02 14 Existentialism

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EXISTENTIALISMProfesor: Judson Odell

Curso ---/10Hour: Tuesdays 2 pm – 4 pmSite: 6082 Nicaragua Dept. 3º A

Course Description

“Something has happened to me, I can’t doubt it anymore.”

It’s a fearsome task to place our human existence in all its inscrutable frailty andopenness as the object of consciousness. It’s a task avoided and unavoidable. There is atradition of writers, widespread and diverse, who have taken the task and turned it intoan effort of literary work, who have sought to elucidate the structures of thisconsciousness through philosophical and artistic expression. We have come to call thistradition existentialism , though many we include in it shirked or outright denied thecharacterization. We group them together for their shared themes and obsessions, but

often, their differences are fundamental and irreconcilable.

What is clear is that existentialism as a philosophical, literary, and historical movementis most definitively associated with the period when Europe was grappling with thehorror of World War II, and most precisely with Jean-Paul Sartre. In Sartre, we find themost sustained and intentional attempt to work out the meaning of existentialism, bothas a philosophical position and as a literary form.

This course explores the various meanings of existentialism, gathering together thediverse writers to examine their similarities and differences. We will movechronologically beginning with a section called Sources, where we’ll examine works fromKierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, and Heidegger whose themes presaged and in

some cases directly influenced Sartre’s thought. Respecting his prominence, we’lldevote a middle section entirely to Sartre, closely studying his two most importantexistential works, Nausea and Being and Nothingness . A final section, Others , will treatCamus, Beauvoir, and Beckett, who apart from their themes, and in Beauvoir’s case, anapartment, shared with Sartre that formative moment in Europe’s consciousness.

Learning Goals

1. Develop a facility for analyzing and making philosophical arguments.2. Develop an understanding of the philosophical and literary movement of

existentialism.



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3. Develop an ability for writing about philosophy and philosophical themes inliterature.

Requirements

1. Attendance and participation in discussion at all classes.

2. Reaction Papers to be written each week on the assigned reading. ReactionPapers are about 5 pages long and should summarize the major themes orargument of the weekly reading. Some critical evaluation of the text can beincluded but should be secondary to the central task of exposition. Each week’sReaction Paper must be completed by class time.

3. A Final Paper (12-18 double-spaced pages) that either critically engages part ofthe work of a figure covered in class or takes up a specific topic and criticallyrelates the relevant positions of two or more figures. The paper should exegeteprimary sources and engage contemporary interpretations, anticipatingobjections and incorporating potential critiques. More detailed information aboutthe final paper and potential topics will be provided later.

Required Texts

De Beauvoir, Simone. The Ethics of Ambiguity . Translated by Bernard Frechtman. NewYork, NY: Citadel Press, 2000.

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Translated by Mathew Ward. New York, NY: VintageInternational, 1989.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from the Underground and The Double . Translated byConstance Garnett. Stillwell, KS: Digireads.com, 2008.

Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time . Translated by Joan Stambaugh. Albany, NY: SUNYPress, 1996.

Kierkegaard, Søren. A Kierkegaard Anthology. Edited by Robert Bretall. Princeton, NJ: PPrinceton University Press, 1973.

Nietzsche, Fredrich. The Birth of Tragedy & The Genealogy of Morals . Translated byFrancis Golfing. New York, NY: Doubleday Press, 1956.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness . Translated by Hazel E. Barnes. New York, NY:Washington Square Press, 1993.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. Nausea . Translated by Lloyd Alexander. New York, NY: NewDirections, 2007.

Note: In order to ensure curricular harmony, the selection of readings was heavilyinfluenced by Tamsin Lorraine’s Existentialism course (Phil 39 in Spring 2009).



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Highly Recommended Texts

Barrett, William, Irrational Man . New York, NY: Doubleday, 1990.

Camus, Albert, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays . New York, NY: Vintage, 1991.

Recommended Texts

Dreyfus, Hubert, Being-in-the-World . Boston, MA: MIT Press, 1991.Sartre, Jean-Paul, Words . NewYork, NY: Vintage, 1981.Beckett, Samuel. The Complete Dramatic Works . London: Faber and Faber, 2006.

Grading Policy

1. Attendance and participation in class discussion will be 20% of final grade. Studentsbegin with a grade of A. Any unexcused absence will result in a reduction of half a point(A to A-). Lack of participation in discussion will result in a lower grade.

2. Reaction Papers will be 45% of the final grade. All papers must be handed in, but only10 will count toward the final grade. Out of the 13 papers, the lowest three will notcount towards the grade. Grades for late papers will be reduced by a half point for eachday it is late. Any paper that is not handed in by the end of the semester will be givenan F and will be counted toward the final grade. Papers may be re-written once and thehigher score of the two will be taken. Rewritten papers will not be accepted any laterthan one week after the original is handed back.

3. The Final Paper will be 35% of the grade. The final paper is due on the course FinalExam Day of the semester. Grades for a late paper are reduced by a half point for eachday it is late.

Course Schedule

Note: Additional reading may be provided and class schedule is subject to change basedon student progress through the material.

Class 1. Introduction: Does “Existentialism” have an essence?

Part I: Sources

Class 2. Kierkegaard

Reading: TBD

Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapters 1, 7.

Class 3. Kierkegaard

Reading: TBD

Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapters 2-3



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Class 4. Dostoyevsky

Reading: Notes from the Underground

Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapters 4-6

Class 5. Nietzsche

Reading: The Birth of Tragedy

Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapter 8

Class 6. Nietzsche

Reading: Genealogy of Morals

Complementary Reading: Heidegger, “Nietzsche’s Nihilism”

Class 7. Heidegger

Reading: Being and Time , Introduction and Section I

Complementary Reading: Being-in-the-World , Intro and chapter 1

Class 8. Heidegger

Reading: BT , Section II-V and “Letter on Humanism”

Complementary Reading: Being-in-the-World , chapters 2-5

Part II: Sartre

Class 9. Sartre

Reading: Nausea and “Existentialism is a Humanism”

Complementary Reading: Words

Class 10. Sartre

Reading: Being and Nothingness , Introduction and Part 1

Complementary Reading: Words , Barnes’ Introduction

Class 11. Sartre

Reading: BN , Part II chapters 1 and 2




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Class 12. Sartre

Reading: BN , Part III chapters 1 and 2


Part III: Others

Class 13. Camus

Reading: The Stranger

Complementary Reading: The Myth of Sisyphus

Class 14. Beauvoir

Reading: The Ethics of Ambiguity

Class 15. Beckett

Viewing: Waiting for Godot and End Game

Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapter 11 and appendix 1

Documents

02 14 Existentialism