Sylabus
Structure
The module will be divided into two main parts. The first part will be dedicated to Henri Bergson, notably, to a careful reading of selected sections from both the Essay and Matter and Memory; two major problems will be at the center of our investigations: Bergson’s understanding of “freedom” in light of his notion of “duration”, as well as his way of recasting the mind-body (l’union de l’âme et du corps) problem based on his unique and very articulated conception of “memory”. By contrast, the second part of the module will introduce Heidegger’s powerful reflection on “time” within the framework of his analytics of Dasein (often translated as “human existence”). Even though all our readings and in-class discussions will be mostly based on the English translations (see below for more information), the original German and French texts will be always taken into consideration.
Requirements
Students will be evaluated based upon the following two parameters:
(1) Participation (which includes, yet is not limited to: doing the assignments, attendance, in-class active participation). If you areabsent, please ask some of your classmates for any assignments or key discussion materials missed.
(2) A 2000 Word Final Paper (deadline for submission, prompt and additional information will be provided in due course)
Course Outline
Week 1
General Presentation
Week 2
Sensation and Measurement: Introduction to the Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness
(from Essay, Chapter I)
Week 3
The Idea of “Duration”
(from Essay, Chapter II)
Week 4
The Problem of “Freedom”
(from Essay, Chapter III)
Week 5
A Twofold Notion of “Memory”
(from Matter and Memory, Chapter II)
Week 6
Memory and Movement
(from Matter and Memory, Chapter II)
Week 7
The Problem of “Dualism”
(from Matter and Memory, Chapter III)
Week 8
Introduction to Being and Time
(Being and Time, §§ 1-4)
Week 9
The Analytics of Dasein
(Being and Time, §§9, 25-27)
Week 10
“Existential” Structures
(Being and Time, §§29-32)
Week 11
Time and Death
(Being and Time, §§45-50
Week 12
Temporality and the Ordinary Conception of Time
(Being and Time, §§78-81)
Week 12
Final Discussion and Questions
Anotace
WINTER 2018
Charles University
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
(BA Module)
(NB: The course is for philosophy students only.
Students of other subjects need to be accepted to the course)
Daniele De Santis, Ph. D.
Time and Consciousness:
An Investigation of Henri Bergson and Martin Heidegger
(Th 9:10-10:45)
General Description and Aims of the Module
The present module is dedicated to discussing a classical problem of the history of philosophy, that is: the relation between “time” and “consciousness”. What is time? How do we experience it? How can time be represented? What is the relation between time and subjectivity? Between time and ourselves? Can we distinguish between different kinds or forms of temporality? Is time necessarily a subjective experience? In other words: does what we call time necessarily refer back to some sort of subject (be it understood as a consciousness or other), to which it would belong as a “form”?
In order to address this battery of problems, the module will proceed along a double path.
On the one hand, students will be provided with a systematic assessment of Henri Bergson’s early discussion of the topic at hand, notably, the way in which Bergson assesses the time-consciousness relation in both his 1889 Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness (Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience) and the 1896 Matter and Memory (Matière et mémoire). On the other hand, however, Bergson’s perspective will be compared with the phenomenological one, notably, with the way in which Martin Heidegger tackles the problem of time in his monumental 1927 Being and Time (Sein und Zeit). In so doing, we will be able to both focus on a specific “theme” and topic and to get an insightful understanding of two different, yet tightly related, philosophical traditions.