PHL 324: The Continental Tradition
Time and location: Tuesdays 10-11 and Thursdays 10-12, North Building 144
Instructor: Dr. Donovan Miyasaki
Office Hours and Location: North Building 202B
Email: miyasaki@chass.utoronto.ca
Phone: 416-923-6845
Course Website: http://individual.utoronto.ca/d_miyasaki/phl324/titlepage.htm
This course will provide an introduction to a number of key figures and topics in 20th century European philosophy, including phenomenology, existentialism, Frankfurt school critical theory and psychoanalytic thought. We will also explore the foundation of these philosophical ideas in the broader philosophical tradition—their inspiration in, and against, the work of Kant, Marx and Hegel. Although these philosophical developments are quite distinct and at times opposed, they nevertheless share common core concerns. Some of the uniting themes we’ll be discussing include the radical critique of traditional philosophical accounts of knowledge, human nature, the rational subject, and morality. Readings will include thinkers such as Heidegger, Sartre, Adorno, Marcuse and Foucault.
Texts
There are two required texts for the course, a photocopied course reader and The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, by Michel Foucault. Both are available at the UTM bookstore.
Evaluation
10% Course Participation First post due October 14
20% First Essay (4-6 pp) Due October 25
30% Second Essay (6-8 pp) Due November 29
40% Final Exam TBA
Turnitin.com
Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site.
For instructions on how to submit your essays to turnitin.com, please see the following website:
http://www.turnitin.com/static/training_support/tii_student_qs.pdf
To use turnitin.com, you will need to create a user profile. When you create your profile, you will be required to enter a class ID # (enter “1343629”) and a password (enter “phl324”).
Extensions and Excused Absences
The penalty for late assignments is 2% per day, including weekends. Extensions and excused absences will be granted only in clearly extenuating circumstances. (Note that ordinary scheduling and workload issues are your responsibility and consequently do not count as extenuating circumstances.) The request must be made in advance whenever possible and appropriate documentation will be required. Requests based on medical reasons must include a fully completed medical form. The physician must state the duration of the condition, state whether or not it interfered with the student’s ability to complete course work, sign or stamp the form, and include personal contact information.
Description of Assignments
1. Course Participation, total of 10%
Lecture Attendance, 6%
Attendance is required. For each unexcused absence, you will lose one percentage point of your final grade (up to a maximum penalty of -6%).
Online Forum Participation, 4% (2% per post)
Each student must post at least two messages on the course discussion board. The first post is due by midnight, Friday, October 14th. At least one of your posts must be in the “Questions” section of the forum. There’s no required length (a short paragraph is fine), but it should be a thoughtful and substantive post addressing a course topic.
2-3. Essays
Two brief essays on a choice of assigned topics (TBA). Essays should be double-spaced, with 1 inch margins and 10-12 point font. Please do not include a separate cover sheet. Essays must be handed in during class in order to be counted as received on-time. Late essays may be emailed. The penalty for late papers is 2% of your essay grade per day, including weekends.
For essay-writing help and information on grading criteria, please see “Essay Help” section of the course website. You should also download the handouts on proper source documentation and avoiding plagiarism in the “Handouts” section of the course website.
4. Final Exam (2 hours) – Details to be announced.
Please note that the faculty deadline for the submission of term work is the last day of class. Extensions beyond this deadline may be granted only if it does not interfere with the submission of grades. Otherwise, students must petition through their College Registrar.
Tentative Course Schedule
Week Date Reading
PHENOMENOLOGY
1 9/13 Introduction to the course
9/15 Nietzsche Twilight of the Idols, “Reason in Philosophy” and
“How the ‘True World’ Finally Became a Fable”
Genealogy of Morals, book III, section 12
Sokolowski Introduction to Phenomenology, 8-16 and 42-65
2 9/20 Polt Heidegger: An Introduction, 1-7 and 24-31
9/22 Oaklander Existentialist Philosophy: An Introduction, “Heidegger Lexicon”
Heidegger Being and Time, section 7, “Phenomenological Method of Investigation”
3 9/27 Polt Heidegger: An Introduction, 43-55 and 60-64
Heidegger Being and Time: Section 9, “Theme of the Analytic of Da-sein,”
9/29 Section 27, “Everyday Being One’s Self and the They”
Section 38, “Falling Prey and Thrownness”
4 10/04 Heidegger Continued, Sections 39-41, “Care as the Being of Da-sein”
10/06 Polt Heidegger: An Introduction, 85-92
Heidegger Being and Time:
Sections 54-57, “The Attestation of Da-sein of an Authentic
Potentiality-of-Being and Resoluteness”
Section 60, “The Existential Structure of the Authentic
Potentiality-of-Being Attested in Conscience”
EXISTENTIALISM
5 10/11 FIRST FORUM POST DUE THIS WEEK (by midnight, Friday the 14th)
Oaklander Existentialist Philosophy: An Introduction, 205-224
(stop at “Sartre’s Account of Bad Faith”)
10/13 Oaklander 224-230 (stop at “Sartre on Sex”) and “Sartre Lexicon,” 238-240
Sartre Being and Nothingness, “Bad Faith,” 47-50 and 55-67
6 10/18 Oaklander Existentialist Philosophy: An Introduction, 233-238
Sartre Being and Nothingness, 221-223 and 252-265
“Existence with Others: The Problem” and “The Look”
10/20 CLASS CANCELLED (no office hours)
PSYCHOANALYTIC THOUGHT AND CRITICAL THEORY
7 10/25 FIRST ESSAY DUE
Sartre Existentialism is a Humanism, 310-319
10/27 Kant “What is Enlightenment?”
Horkheimer “Ends and Means”
“End of Reason”
8 11/1 Marx “Alienation” and “Commodity Fetishism”
11/3 Adorno & Excerpt from “The Fetish Character in Music,” 278-280
Horkheimer Begin “The Culture Industry”
9 11/8 Finish “The Culture Industry”
11/10 Freud Group Psychology, chapters II and VII-X
10 11/15 Adorno “Freudian Theory and the Pattern of Fascist Propaganda”
11/17 Freud Civilization and Its Discontents, chapters IV-VII
11 11/22 Marcuse Eros and Civilization, chapter 4
RECENT CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY
11/24 Marcuse Continue Eros and Civilization, chapter 6
Nietzsche Genealogy of Morals, book II, section 12
Foucault Begin History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Part One
12 11/29 SECOND ESSAY DUE
Foucualt Continued, Part Two
12/1 Part Three
13 12/6 Part Four
12/8 Part Five
December 12-21: Final Examination Period