. These movements will include psychoanalysis (Freud), phenomenology (Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas), existentialism (Sartre), hermeneutics (Gadamer), critical theory (Habermas), post-structuralism (Foucault), deconstruction (Derrida), feminism (Irigaray) and postmodernism (Lyotard). Particular attention will be given to the nature of human subjectivity and consciousness and the ongoing critique of the cogito ergo sum [I think therefore I am] of Descartes. Most of the central themes of 20th century Continental thought can be traced through Heidegger: the continuation of hermeneutics, existentialism and phenomenology; and the seeds of deconstruction, post-structuralism and postmodernism. The state of consciousness and subjectivity will be examined in terms of a number of interrelated topics: thinking and knowledge, language and writing, power and the individual’s relation to others. (Previous philosophy course or waiver.) 3hr lect./disc.