Derrida and Contemporary French
Philosophy
Philosophy 498 (Special Topics)
Spring 2005
Rex Gilliland
Classroom: Engleman D227
Office: Engleman D210
Office Hours: MW 2:25 – 3:25 pm, TR 1:40 – 3:15 pm, and by appointment.
Phone: 392-6783
Email: gillilandr1@southernct.edu
Course Description: With the recent death of Jacques Derrida, we see the passing of a generation of French thinkers who have had a wide influence on philosophy and other disciplines. They have shed light on issues such as difference, multiplicity, and novelty that have been marginalized within the Western tradition. This course will introduce students both inside and outside philosophy to Derrida and Deleuze, French feminists such as Irigaray and Kristeva, and Lyotard, who have introduced terms such as deconstruction, the double bind, the virtual, abjection, and postmodernism into the academic and popular vernacular. It will provide a solid foothold in French thought: We will read a selection of more accessible texts in order to clarify the basic concepts and philosophical motivations of these thinkers. While the approach will be generally sympathetic, we will carefully consider the various criticisms of their views and whether their philosophical methods are sufficiently rigorous.
Texts: 1. Jacques Derrida, On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness, trans. Mark Dooley and Michael
Hughes (
2. Gilles
Deleuze,
3. Kelly Oliver,
ed., French Feminism Reader (
4. Jean-François Lyotard and Jean-Loup Thébaud, Just Gaming, trans. Wlad Godzich (Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 1985) ISBN 0816612773.
5. Various handouts
Grading: Attendance and
Class Participation 20%
Papers (4) 80%
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 1/24 Introduction to Course
Derrida Secondary Sources and Links
W 1/26, M 1/31 “The Politics of Friendship”
Themes: Alterity and responsibility
M 1/31, W 2/2 “Deconstructions – The Im-possible”
Theme: The logic of the aporia
M 2/7, W 2/9 “On Cosmopolitanism” (CF)
Theme: The ethics of hospitality
W 2/9, M 2/14 “On Forgiveness” (CF)
Theme: The impossibility of forgiveness
W 2/16 “The Force of Law”; recommended “Hospitality, Justice, and Responsibility”
Theme: Undecidability
M 2/21
W 2/23 “Différance”
Themes: Difference, multiplicity, repetition
Paper #1 Due F 2/25 Paper
Guidelines
Deleuze Secondary Sources and Links
M 2/28 “Plato and the Simulacrum
Theme: Simulacra
W 3/2, M 3/7 “The Method of Dramatization” (DI)
Themes: The virtual, difference
W 3/9, W 3/14 “How Do We Recognize Structuralism?” (DI)
Themes: Repetition, transformation
W 3/16 Selections from Deleuze’s work with Guattari
Themes: Schizoanalysis, the rhizome (nomadism and assemblage)
M 3/21, W 3/23 Spring Break
Paper #2 Due F 3/25 Paper Guidelines
French Feminism Secondary Sources and Links
M 3/28 Beauvoir, “Introduction to The Second Sex” (FFR)
Theme: Sexual Difference
W 3/30, M 4/4 Irigaray, “This Sex which is not One,” “An Ethics of Sexual Difference” (FFR)
Theme: Woman as other
W 4/6 Kristeva, “From One Identity to an Other” (FFR)
Themes: Semiotics, materiality
M 4/11, W 4/13 “Women’s Time” (FFR)
Theme: Women and individuality
M 4/18 “From Filth to Defilement” (FFR)
Theme: Abjection
Paper #3 Due F 4/22 Paper
Guidelines
Lyotard Secondary Sources and Links
W 4/20, M 4/25 “What is Postmodernism?”
Theme: The Postmodern
M 4/25, W 4/27 “The Différend, the Referent, and the Sign”
Theme: The différend
M 5/2 Just Gaming 3-18
Theme: Justice
W 5/4 Just Gaming 19-43
M 5/9 Just Gaming 44-72
W 5/11 Just Gaming 73-100
Final Exam W 5/18 5:15-7:15
pm Paper Guidelines