2015-2016
Phenomenology and Existentialism
Category: Philosophy
Code: IS 194
Level: 5
Credits: 15
Teaching Pattern
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Seminar
3 x 1hr
3 x 1hr
3 x 1hr
3 x 1hr
Lecture
3 x 2hrs
3 x 2hrs
3 x 2hrs
3 x 2hrs
Tutorial
1 x 20mins
*you will be expected to do approximately 108 hours of independent study over the 4 weeks.
Outline
Over 50 years ago, Merleau-Ponty began his great work The Phenomenology of Perception with the
words: ‘what is phenomenology?’ The aim of this module is to ask that question about the nature of
what has become one of the most important philosophical movements in the last 100 years. Overall,
phenomenology attempts to focus on ‘how’ things appear to us rather than simply asking ‘what’
these things are. Themes to be discussed include the nature of perception, the role of the sciences,
the impact of emotions, the body and inter subjectivity.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students will be able to:
Show in their essay an independent and critical grasp of the complex
phenomenological/existential problem they analyse
Critically evaluate these concepts and relate them in real-life experiences and contemporary
problems, in discussion.
Focus and attain more depth in a particular problem, which s/he should present in class.
Identify and explain the key notions taught during the module. They should also be able to
summarize in their own words the central discussions pertinent to phenomenology and
existentialism, as developed in class
Contacts
Christos Hadjioannou
1
SUMMER Session 2
Email:
[email protected]
Indicative Reading List
Core Reading List
Necessary Reading (excerpts from these books):
Sophocles Antigone (on the internet)
Søren Kierkegaard Fear and Trembling, Penguin (1985)
Franz Kafka The Trial, Penguin (1994)
Dermot Moran and Timothy Mooney (ed.) The Phenomenology Reader, Routledge (2002)
The Nietzsche Reader, ed. Keith Ansell Pearson and Duncan Large, Blackwell Publishing (2006)
Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, (trans. Macquarrie and Robinson) Blackwell Publishing (1962)
Jean-Paul Sartre Being and Nothingness
Martin Heidegger Basic Writings, edited David Farell Krell; Revised and Expanded edition (1993)
Maurice Merleau-Ponty‟s The Phenomenology of Perception, transl. Colin Smith, Routledge (1958)
Jacques Derrida Speech and Phenomena
Jacques Derrida On Hospitality
Emmanuel Levinas Totality and Infinity
Alexander Kojève Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit, Cornell
University Press (1980)
University Library
The Library,
University of Sussex,
Brighton
BN1 9QL
Phone: 01273 678163
[email protected]
2
SUMMER Session 2