This course was last taught in Fall 2006, and is now scheduled to be taught in Spring 2009. This page wil be replaced by an active home page while the course is being taught. The information on this static page is from the last time the course was offered. I expect that the next time it's taught there will be some relatively minor changes.
Course Description
This course examines the historical and conceptual development of phenomenology in the 20th century, starting with Husserl's "presuppositionless and purely descriptive science of the structures of consciousness", and including works by Sartre, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. We'll emphasize (a) the idea of a presuppositionless account of consciousness; (b) the motivations for and nature of the "existential turn", and (c) connections between phenomenology and both analytic philosophy and scientific psychology.Note for undergraduates: This is a
relatively advanced course, and shares class meetings with a graduate
course. I don't recommend it as your first upper-division course in
philosophy, and I suggest that you have taken PHI 312 (17th &
18th Century Philosophy) or the equivalent before taking this. If
you're uncertain about taking it, talk to me.
Course Requirements
Note: The official
requirements listed on the syllabus given out at the beginning of the
course override these, which are given for informational
purposes only.
Requirements Summary: Grades for students in PHI 442 will be 20% for each of two short papers, 20% for each of their two best exam grades, and 20% for class participation/etc. Grades for students in PHI 542 will be 15% for each of two short papers, 20% for the longer paper, 15% for each for their two best exam grades, and 20% for class participation/etc.
The fine print:
- Papers: Topics for short (about 1500 words) papers will be handed out four times during the semester, and will be due about a week after being assigned. You must do two of these, including at least one of the first two. (See the Addenda page for the rules on late papers.) For PHI 442, each short paper is worth 20% of the final course grade. In PHI 542, students will rewrite one of their two short papers into a longer (about 3000-4000 words) paper; for them, the two short papers are each worth 15% of the course grade, and the longer paper is worth 20%.
- Exams: There will be three 55-minute in class closed-book tests, spaced relatively equally throughout the semester. Tests are mostly short-answer format, and will be non-comprehensive. (See the Addenda page for the rules on makeup exams.) In PHI 442, a student's two best exam scores are each worth 20% of the final course grade; in PHI 542, the two best exam scores are each worth 15% of the final course grade.
- Participation, etc.: Class participation and other stuff will total 20% of your course grade. This will include the following, and perhaps more: Every few classes, I will hold "Chat Day", in which we devote a class to a question-and-answer and discussion period; you'll be expected to come prepared and to participate. I will occasionally ask for other small bits of work. These might include anything from a paragraph on some very particular question, to a question or two you have about the readings, to a reading quiz in class. These must be submitted by e-mail. Note that if you don't attend class, that clearly non-participation, and will be graded accordingly.
Readings
Books: (Will be available at Mary Jane Books, and not at the campus bookstore)- Required:
- The Transcendence of the Ego, Jean-Paul Sartre
- Phenomenology of Perception, Maurice Merleau-Ponty
- Optional:
- The Idea of Phenomenology, Edmund Husserl
- Ideas, Edmund Husserl
- Cartesian Meditations, Edmund Husserl
- Crisis of European Science, Edmund Husserl
- Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre
- The Emotions: Outline of a Theory, Jean-Paul Sartre
- Being and Time, Martin Heidegger
- Basic Problems of Phenomenology, Martin Heidegger
Other Readings: All readings other than the
required books (and maybe some of those too) are available online
as PDF files from the library's E-Reserves
page for the course.
Course Outline
Part I: Pure Phenomenology
- Foundations
- Husserl, The Idea of Phenomenology
- Kockelmans, "What is Phenomenology?"
- Phenomenological reduction
- Husserl, from Ideas, chs. 3-7
- Husserl, from Cartesian Meditations, First and Second Meditations
- Intentionality and reflection
- Husserl, from Ideas, chs. 8-11
- Solomon, "Husserl's Concept of the Noema"
- Horizon and life-world
- Husserl, from Cartesian Meditations, Fifth Meditation
- Husserl, from Crisis of European Science, Part III-A
Part II: The Existential Turn
- Existence and essence
- Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego
- Sartre, Introduction to Being and Nothingness
- Heidegger, Introduction to Being and Time
- Heidegger, Introduction to Basic Problems of Phenomenology
- Merleau-Ponty, Preface to Phenomenology of Perception
- Between the for-itself and the
in-itself
- Sartre, from Being and Nothingness
- Merleau-Ponty, from Phenomenology of Perception, Parts I and III
- Phenomenology and the Sciences of Mind
- Husserl, from Crisis of European Science, Part III-B
- Sartre, from Outline of a Theory of the Emotions
- Merleau-Ponty, "Phenomenology and the sciences of man"
- McClamrock, from Existential Cognition
Other Stuff
This material is all from the Fall 2006 version of this course. I expect some revision for the Spring 2009 version of the course.
If you have questions about the site or the course, please
e-mail me at ron at albany dot edu.