Existentialism

Philosophy 525, Spring 2015Drew.Christie@unh.eduTuesday-Thursday 2:10-3:30, HS 140

EURO GN8 HUMA INQCRN: 54659

Office: HS 50AHours: Tues. 11-1:30and by appointment Jean Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir

The term existentialism calls to mind two images. One image is of 1940s French intellectualsJean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camusdeep in thought at left-bank Parisian Cafes. The second image is of an angst ridden adolescent in existential despair, having seen through the shallowness and pretense of conventional life forced on one by society. Both images of Existentialism contain important partial truths. Yes, Existentialism was a cultural movement associated primarily with French intellectuals during forties and fifties, though important precursors included Soren Kierkegaard, Frederick Nietzsche, Franz Kafka and Martin Heidegger. Yes, Existentialism shows great interest in individual feelings of dread, anxiety and alienation..Frantz FanonHowever, there is much more to Existentialism. Additional key issues include, what is it to be an authentic individual in a society dominated by conformity and the Media? What are we to make of the fact that life on Earth is but a blip in cosmic time? What should self-defining organisms without natures do? Is freedom a gift or a burden? Is Reason over-rated? Is academic philosophy dry, overly abstract and irrelevant? What is it to take our finitude (death) seriously? What to make of living in a fishbowl, constantly subject to the gaze of others? In what ways is the gaze focused on women and minorities oppressive? What existential perils exist in love and sex?

Books Camus, Albert. The Stranger, Vintage ISBN 0-679-72020-0 Mariano, Gordon. Basic Writings of Existentialism, Modern Library, ISBN 0-375-75989-1

Requirements35%7 contribution to discussion board with reply to a classmate.

30%Term Paper

30%Two reading tests (midterm, final)

5%Attendance

Albert Camus

ClassDatePostTopic & Reading -- M=Marino Existentialism, PHIL 525, Spring 14

11/20What is Existentialism?

21/22Intro., M ix-xvi | Abraham Tested, Genesis 22 (Bible, Blackboard) | Kierkegaard, M3-9 Problema I

31/27A-L1Kierkegaard, M10-23 Problema I. video: BBC Kierkegaard Sea of Faith Prt. I, II (10 min. each)

41/29L-M1Kierkegaard, M24-39 Problema II, audio: Clare Carlisle (on Blackboard)

52/3A-F2Kierkegaard, M41-57 Sickness unto Death

62/5G-L2Dostoyevsky, Underground I-VI M189-210 | study questions | video available online.

72/10M-R2Dostoyevsky, Underground VII-XI M210-230 | study questions | video available online.

82/12S-Z2Dostoyevsky, The Grand Inquisitor, M231-254 | video available online

92/17A-F3Nietzsche, Parable the Madman (on Blackboard), Genealogy I M107-124 | Reading questions | Video: Human and too human BBC Nietzsche (watch at home)

102/19G-L3Nietzsche, Genealogy I M124-144 | audio: Chris Janaway on Nietzsche on Morality (Blackboard)

112/24M-R3Nietzsche, Genealogy II M145-175 | audio: Brian Leiter on Nietzsche Myths (Blackboard)

122/26S-Z3Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals, Third Essay (on Blackboard) Sections 1-15.

133/3A-F4Sartre, Existentialism M337-345 | video online: Human all too human BBC Sartre (at home) | A students guide to Jean-Paul Sartres Existentialism and Humanism Nigel Warburton (online)

143/5G-L4Sartre, Existentialism M346-367

153/10M-R4Sartre, No Exit first half (Blackboard) | video online: In Camera, Jean Paul Sartre, No Exit, Huis Clos, Harold Pinter (excellent, optional)

163/12S-Z4Sartre, No Exit (finish) | audio: Gardner on Sartre on Bad Faith (Blackboard)

Break 2015

173/24A-F5Sartre - Self Deception M369-373; 380-390 |audio: Jean-Paul Sartre)

183/26G-L5Sartre, The Encounter with the Other | audio: Warnock on Sartre on Existentialism (on Blackboard)

193/31M-R5Heidegger M295-315,video: BBC Human all too Human