Suggested Topics, Final Paper – Contemporary Continental Philosophy
I would like the papers to include something significant about Bergson or Deleuze, though they can be compared to the other figures that we discussed in the class.
1. For Bergson, what is the relationship between memory and perception, and in what sense is memory virtual? Is Bergson’s conception of the virtual identical to Deleuze’s?
2. Compare Bergson’s distinction of familiarity in analysis and habitual action from the singularity of intuition with similar distinctions in Heidegger, Derrida, or Levinas. In what sense are intuitions singular?
3. How is memory in Bergson a concept of the beyond, and how does it compare with other concepts such as the other or concealment?
4. For Bergson, how does the repetition of memory lead to singular intuitions? How does this compare to difference and repetition in Derrida or Deleuze?
5. Critically examine Bergson’s dualism in Mind and Matter.
6. For Bergson, is intuition prediscursive? If so, does this lead to serious problems? Contrast Bergson’s view with Heidegger’s claim that experience requires language and Derrida and Levinas’ claim that experience requires the other.
10-12 pages
Due
Monday, March 10 at