PHIL 215 - Phenomenology & Existential Thought

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Two fundamental philosophical movements of the 20th century are phenomenology and existentialism. According to Martin Heidegger, phenomenology could be invoked with imperative: “to the things themselves!” Inspired by the phenomenological writings of Husserl and Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre would later on, in an infamous lecture, summarize the existentialist philosophical attitude with the slogan: “existence precedes essence.” What do such claims mean? What are the things we are called to go to, and why does the phenomenologist, whomever they are, seek to go to them? What does it mean to claim that existence precedes essence? This course examines the main texts and figures of phenomenology and existentialism, focusing primarily on questions and concepts. Beginning with the examination of a consciousness in a situation, what is referred to as a “lived experience”, this course examines: the question of being, the meaning(s) of existence, the claims of lived experience, what imagining one’s projects in the world refer to, how beings address the question of their existence and mortality, and what political responsibility follows from an existential perspective of the world. Osman Nemli.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS