Structuralism and Post-structuralism

In this course, we explore the philosophical movements of structuralism and post-structuralism - two of the most influential currents of 20th-century thought. Beginning with Saussure’s structural linguistics, we trace how thinkers like Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze reimagined the nature of language, power, subjectivity, and truth. Post-structuralism takes us beyond stable structures, revealing the instabilities, contradictions, and forces of difference that undermine any fixed foundation. Along the way, we engage with foundational texts and concepts - discourse, deconstruction, control societies, rhizomes - and ask how these ideas help us navigate a world no longer anchored in essences, but constantly reshaped by shifting relations, forces, and flows.

This course is aimed at students with prior experience studying philosophy - especially modern or Continental thought - who are ready to engage with demanding texts and theories. It is particularly suitable for those with an interest in language, power, culture, or the transformation of philosophical thought in the 20th century.

The course begins with structuralism’s origins in linguistics, and then turns to its philosophical development and subsequent critique. Through close readings of Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida, and others, we explore questions about how systems regulate knowledge and subjectivity, and how those systems can be disrupted or reconfigured. Students will engage directly with primary texts, including key essays and selections from longer works.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

· Identify central ideas in structuralist and post-structuralist philosophy.

· Read and analyse primary texts by Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida, and others.

· Explain how these thinkers understand concepts like difference, structure, and subjectivity.

· Understand the transition from structure to difference, and from system to process.

· Apply these ideas to broader cultural, philosophical, and political questions.