EXISTENTIALISM Profesor: Judson Odell

Curso ---/10 Hour: Tuesdays 2 pm 4 pm Site: 6082 Nicaragua Dept. 3 A Course Description Something has happened to me, I cant doubt it anymore. Its a fearsome task to place our human existence in all its inscrutable frailty and openness as the object of consciousness. Its a task avoided and unavoidable. There is a tradition of writers, widespread and diverse, who have taken the task and turned it into an effort of literary work, who have sought to elucidate the structures of this consciousness through philosophical and artistic expression. We have come to call this tradition existentialism, though many we include in it shirked or outright denied the characterization. We group them together for their shared themes and obsessions, but often, their differences are fundamental and irreconcilable. What is clear is that existentialism as a philosophical, literary, and historical movement is most definitively associated with the period when Europe was grappling with the horror of World War II, and most precisely with Jean-Paul Sartre. In Sartre, we find the most sustained and intentional attempt to work out the meaning of existentialism, both as a philosophical position and as a literary form. This course explores the various meanings of existentialism, gathering together the diverse writers to examine their similarities and differences. We will move chronologically beginning with a section called Sources, where well examine works from Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, and Heidegger whose themes presaged and in some cases directly influenced Sartres thought. Respecting his prominence, well devote a middle section entirely to Sartre, closely studying his two most important existential works, Nausea and Being and Nothingness. A final section, Others, will treat Camus, Beauvoir, and Beckett, who apart from their themes, and in Beauvoirs case, an apartment, shared with Sartre that formative moment in Europes consciousness. Learning Goals 1. Develop a facility for analyzing and making philosophical arguments. 2. Develop an understanding of the philosophical and literary movement of existentialism.

3. Develop an ability for writing about philosophy and philosophical themes in literature. Requirements 1. Attendance and participation in discussion at all classes. 2. Reaction Papers to be written each week on the assigned reading. Reaction Papers are about 5 pages long and should summarize the major themes or argument of the weekly reading. Some critical evaluation of the text can be included but should be secondary to the central task of exposition. Each weeks Reaction Paper must be completed by class time. 3. A Final Paper (12-18 double-spaced pages) that either critically engages part of the work of a figure covered in class or takes up a specific topic and critically relates the relevant positions of two or more figures. The paper should exegete primary sources and engage contemporary interpretations, anticipating objections and incorporating potential critiques. More detailed information about the final paper and potential topics will be provided later. Required Texts De Beauvoir, Simone. The Ethics of Ambiguity. Translated by Bernard Frechtman. New York, NY: Citadel Press, 2000. Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Translated by Mathew Ward. New York, NY: Vintage International, 1989. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from the Underground and The Double. Translated by Constance Garnett. Stillwell, KS: Digireads.com, 2008. Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time. Translated by Joan Stambaugh. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1996. Kierkegaard, Sren. A Kierkegaard Anthology. Edited by Robert Bretall. Princeton, NJ: P Princeton University Press, 1973. Nietzsche, Fredrich. The Birth of Tragedy & The Genealogy of Morals. Translated by Francis Golfing. New York, NY: Doubleday Press, 1956. Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness. Translated by Hazel E. Barnes. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1993. Sartre, Jean-Paul. Nausea. Translated by Lloyd Alexander. New York, NY: New Directions, 2007. Note: In order to ensure curricular harmony, the selection of readings was heavily influenced by Tamsin Lorraines Existentialism course (Phil 39 in Spring 2009).

Highly Recommended Texts Barrett, William, Irrational Man. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1990. Camus, Albert, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. New York, NY: Vintage, 1991. Recommended Texts Dreyfus, Hubert, Being-in-the-World. Boston, MA: MIT Press, 1991. Sartre, Jean-Paul, Words. NewYork, NY: Vintage, 1981. Beckett, Samuel. The Complete Dramatic Works. London: Faber and Faber, 2006. Grading Policy 1. Attendance and participation in class discussion will be 20% of final grade. Students begin with a grade of A. Any unexcused absence will result in a reduction of half a point (A to A-). Lack of participation in discussion will result in a lower grade. 2. Reaction Papers will be 45% of the final grade. All papers must be handed in, but only 10 will count toward the final grade. Out of the 13 papers, the lowest three will not count towards the grade. Grades for late papers will be reduced by a half point for each day it is late. Any paper that is not handed in by the end of the semester will be given an F and will be counted toward the final grade. Papers may be re-written once and the higher score of the two will be taken. Rewritten papers will not be accepted any later than one week after the original is handed back. 3. The Final Paper will be 35% of the grade. The final paper is due on the course Final Exam Day of the semester. Grades for a late paper are reduced by a half point for each day it is late. Course Schedule Note: Additional reading may be provided and class schedule is subject to change based on student progress through the material. Class 1. Introduction: Does Existentialism have an essence? Part I: Sources Class 2. Kierkegaard Reading: TBD Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapters 1, 7. Class 3. Kierkegaard Reading: TBD Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapters 2-3

Class 4. Dostoyevsky Reading: Notes from the Underground Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapters 4-6 Class 5. Nietzsche Reading: The Birth of Tragedy Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapter 8 Class 6. Nietzsche Reading: Genealogy of Morals Complementary Reading: Heidegger, Nietzsches Nihilism Class 7. Heidegger Reading: Being and Time, Introduction and Section I Complementary Reading: Being-in-the-World, Intro and chapter 1 Class 8. Heidegger Reading: BT, Section II-V and Letter on Humanism Complementary Reading: Being-in-the-World, chapters 2-5 Part II: Sartre Class 9. Sartre Reading: Nausea and Existentialism is a Humanism Complementary Reading: Words Class 10. Sartre Reading: Being and Nothingness, Introduction and Part 1 Complementary Reading: Words, Barnes Introduction Class 11. Sartre Reading: BN, Part II chapters 1 and 2 Complementary Reading: Words

Class 12. Sartre Reading: BN, Part III chapters 1 and 2 Complementary Reading: Words Part III: Others Class 13. Camus Reading: The Stranger Complementary Reading: The Myth of Sisyphus Class 14. Beauvoir Reading: The Ethics of Ambiguity Class 15. Beckett Viewing: Waiting for Godot and End Game Complementary Reading: Barrett, Chapter 11 and appendix 1