Phenomenology and Existentialism
Philosophy 408L
Fall 2005
MW 2:00 – 3:15 pm
Rex Gilliland
Classroom: Engleman D227
Office: Engleman D210
Office Hours: MW 3:15 – 4:30 pm, TR 12:15 – 1:30 pm, and by appointment.
Phone: 392-6783
Email: gillilandr1@southernct.edu
Course Description: Phenomenology and existentialism are two of the major movements in 20th century European philosophy, and each attempted to reassess the methodology and subject matter of philosophy in order to uncover the concrete elements of human experience lost in the abstractness of the philosophical tradition: The richness and complexity of the phenomena in our experience, and the manner in which human existence is shaped by the challenge of making the decisions in the face of an unpredictable future. In this course, we will start by examining the classical phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, especially his concept of intentionality, which emphasizes the manner in which memory and expectation shape experience. Then we will turn to Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological analysis of the role of the body in human experience. In the latter half of the course, we will turn to Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre’s somewhat different conceptions of the nature of human existence, including Heidegger’s writings on history and technology and Sartre’s concern with social and political responsibility.
Texts: 1. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, 2nd ed., trans. Colin Smith (
2. Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, trans. Hazel E. Barnes (New York: Washington Square Press, 1993) ISBN 0671867806. (Make sure to purchase this specific edition.)
3. Jean-Paul Sartre, Anti-Semite and Jew, trans. George J. Becker (New York: Schocken, 1995) ISBN 0805210474.
4. Recommended: Dan Zahavi, Husserl’s Phenomenology (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003) ISBN 0804745463.
5. All other readings will be available for printout on the SCSU Library Electronic Reserves.
Grading: Attendance and
Class Participation 20%
Papers (4) 80%
A+ 97-100
A 93-96
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 59-0
The majority of your grade will be based on 4 papers
(minimum 7 full pages each). Topics will be chosen in consultation with the
instructor, and there is the possibility of combining two of the assignments
into a longer paper. Prompt and consistent attendance and informed
participation in class discussion is expected. Please do the reading before
class and bring it with you. I strongly encourage students with disabilities,
including invisible disabilities like chronic diseases and learning
disabilities, to discuss with me after class or during my office hours
appropriate accommodations that might be helpful to them.
For guidelines on writing a philosophy paper, see: www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/philosophy.shtml or www.princeton.edu/~jimpryor/general/writing.html.
Tentative Schedule
M 8/29 Introduction to Course
Husserl Secondary Sources and Links
W 8/31 Cartesian Meditations Introduction 1-6;
“Philosophy as a Rigorous Science” 71-83, 122-129
Topic: The motivation for phenomenology as a philosophical and scientific revolution
M 9/5
W 9/7 Heidegger, History of the Concept of Time 27-80
Topic: The phenomenological method: Intentionality and categorial intuition
M 9/12 Heidegger cont.
W 9/14 The Idea of Phenomenology lectures I-III, 13-42
Topic: The shift from descriptive to transcendental phenomenology: The natural attitude and eidetic reduction
M 9/19 The Idea of Phenomenology lectures IV-V, 43-60
Topic: The intuition of essences through imaginative variation; Temporality
Paper #1 Due F 9/23 Paper Guidelines
Merleau-Ponty Secondary Sources and Links
W 9/21 Phenomenology of Perception Introduction sec. 4; part 1 ch. 3
Recommended: “The Primacy of Perception”
Topic: The shortcomings of the classical accounts of perception; Spatiality and embodiment
M 9/26 PP part 1 ch. 3 cont.
W 9/28 PP part 1 ch. 6
Topic: The relation of the body to thought and language
M 10/3 PP part 2 ch. 4
Topic: The role of the body in perception
W 10/5 “Cezanne’s Doubt”
Topic: Aesthetics and perception
M 10/10 “A Prospectus of his Later Work”; “The Philosopher and his Shadow”
Topic: Merleau-Ponty’s later conception of being
Sartre Secondary Sources and Links
W 10/12 Heidegger, The Concept of Time
Topic: Anxiety and authenticity
M 10/17 CT cont.
W 10/19 Sartre, “Existentialism and Humanism”
Topic:
What is existentialism and the nature of responsibility?
M 10/24 Sartre, Being and Nothingness part 1 ch.2
Topic: Bad faith
W 10/26 BN part 3 ch.1 sec. 4
Topic: How the gaze of other people shapes one’s self-image
Withdrawal Deadline F 10/28
M 10/31 BN part 3 ch.1 sec. 4 cont.
W 11/2 Beauvoir, Introduction to The Second Sex
Topic: What is the status of gender as a social category?
M 11/7 Sartre, Anti-Seminism and Jew
Topic: Racial identiy
W 11/9 ASJ cont.
M 11/14 Fanon, “The Lived Experience of the Black”
Topic: A critique of Sartre’s conception of race
Heidegger
W 11/16 Basic Concepts selection
Topic: What is being?
M 11/21 “The Self-Assertion of the
Topic: National identity
W 11/23 Thanksgiving
M 11/28 HEP cont.; “The End of Philosophy and the Beginning of Thinking”
Topic: The history of being
W 11/30 “Memorial Address”; “The Question Concerning Technology”
Topic: Technology
M 12/5 QCT cont.
W 12/7 “Building, Dwelling, Thinking”; “Poetically Man Dwells”
Topic: What is incipient thinking and how does it prepare for another beginning?
Final Exam M 12/12 12:45
– 2:45