NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK DIVISION OF LIBERAL ARTS AND GENERAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

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1 NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK DIVISION OF LIBERAL ARTS AND GENERAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES PHIL 3210/PH210: EXISTENTIALISM AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE (formerly HU310) COURSE DESCRIPTION: Origins and development of existentialist philosophy; its impact on religion, literature, psychology and social issues; its frequent description as a philosophy of extreme pessimism; its influence on modern thought. Prerequisite: writing One previous course in philosophy and CUNY certification in reading and 3 class hours 3 credits Suggested Textbook: Oaklander, L Nathan. Existentialist Philosophy, an Introduction. NJ: Prentice Hall 1996 Alternate Textbooks: Guignon, Charles and Derk Pereboom, eds. Existentialism: Basic Writings, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., Inc Raymond, Diane Barsoum. Existentialism and the Philosophic Tradition. NJ: Prentice Hall 1991 Grading: Exam 1 30% Exam 2 or paper 30% Final exam 40% Prepared by: Dr. Frank Derringh November 1989 Revised by: Dr. Daphne McKinney, February 1994, January 1997 Revised by: Dr. Walter Brand, February 2001 Revised by: Dr. Hugh McDonald, March 2004, November 2006 Revised by: Dr. W. Brand, April

2 14 WEEK OUTLINE EXISTENTIALISM AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE WEEK ONE: What is existentialism? Background - Existentialism a branch of philosophy - General Meaning of philosophy - Original meaning as love of wisdom - Philosophy becomes rational justification of basic beliefs - Descriptive theme of human nature or condition central to many philosophical projects - Existentialism as a continuer of this tradition - Anticipators of existentialist outlook: St. Augustine, Pascal, Kierkegaard - Dilemma of philosophy at the end of the Nineteenth Century - Death of God (Nietzsche) - Collapse of Enlightenment morality (Dostoevsky) - Impasse between idealist and materialist philosophies - Phenomenology as Husserl s third way - Concepts of intentionality and world WEEK TWO: What is existentialism? Existentialist Themes in Fiction - Relationship of Sartre to Camus - Sartre s interpretation of Camus s Stranger; Camus s response - Camus as illustrator of existentialist themes: his literary and non-fictional work - The Stranger in contexts of Camus s life; works; and French situation (colonies, fiction) - The Stranger as illustrator of existentialist ideas - Clarity of consciousness as index of authentic life - Direct relation between clarity of consciousness and moral suffering; comparison in this (and other ways) of two parts of The Stranger - Suicide (or voluntary death) as a (or even the) genuine philosophical issue (and what Camus means by that) - Death in relation to the Other - Values as personal choices and projects not imperatives from God or society - Freedom as a central issue, problem, and concept - Meaning of authenticity - Feeling and intuitions sources of insight into the human condition rejected by rationalist philosophies and science - Responsibility and anguish as inevitable to the human condition - Bad faith and its contrast to authenticity - Condemnation to freedom 2

3 - Absurdity of the human condition and what Sartre and Camus mean by this notorious characterization WEEK THREE: Nietzsche: The new moral position of mankind - Life of Nietzsche; relevance of philology to his philosophy - Man s avoidance of the problem of who we are - Search for origin of moral values as clearing way for new ones - Contrast between good and evil on the one hand, and good and bad on the other - Rejection of utilitarian ethics - Compassion as the greatest temptation in the way of forging a new and more adequate ethics - Nihilism (denial of life-assertiveness) as a danger to mankind - Examples of features of modern life which could illustrate nihilism - Noble origin of good - Slave transformation of values; role of priests - Historical accuracy of Nietzsche s analysis and its importance to understanding what Nietzsche is doing - Christian hate - Justifying the existence of mankind through the production of great individuals - Ontology and action; free will and the disguising of motives - Customary morality and its inadequate foundation on a false psychology - Extension of Nietzsche s ideas of traditional philosophy - Criticism of Nietzsche s ideas on Christianity - Nietzsche as critic of nationalism and anti-semitism - Sources of misunderstandings of Nietzsche - Who is the blond beast in Nietzsche? - Nietzsche s elevation of martial values and their appropriateness to the modern world (or inappropriateness) WEEK FOUR: Nietzsche: Culture and Instincts - Promises, and their structure - Importance of promises in traditional philosophy and political thought - Origin of responsibility as an ethical problem - Calculable, ordinary humanity and his morality - Prices and costs of reason - Guilt and owing - Punishment as compensation and the sphere of contracts - Rise of government and the imposition of justice through law - Distinction between the origin and the purposes of punishment (and in general, use of the distinction in explaining evolution of moral concepts) 3

4 - Origin of bad conscience in the socialization and pacification of human nature: the problem of culture and human instincts - Atheism and its possible moral consequences - The need for a true Redeemer of man s self-suppressed nature - Anticipators of Nietzsche s ideas, especially Machiavelli - Freudian development of Nietzsche s ideas WEEK FIVE: Nietzsche as Existentialist Exam 1 - Nietzsche on Dionysus and Apollo: reconciliation of culture and instincts - The problematic nature of humankind - Socrates and the death of tragedy - Socrates and the wrong turning in philosophy - Life without consolation - The rebirth of humankind from psychologically false morality - Concept of superman - Ambiguities in the concept of superman: extraordinary person or whole individual - Will to power and nihilism in our century what for? as the question of our age - Nietzsche s admiration for Socrates and yet his opposition to him - Nietzsche s praise of creativity - The ideal of self-perfection: its allure and its dangers WEEK SIX: Sartre: The Theory of Consciousness - Biography of Sartre; literary work; Nobel prize - Sartrean phenomenology - Duality of being-for-itself and being-in itself - Consciousness as immediate (self-) consciousness - Positional self-consciousness (reflection) - Negation and nothingness as origin of freedom - Between consciousness and action - Intentional structure of consciousness - The ego is in the world - Behavioristic translation of Sartre s language - Transcendence - Existence is prior to essence - The idea of God and Sartre s view of human consciousness - Causal laws in the world but not in human minds 4

5 - Sartre s theory of imagination as a good guide to his thoughts - Parallels between Sartre and Ryle (and other linguistic philosophers) - Objections to Sartre s theory of freedom as based in consciousness - Legal and ethical implications of Sartre s ideas WEEK SEVEN: Bad Faith in Sartre s Philosophy - Freedom and responsibility - Lacks and values - Anguish - Bad faith - Denial of freedom - How one can lie to oneself - Attack on Freudian psychology - Types of bad faith - Facticity - Values and possibilities - Sincerity (or authenticity) as the opposite of bad faith - The notion of a basic project - Criticisms of the idea of bad faith - Illustrations of bad faith in daily, modern life - Altering one s past and one s future - Altering one s character WEEK EIGHT: Sartre: Relations with Others - Problem of the existence of others - Body and mind, phenomenologically conceived - Solipsism in traditional philosophy - The look: the other as object (hints of Hegel here) - Expressing emotions and the difficulties or writing correctly about this condition - Uniting may consciousness to the other - World : its phenomenological meaning - Perception and action - Facticity and freedom: their co-existence - Nausea - Reduction to the object, and how it affects and infects sexual relations - Sadism and masochism WEEK NINE: Freedom and Existential Psychoanalysis in Sartre 5

6 - Sartre as liberator of mankind (comparison with Freud) - Sartre s criticisms of Freud s unconscious - Choosing emotions/motives - Inferiority complex as illustration of Sartrean analysis - Fundamental project - Radical conversion and anti-rationalism - Choice as used by Sartre: its possible justifiability and criticisms that have been made of it - The situation, and the necessity of freedom to being-in-situation - Death and converting it into a meaningful action or event - The Other and one s death - Psychoanalysis from the existential point of view WEEK TEN: Morality, and the Cultural Influences of Sartrean Existentialism - Authenticity - Sartre s rejection of conventional morality as types of bad faith - Evaluation of Sartre s criticism of traditional ethics - Alienation of bad faith - Problem of free relations among people - Sartre s pessimism about society - Sartre s communist sympathies; his hatred of the bourgeoisie - Sartre as moral/social critic - Sartre s politics - Outline of Sartrean dialectic - Existentialism and modern art - Anomalies and the rational structure of knowledge and science - Existentialist influences in today s cultural world Exam 2: During the past several weeks the students will have been tested on how to interpret some passages from Sartre or by having to discuss in their own words some of the central ideas in Sartre s writing. WEEK ELEVEN: Buber: A Religious Existentialist: Basic Concepts - Concept of dialogue - Religion and responsibility - Morality and religion - Community, a neglected existentialist idea - Concept of the single one - Problem of the individual in Kierkegaard - Relation of the religious to the world and to politics - Responsibility and the single one - Buber s famous I and Thou 6

7 - Criticisms of the I and Thou and Buber s response to them - Effect of relativizing science - Truth as subjectivity in Kierkegaard and in Buber - Illustration of above in Tolstoy WEEK TWELVE: Buber on Education - Education as the cultivation of the creative - The individual child and the child - Meanings of creation - Authority versus freedom: a misunderstood dichotomy - Asceticism in education - Dialogue in education - Education of character - Comparison to Dewey - Concepts of character - Habits, norms, and character - Soul in education - Return to God WEEK THIRTEEN: Summary, and Review - Review of essential concepts of existentialism - Existence prior to essence - Freedom and consciousness - Responsibility and bad faith - Authenticity - Values in self, not God or society - Student attempts to express these ideas - Suggestions for research into existentialist ideas - Positive side of existentialist ideas as contrasted with its notorious pessimism - Criticisms of existentialism WEEK FOURTEEN: Influences and Persistence of Existentialism Final Exam - Existential Psychoanalysis and Psychology: e.g., Binswanger, May, Kuhn. - Influence on the Arts, especially literature. - Religion, especially through Heidegger and on Protestant theology. - Social thought, especially through Sartre s later thought, an attempt to reconcile Marxism and existentialism. 7

8 14 WEEK BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES EXISTENTIALISM AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE At the end of the week indicated, the student should be able to: Week One: 1) Define philosophy and existentialism, phenomenology and other key terms that will be used. 2) Explain the philosophical-historical circumstances in the late nineteenth century leading to Husserl s phenomenology and the birth of existentialism. Week Two: 1) Discuss and illustrate how Camus s The Stranger is a literary vehicle for popular presentation of some central existentialist ideas (nihilism, absurdity, concern for meaning of death, suicide, etc.). Week Three: 1) Critically discuss Nietzsche s moral position and his ideas on Christianity, nationalism. Week Four 1) Explain Nietzsche s views on culture, government and law. 2) Discuss the anticipators of Nietzsche s ideas (e.g. Machiavelli) and the Freudian development of them. Week Five: 1) State, explore, and evaluate central concepts on Nietzsche s project for a reevaluation of all values, with emphasis on eternal return, cultural criticisms, rejection of utility, master/slave moralities and so forth. Week Six: 1) Explain the complex structure of consciousness and Sartre s account of a human being as Being and Nothingness. 2) Present criticisms of Sartre s theory. Week Seven: 1) Critically discuss Sartre s views on freedom and responsibility and his concepts of anguish, bad faith, facticity and authenticity. Week Eight: 1) Define and discuss key terms of Sartre s existentialism, such as consciousness (in its various forms,) nothingness, ego, intentionality, facticity, transcendence, authenticity. Week Nine: 8

9 1) Contrast and compare Sartre and Freud on the unconscious. 2) State and illustrate existentialist influences on psychology. Week Ten: 1) Evaluate Sartre s later ideas on the compatibility of existentialism and (his version of) Marxism. 2) State and illustrate existentialist influences on theatre and psychology. Week Eleven 1) Explain meaning of religious existentialism in general and the ideas of Buber in particular on dialogue, I and Thou, education, etc. 2) Compare central thoughts of Buber and Kierkegaard on the single one. Week Twelve: 1) Explain Buber s views on education 2) Compare and contrast Dewey and Buber on education. Week Thirteen: 1) Critically discuss existentialist ideas and to evaluate them in comparison to analytic work on similar themes. Week Fourteen: (Behavioral objectives of course) 1) Interpret the meaning of the saying existence precedes essence. 2) Explain the origin of existentialist thought in phenomenology. 3) Discuss the meaning of bad faith and authenticity. 4) Apply these ideas to contemporary moral, social, political and personal events. 5) Elaborate upon the central existentialist concepts of consciousness, freedom, world, value, project, absurdity. 6) Demonstrate awareness of how existentialist has influenced other areas of modern culture. 7) Understand existential roots in Nietzsche s themes of fighting nihilism, will to power, overman ( superman ), genealogy of morality, etc. 8) Comprehend existentialist fiction, especially plays and novels, as fully valid expressions of existentialist ideas. GENERAL EDUCATION General Education at New York City College of Technology, The City University of New York, provides students with a well rounded knowledge base, an appreciation of diverse cultural and intellectual traditions, an interest in relating the past to the contemporary world, and the skills necessary to reflect upon and shape society. A general education provides the opportunity to explore knowledge from various disciplines and perspectives, and to develop students abilities to read, write and think critically, and to assess information from a variety of sources. Further, and perhaps most importantly, general education develops students intellectual and creative curiosity and commitment to lifelong learning. 9

10 GENERAL EDUCATION LEARNING OUTCOMES Communication Read and listen analytically, comprehending the meaning of texts, including identifying an argument s major assumptions and evaluating its supporting evidence. Write clearly and coherently in varied academic formats using standard English to critique others texts and to improve upon one s own texts. Present a formal or an informal spoken presentation, speaking to persuade or to describe. Listening to detail by way of analyzing the meanings of texts. Critical Thinking Learning the language of logic, formally and informally, for reasoned argumentation. Critical thinking involves the interpretation and criticism of texts, often primary sources. Philosophical positions are evaluated from a variety of sources. Information is integrated into one s own system of beliefs. The basic concepts of logic are identified and studied, i.e., truth and falsehood, the statement, the argument, premises and conclusion, deductive logic, validity, soundness, inductive logic, strength and cogency, identifying fallacies, translating natural language into symbolic form, testing for consistency and entailment, studying and applying the scientific method. Information, Research and Computer skills Information literacy begins with knowing when information is needed. How is the information acquired and then evaluated for its quality? Information literacy allows us to synthesize information from multiple, perhaps, conflicting sources. The importance of using information ethically and legally is stressed throughout. Scientific and Mathematical Literacy Understanding logical argumentation as the basis for an understanding of the scientific method; scientific literacy studies the history of the sciences, and recognizes the contribution of science to human progress. It studies the interrelationships among the sciences and between science and the language of mathematics. An understanding of basic statistical analysis, for example, is necessary for evaluating scientific data and interpreting scientific literature. Humanistic and Social Inquiry Humanistic inquiry studies and comes to respect the diversity of human experience while learning the interconnectedness of global and local concerns. The diversity of cultural traditions is stressed throughout together with an understanding of social and political institutions. Humanistic and social inquiry recognizes a variety of perspectives that emerge from new scholarship on gender, race, and class as well as from non-western cultural traditions. The arts are stressed as a basic human activity. Art forms find their expressions culturally, politically, philosophically and ethically. ASSESSMENT OF GENERAL EDUCATION LEARNING OUTCOMES The methods for assessing general education objectives are generic but specificity may arise depending on which area of general education is being stressed. 10

11 Multiple choice quizzes are especially useful for assessing reading comprehension of basic content as well as attention to detail. The written assignment is many and various depending on the purpose of the assignment. Assignments range from the low-stakes one-pager to the formal term paper. In class, group work resulting in formal/informal oral presentations. Short answer quizzes addressing basic reading comprehension. Collaborative, in-class editing of written work. BIBLIOGRAPHY: EXISTENTIALISM AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE Revised by Dr. D. McKinney 1994 and 1997 Revised by Dr. W. Brand 2001 Revised by Dr. H. McDonald 2004 GENERAL: Guignon, Charles and Derk Pereboom, eds. Existentialism: Basic Texts, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co Langsdorf, Leonore, Stephen H. Watson and E. Marya Bowers, eds. Phenomenology, Interpretation and Community: Volume 19 in Selected Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. NY: State University of New York Press, 1996 Lyotard, Jean Francois., trans. by Brian Beakley with an introduction by Gayle L. Ormiston. Phenomenology NY: State University of New York Press, 1991 MacAnn, Christopher. Four Phenomenological Philosophers: Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau Ponty. NY: Routledge 1993 Oaklander, Nathan L. Existentialist Philosophy: An Introduction NJ: Prentice Hall 1992 Raymond, Diane Barsoum. Existentialism and the Philosophical Tradition NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992 Solomon, Robert C. From Hegel to Existentialism. NY: Oxford University Press 1987 (1989 paperback). Warnock, Mary. Existentialism. NY: Oxford University Press 1970 (Still in print 1996) HEIDEGGER: 11

12 Dallery, Arleen, V. Charles E. Scott, eds. with P. Holley Roberts, Ethics and Danger: Essays on Heidegger and Continental Thought. NY: State University of New York Press, 1992 Farias, Victor. Heidegger and Nazism. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, Gadamer, Hans-Georg, and John W. Stanley, trans. Heidegger s Ways. NY: State University of New York Press, 1994 Gelven, Michael. A Commentary on Heidegger s Being and Time. Rev. edit. Northern Illinois University Press, Guignon, Charles, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger. NY: Cambridge University Press, Kaelin, E.F. Heidegger s Being and Time : A Reading for Readers. University Presses of Florida, 1988 Langan, Thomas D., The Meaning of Heidegger. New York: Columbia University Press, MacAnn, Christopher. Four Phenomenological Philosophers: Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau Ponty. NY: Routledge 1993 Heidegger, Being and Time, A Translation of Sein and Zeit. Stambaugh, trans. NY: State University of New York Press, 1996 HUSSERL: Edie, James M. Edmund Husserl s Phenomenology: A Critical Commentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, Kolakowski, Leszek. Husserl and the Search for Certitude. Chicago: Chicago Univ. Press, MacAnn, Christopher. Four Phenomenological Philosophers: Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau Ponty. NY: Routledge 1993 McCormick, P. and F.Elliston. eds. Husserl: Shorter Works. Notre Dame, INd.: University of Notre Dame Press 1981 (still in print) Mensch, James R. After Modernity: Husserlian Reflections on a Philosophical Tradition. NY: State University of New York Press, 1996 Smith, David Woodruff and Ronald McIntrye. Husserl and Intentionality: A Study of Mind, Meaning and Language. Boston: Reidel, Stapleton, Timothy J. Husserl and Heidegger: The Question of a Phenomenological Beginning. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press,1984. (Still in print 1996) 12

13 KIERKEGAARD: Bloom, H. Soren Kierkegaard. NY: Chelsea House, Gardiner, P. Kierkegaard. NY: Oxford Univ. Press, Hannay, Alastair. Kierkegaard. NY: Routledge trans. Soren Kierkegaard,: Either/Or. NY Penguin USA, reprint Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling. NY: Penguin USA, reprint Soren Kierkegaard: Sickness Unto Death. NY: Penguin USA, reprint 1990 Mooney, Edward. Selves in Discord and Resolve. Essays on Kierkegaard s Moral-Religious Psychology from Either/Or to Sickness unto Death. NY: Routledge 1996 MERLEAU-PONTY MacAnn, Christopher. Four Phenomenological Philosophers: Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau Ponty. NY: Routledge 1993 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception.NY: Routledge printed 1995 NIETZSCHE: Ansell-Pearson, Keith. An Introduction to Nietzsche as a Political Thinker. NY Cambridge University Press Nietzsche contra Rousseau NY Cambridge University Press 1994 Babich, B.E. Nietzsche s Philosophy of Science: Reflecting Science on the Groudn of Art and Life. NY:State University of New York Press Gilman, Sander L. ed. Conversations with Nietzsche. A Life in the Words of his Contemporaries. Translated by David J. Parent. NY: Oxford University Press 1987 (1991 paperback) Haar, Michael. Nietzsche and Metaphysics, trans. and edited by Michael Gendre. NY:State University of New York Press Hollingdale, R.J. trans. Friedrich Nietzsche. Beyond Good and Evil. NY: Penguin USA (in print 1996) Friedrich Nietzsche. Ecce Homo. NY: Penguin USA (in print 1996) , selected, with introduction A Nietzsche Reader. NY: Penguin USA (in print 1996) Kaufmann, Walter, Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, 4th ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, (still in print 1996) 13

14 ed. and trans. The Portable Nietzsche, NY: Penguin USA (in print 1996) Lampert, Laurence, Nietzsche s Teaching: An Interpretation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press Levine, Peter. Nietzsche and the Modern Crisis of the Humanities. NY: State University of New York Press Magnus, B. and Kathleen Higgins. The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche. NY: Cambridge University Press 1996 Rosen, Stanley. The Mask of Enlightenment. Nietzsche s Zarathustra. NY: Cambridge University Press 1995 Schacht, R. ed. Nietzsche. NJ: Prentice Hall 1993 Solomon, Robert C., and K.M. Higgins. Reading Nietzsche. NY: Oxford University Press, (still in print 1996) Tanner, Michael, Nietzsche. NY: Oxford University Press ed. Friedrich Nietzsche. The Birth of Tragedy NY: Penguin USA (in print 1996) SARTRE: Dobson, Andrew. Jean-Paul Sartre and the Politics of Reason. NY: Cambridge Univ. Press 1993 Howells, Christina ed. The Cambridge Companion to Sartre. NY: Cambridge Univ. Press 1992 MacAnn, Christopher. Four Phenomenological Philosophers: Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau Ponty. NY: Routledge 1993 McBride, William, ed. Sartre and Existentialism. 8 volumes. Hamden, Ct. Garland Press 1997 Rybalka, Michel and Michel Contat, eds. Sartre: Bibliography Bowling Green, Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center 1993 Young, Julian. Nietzsche s Philosophy of Art. NY: Cambridge Univ. Press