Philosophy in the second half of the 20th century was faced with the demands of formulating an adequate response to the world after the second world war: the rise of different forms of totalitarianism, the horrors of the war itself and the role of technology in bringing this about became urgent issues. We will examine two forms of response to this situation. Firstly, we will examine how Critical Theory attempted to explain and move beyond the social contradictions that had been laid bare during this period. Following on from this, the question of the place of language in our relations with the world came to a central focus of attention, giving birth to the ideas of structuralism and post-structuralism. In this part of the course we will engage with the work of Lacan, Derrida, Foucault and Deleuze.
'What is science? How is it different to pseudo-science? What counts as evidence for a theory? What kinds of things are theories? Are they true? If they are true, how is it that they change and get superseded by new better theories? What makes a theory 'better'? What is scientific knowledge and why is so prized as a form of knowledge? What explains the social success of science? These are all questions and topics that will be addressed and discussed in this summer term Philosophy of Science course.'
This is an online course. Do we need to secure our claims of knowledge before understanding what is absolutely true? How do we know what we know? What is the relation between our consciousness and the external world? Is the process of knowing immediate or mediated? Who is free in the master-slave relation? What is an ethical act in relation to the state? What does the death of Christ reveal to us? What is absolute knowing? G.W.F. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit seeks address these questions through an examination of the development of self-consciousness and the cultural-historical forms it takes in what he calls 'spirit'. This is Hegel's most revolutionary text, and has influenced all subsequent philosophy, Marxism, feminism, anti-colonial theory, existentialism, and postmodernism.
Explore some of the most important ideas, themes and thinkers in the history of Western philosophy. Learn about some of the central problems of philosophy, and how to puzzle them out for yourselves.
The 21st century has seen a crisis in the intellectual force of continental philosophy, with the passing of major philosophers such as Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze and Jean-François Lyotard, among others. But with this crisis arrives an opportunity to incite a new vibrant movement of critical thought that can account for our current epoch. Active philosophers and academics such as Jean-Luc Nancy, Alain Badiou, Catherine Malabou and Giorgio Agamben offer new provocations and interventions in science, art, politics and metaphysics, which this course will examine. We will explore the growing body of knowledge formed within the conditions of 21st century life, and follow the many diverse questions that these philosophers elicit: Where do we belong to and what do we share with each other? How does technology capture our subjectivation? Can philosophy engage with science and politics without dominating them? These questions and others will be evaluated carefully by closely reading prominent 21st century philosophical texts, and within the context of contemporary events and concerns that shape our living reality. Through our discussion, we will endeavour to understand how philosophy is slowly detaching from some of its traditions and passionately confronting acute questions and issues that are on the agenda, as it charts its own future.
It is not uncommon to hear today calls for a defence of and a return to Enlightenment values: but what exactly were they? The flourishing of the natural sciences from the 17th Century onward brought about not just an entirely new conception of the nature of the world but also a radical rethinking of the nature of reason itself, which in turn had profound implications for our understanding of the self and of society. But rather than a celebration of the serene progress of triumphant reason, the Enlightenment itself might be better understood as a series of crises. We will explore the myriad of issues these developments raise through an examination of the great thinkers of the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries.
This is an online course. Do we need to secure our claims of knowledge before understanding what is absolutely true? How do we know what we know? What is the relation between our consciousness and the external world? Is the process of knowing immediate or mediated? Who is free in the master-slave relation? What is an ethical act in relation to the state? What does the death of Christ reveal to us? What is absolute knowing? G.W.F. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit seeks address these questions through an examination of the development of self-consciousness and the cultural-historical forms it takes in what he calls 'spirit'. This is Hegel's most revolutionary text, and has influenced all subsequent philosophy, Marxism, feminism, anti-colonial theory, existentialism, and postmodernism.
Explore some of the most important ideas, themes and thinkers in the history of Western philosophy. Learn about some of the central problems of philosophy, and how to puzzle them our for yourselves.
Is Odysseus the prototype of the bourgeois individual? Has the Enlightenment destroyed the cultural need for myths? Is there a connection between instrumental reason and the rise of Nazism? What is the thinker's role in society? Is philosophy obsolete? What does art have to teach us? Is the jazz produced by Tin Pan Alley in 1930s ideologically problematic? Is thinking and feeling possible after the Holocaust? Is there a correlation between the way we open and shut doors and fascism? Theodor W. Adorno's (1903-1969) extensive body of work examines all these questions and more. In this course we will cover the major writings of Adorno, exploring the different facets of his thinking.
Kierkegaard fears that in the modern world people are giving up what it means to be a self in the profound sense of ethical integrity and spiritual depth. He says, 'a self is the last thing the world cares about and the most dangerous thing of all for a person to show signs of having. The greatest hazard of all, losing the self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss - an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. - is sure to be noticed.' According to Kierkegaard, the loss of a self leads to all manner of social, political, and ethical injustices - in short, it leads to despair. In this course we will examine Kierkegaard's existential philosophy of becoming an authentic 'self' ready to meet one's social responsibilities with ethical and spiritual integrity. We will explore Kierkegaard's double approach: to understand what causes people to lose a sense of self and to understand how to become a self in the Kierkegaardian sense.
This a online course. Do we need to secure our claims of knowledge before understanding what is absolutely true? How do we know what we know? What is the relation between our consciousness and the external world? Is the process of knowing immediate or mediated? Who is free in the master-slave relation? What is an ethical act in relation to the state? What does the death of Christ reveal to us? What is absolute knowing? G.W.F. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit seeks address these questions through an examination of the development of self-consciousness and the cultural-historical forms it takes in what he calls 'spirit'. This is Hegel's most revolutionary text, and has influenced all subsequent philosophy, Marxism, feminism, anti-colonial theory, existentialism, and postmodernism.
Explore some of the most important ideas, themes, and thinkers in the history of Western philosophy. Learn about some of the central problems of philosophy, and how to puzzle them out for yourselves.