Phenomenology Phil 510 Department of Philosophy Purdue University Prof. Daniel W. Smith Fall 2005 Course Time and Location TTh 1:30-2:45pm LAEB B230 Description of Course This seminar is a critical and detailed (and necessarily selective) examination of some of the major figures and texts in the phenomenological tradition. This semester, we will focus primarily on the work of three major figures: Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty, although we will conclude the semester with readings from a number of important figures in the subsequent development of the phenomenological tradition. Course Requirements 1. Class participation (10%). We are expected to have read the assigned material before each class and to be prepared to discuss it. You are expected to attend class regularly. 2. Presentations and Responses (20% each): You will be expected to give one seminar presentation in class, and also to give a short response to one of your colleagues presentations. For the presentation, you should bring to class a text of no more than one page that presents a brief summary of the assigned reading, and proposes two or three questions/problems derived from the reading, which will be used as the basis of our class discussion for that day. Presenters will have no more than ten minutes to summarize their questions, and respondents will have five minutes to formulate an initial response to one (or more) of the questions. The task of the respondent will simply be to start off our communal discussion. 2. Papers (70%). You will be required to write a mid-term paper of approx 5-7 pages (30%) and a final paper of 10-12 pages (40%). The mid-term paper will be on Husserl or Heidegger, the final paper on a topic of your choice, made in consultation with the instructor. Texts Required: Robert Sokolowski, Introduction to Phenomenology (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999). [=IP] Edmund Husserl, The Essential Husserl: Basic Writings in Transcendental Philosophy, ed. Donn Welton (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999). Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. Robinson and Macquarie (San Francisco: Harper, 1962) [=BT] ----------. Basic Writings, ed. David Farrell Krell (San Francisco: Harper, 1993) [=BW] Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, trans. C. Smith (London: Routledge, 1992) [=PP] Dominique Janicaud, ed., Phenomenology and the Theological Turn: The French Debate (New York: Fordham University Press, 2000). [=PTT] Recommended: Dermot Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology (New York and London: Routledge, 2000). Tentative Course Schedule This is a tentative schedule of readings, which may be altered during the course of the semester. Week 1: Aug 23: Introductory: What is Phenomenology? I. EDMUND HUSSERL (Consciousness) Aug 25: The Structure of Intentionality: the Natural Attitude and the
2 Phenomenological Reduction Reading: Sokolowski, chaps. 1-4, pp. 8-65. Background: Husserl, The Basic Approach to Phenomenology, in EH, pp. 60-85. Week 2: Aug 30: The Phenomenological Analysis of Experience Reading: Sokolowski, chaps. 5-7, pp. 66-111. Background: Husserl, The Noetic and Noematic Structure of Consciousness, in EH, pp. 100-112). Presenter: Gabriella Giorno Respondent: Alex Anderson Sep 01: The Self and Internal Time Consciousness Reading: Sokolowski, chaps. 8-9, pp. 112-130 Background: Husserl, A Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time, in EH, pp. 186-220. Presenter: Justin Marquis Respondent: Micky Lorkowski Week 3: Sep 06: The Lifeworld and the Nature of Reason Reading: Sokolowski, chap. 10-13, p. 146-197 Background: Husserl, From Subjectivity to Intersubjectivity, EH, pp. 135-160; and Elements of a Science of the Life-World, in EH, pp. 363-378; and The Varieties of Evidence, in EH, pp. 113-121; and Universals, pp. 282-300. Presenter: Robert King Respondent: Dara Hill Sep 08: Heidegger s critique of Husserl: From transcendental phenomenology to fundamental ontology Reading: Heidegger, History of the Concept of Time, excerpts from chapter two: 5. Intentionality (pp. 27-47) and 6. Categorial Intuition (pp. 47-72). Presenter: Anthony Malagon Respondent: Gabriella Giorno II. MARTIN HEIDEGGER (Being) Week 4: Sep 13: The Question of Being Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, Introduction, 1-6 Presenter: Nate Hribar Respondent: Bob Robinson Sep 15: The Existential Analytic Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, Introduction, 6-11 Presenter: Micky Lorkowski Respondent: Greg Esplin A. Being and Time, Part One Week 5: Sep 20: Dasein s Being-in-the-World Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, 12-14 Presenter: Jason Scott Respondent: Shannon Nason Sep 22: Equipment : Ready-to-Hand and Present-at-Hand Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, 15-16 Presenter: Erin Kealey Respondent: Alexander Vix
3 Week 6: Sep 27: Being-With: The They (The Status of the Other) Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, 27, 35-38 Presenter: Netty Provost Respondent: Justin Marquis Sep 29: Interpretation: The Hermeneutic Circle Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, 31-3 Presenter: Mike Thune Respondent: Somaieh Emamjomeh Week 7: Oct 04: The Structure of Care (and Angst ) Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, 39-42 Presenter: Minjung Yoon Respondent: Nate Hribar B. Being and Time, Part Two Oct 06: Being-toward-Death and Authenticity Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, 46-53 Presenter: Nathan Mertes Respondent: Aaron Fehir Week 8 Oct 11: No Class, October Break (Oct 10-11) Oct 13: Temporality: The Three Ecstases Reading: Heidegger, Being and Time, 67-68, 74-75, 78-81, 83 Presenter: Brian Kanouse Respondent: Robert King FIRST PAPER (on Husserl or Heidegger), due at the beginning of class, Tues, Oct 18. III. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY (The Body) Week 9: Oct 18: Traditional Prejudices: The Body in Mechanistic Philosophy Reading: Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, Part One, Chapter 1, The Body as Object and Mechanistic Physiology, pp. 84-102.Husserl on the Body Background: Husserl, Perception, Spatiality, and the Body, in EH, pp. 163-185. Presenter: Dara Hill Respondent: John Alden Stout Oct 20: The Lived Body I Reading: Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, The Problem of the Body, pp. 77-83; and Part One, Chapter 3, The Spatiality of One s own Body and Motility (first part), pp. 112-145 Presenter: Damon Boria Respondent: Mary Godwin Week 10: Oct 25: No Class Oct 27: The Lived Body II Reading: Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, Part One, Chapter 3, The Spatiality of One s own Body and Motility (second part), pp. 145-170; and Chapter 4, The Synthesis of One s own Body, pp. 171-177. Presenter: John Alden Stout Respondent: Shane Ring
4 Week 11: Nov 01: The Body and Language Reading: Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, Part One, chapter 6, The Body as Expression and Speech, pp. 202-232. Presenter: Mary Godwin Respondent: Brian Kanouse Nov 03: No Class Week 12: Nov 08: The Body and Others Reading: Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, Part Two, Chapter 4, Other Selves and the Human World, pp. 403-425. Presenter: Shane Ring Respondent: Damon Boria IV. THE LATER HEIDEGGER Nov 10: The Ontology of the Work of Art I Reading: Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art, in Basic Writings, pp. 139-212 Presenter: Somaieh Emamjomeh Respondent: Minjung Yoon Week 13: Nov 15: The Ontology of the Work of Art II Reading: reread Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art, in Basic Writings, pp. 139-212; and Merleau-Ponty, Cézanne s Doubt, in The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader, pp. 59-75 (also as handout) Presenter: Alex Anderson Respondent: Jason Scott V. CONTEMPORARY DEBATES IN PHENOMENOLOGY Nov 17: Jacques Derrida s Critique of Husserl: The Metaphysics of Presence Read: Derrida, Form and Meaning: A Note on the Phenomenology of Language (handout). Available in Derrida, Speech and Phenomena, pp. 107-128; and Margins of Philosophy, pp. 157-173. Presenter: Bob Robinson Respondent: Netty Provost Week 14: Nov 22: Emmanuel Levinas and the Phenomenology of Alterity Read: Levinas, Philosophy and the Idea of Infinity (handout) (from Philosophical Writings). Presenter: Aaron Fehir Respondent: Mike Thune Nov 24: No Class: Thanksgiving Break (Nov 23-26) Week 15: Nov 29: Jean-Luc Marion and the Gift of the Given Read: Marion, The Saturated Phenomenon, in PTT, pp. 176-216. Presenter: Shannon Nason Respondent: Erin Kealey Dec 01: The Critique of the Theological Turn Reading: Dominique Janicaud, The Theological Turn of French Phenomenology, in PTT, pp. 3-105 Presenter: Alexander Vix Respondent: Anthony Malagon
5 Week 16: Dec 06: The Current and Future Status of Phenomenology Reading: Sokolowski, chap. 14 and Appendix, pp. 198-231. Presenter: Greg Esplin Respondent: Nathan Mertes Dec 08: Conclusion FINAL PAPER, due by noon on Wed, Dec 17