Syllabus
* Mandatory:
KIERKEGAARD. S.: The Sickness Unto Death. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
NIETZSCHE, F.: On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense. In Philosophy and Truth. Selections from Nietzsche´s Notebooks of the early 1870´s. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1993.
FLYNN, T.: Existentialism. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
* Recommended:
KIERKEGAARD. S.: Fear and Trembling. In Fear and Trembling. Repetion. Kierkegaard´s Writings VI. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983. S. 1-123.
NIETZSCHE, F.: Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
JASPERS., K.: Philosophy of Existence. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971.
PATOČKA, J.: Body, Community, Language, World. Chicago: Open Court, 1998.
GOLOMB, J.: In Search of Authenticity. From Kierkegaard to Camus. London/New York: Routledge, 1995.
Annotation
The course is intended as an introduction to the German variety of existential philosophy (Existenzphilosophie). We will be discussing the philosophical work of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger, and Patočka. Our goal is to understand the basic scope, topics, and bearings of this particular variety of philosophy. The course is open to all interested students and requires no significant prior philosophical knowledge. Weekly Schedule:
1. Introduction: Existence and existentia
2. Kierkegaard I: Stages of Existence
3. Kierkegaard II: The Synthesis of Existence
4. Nietzsche I: Metaphorical Existence
5. Nietzsche II.: A Genealogy of the (also)Human
6. Kierkegaardian Renesance: German Philosophy in the interbellum period
7. Jaspers: World-Views and Limit Situations
8. Heidegger: Existence and Dasein
9. Heidegger contra Jaspers - The Role of Philosophy
10. Patočka I: Existence and the Natural World (Lebenswelt)
11. Patočka II: Movements of Life
12. Is Philosophy of Existence Still Viable Today?
13. Conclusion