Philosophy 43: Continental Thought

Pitzer College

Philosophy Field Group

Spring, 2012

Syllabus

Course Description

Continental thought will be chronologically traced as it emerged in Nietzsche, and then as it developed in the hands of Kierkegaard. Then we turn to the phenomenological tradition as it emerged in Husserl, and then as it developed in Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. We conclude with a look at Sartre's existentialism.

Course Information

Meeting Times................................	Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00 to 1:10PM
Meeting Location............................	Avery Hall, Room 226
Website............................................	http://www.christopherlay.com/s12continentalthought.htm
Reading and Assignment Schedule.	http://www.christopherlay.com/s12continentalthought.htm
Instructor.........................................	Christopher Lay, PhD
Contact............................................	Christopher_Lay@pitzer.edu
Office Location...............................	In Front-ish of the Pit Stop Cafe
Office Hours...................................	Tuesdays & Thursdays from 1:15 to 2:15PM, and by appointment

Student Learning Objectives:

By the end of the semester students will:

· learn how to read philosophical texts from the continental tradition

· gain familiarity with philosophical methods of inquiry, and key philosophical concepts common to the tradition of continental philosophy in particular, and philosophy in general

· establish or refine their critical thinking abilities by engaging with arguments in the assigned texts

Texts

*	Husserl's Psychological and Transcendental Phenomenology and the Confrontation with Heidegger (1927-1931), translated and edited by T. Sheehan & R.E. Palmer, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers ISBN-13: 978-9048199228
*	Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition For Upbuilding And Awakening, edited and translated by H. V. Hong & E. H. Hong, published by Princeton University Press ISBN-13: 978-0691020280
*	Merleau-Ponty's The World of Perception, translated by O. Davis, published by Routledge ISBN-13: 978-0415773812
*	Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, edited by R. Pippin & A. Del Caro, published by Cambridge University Press ISBN-13: 978-0521602617
*	Sartre's Nausea, translated by Lloyd Alexander, published by New Directions ISBN-13: 978-0811217002

Course Grade and Assignments

Participation 10% of course grade

First Essay 20% of course grade

Second Essay 30% of course grade

Final Essay 40% of course grade

Participation

Participation in philosophy is essential. You are expected to do the readings on schedule (i.e. before the class period indicated) and come to class prepared to discuss them. Class participation will decide borderline grades, either up or down, and in rare cases, extraordinary class participation can boost your final grade up a third (e.g., from 'B' to "B+"). Class participation will mainly be evaluated by the contribution the student makes toward the learning experience of the class as a whole. Note that discussing the substantive issues of the course in office hours and via email will also count as class participation.

Take-Home Essays

You will be given a prompt for all take-home essays, and approximately a week (or two) to write them. The essays must be philosophical. You will have to represent some thesis from a text, and then critically engage with it by way of evaluation. As such, your own essay must have a thesis and support for that thesis. To succeed in writing an essay in this philosophy course, you will need to constantly and clearly differentiate the point of view expressed in the text in question from your own point of view. And once you have shown that you can critically engage with the philosophical insights found in the texts in question, which requires you to represent the point of view in question, you will be encouraged to express your own philosophical insights. Other, specific expectations for take-home essays will be spelled out in detail in the respective essay prompts. For all essays you will be expected to correct errors in mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling.

Late Paper Policy, Extensions

Late take-home assignments will be accepted if you can provide a credible excuse (e.g., doctor's note, jury summons, obituary notice, etc.). Extensions for take-home assignments will be given only when 1) a compelling reason is given and 2) permission is sought at least three days before the normal deadline. Otherwise, late take-home assignments will be graded down one third of a letter grade for each day they are late.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities will be accommodated once they have requested such accommodations through their respective colleges. For example, Pitzer students can request accommodations through Rochelle Brown of Academic Support Services.

Academic Integrity

Plagiarism, cheating, or any other form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Your college has outlined for you what constitutes academic dishonesty. As an example, Pitzer's Code of Conduct, states:

C. Academic dishonesty: Any member of the Pitzer community who is aware of academic dishonesty by a student has the responsibility to try to halt it, either by intervening immediately, or by speaking with the person committing it and by reporting it to the Dean of Students Office for possible referral to Judicial Council. If an instructor concludes that the standards of academic honesty have been disregarded, it is his or her responsibility to make the information available to the student, to report the incident to the Dean of Students Office and to tell the student that a report is being made. The faculty member may handle the case and impose any academic penalty including failure in the course. The faculty member should report the outcome to the Dean of Students Office. If a student disputes the incident or the severity of the penalty, he or she may have a hearing before Judicial Council.

1. Plagiarism. No Pitzer student shall appropriate the work of another—for example, parts of passages of another’s writings, the ideas and language of another, the artistic compositions of another—and pass them off as his/her own work. Students may not use substantial extracts from books, journals, or other sources without citation.

2. Cheating. No Pitzer student may intentionally use or attempt to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in an academic exercise or examination.

3. Duplicate papers. No student may hand in the same paper in more than one course without obtaining prior permission in writing from the instructor(s) and stipulating the conditions (such as extra research, length of paper, etc.)

4. Facilitating Academic Dishonesty. Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate this code of academic integrity.

5. Claiming Credit Falsely. Intentional fraud, in which a student seeks to claim credit for the work or effort of another without authorization or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic exercise. Academic dishonesty can include forgery of academic documents, intentionally impeding or damaging the academic work of others or assisting other students in acts of dishonesty.

For this course, any assignment produced in an academically dishonesty way will result in an "F" grade for the course. There are no exceptions to this policy: "I didn't know that what I turned in constituted plagiarism," "I forgot the quotation marks and citation," "It was only one sentence," or "It was an accident, it'll never happen again" are not valid excuses. Please, if you don't understand what plagiarism or academic integrity is, ask me.

Schedule of Readings and Assignments

Week One	Getting Started / Nietzsche's Zarathustra
Tuesday, January 17^th	Course Overview & Introductions
Thursday, January 19^th	Nietzsche's Zarathustra, Part One
Week Two	Nietzsche's Zarathustra
Tuesday, January 24^th	Part One
Thursday, January 26^th	Parts One & Two
Week Three	Nietzsche's Zarathustra
Tuesday, January 31^st	Parts Two
Thursday, February 2^nd	Parts Two & Three
Week Four	Nietzsche's Zarathustra
Tuesday, February 7^th	Parts Three & Four
Thursday, February 9^th	Part Four
Week Five	Kierkegaard's Sickness Unto Death
Tuesday, February 14^th	Part One, A & B
Thursday, February 16^th	Part One, C
Week Six	Kierkegaard's Sickness Unto Death
Tuesday, February 21^st	Part One Review
Thursday, February 23^rd	Part One Review
Sunday, February 26^th	First Essay Due
Week Seven	Husserl & Heidegger's Britannica's "Phenomenology" Article, Draft A
Tuesday, February 28^th	Introduction & Section I
Thursday, March 1^st	Section II
Week Eight	Husserl & Heidegger's Britannica's "Phenomenology" Article, Draft B
Tuesday, March 6^th	Introduction & Part I
Thursday, March 8^th	Part II
Spring Break
Tuesday, March 13^th	No Class
Thursday, March 15^th	No Class
Week Nine	Husserl & Heidegger's Britannica's "Phenomenology" Article, Draft B's Back Matter, & Draft C
Tuesday, March 20^th	Draft B, "Heidegger's Letter and Appendices" & "Explanatory Notes" thereon, & "Husserl's Shorthand Note"
Thursday, March 23^rd	Draft C, Introduction and Part III
Week Ten	Husserl & Heidegger's Britannica's "Phenomenology" Article, Draft D
Tuesday, March 27^th	Introduction, Part I
Thursday, March 29^th	Parts II & III
Week Eleven	Husserl & Heidegger's Britannica's "Phenomenology" Article, Draft E
Tuesday, April 3^rd	Introduction, Part I
Thursday, April 5^th	Parts II & III
Saturday, April 9^th	Second Essay Due
Week Twelve	Merleau-Ponty's World of Perception
Tuesday, April 10^th	Chapters One & Two
Thursday, April 12^th	Chapters Three & Four
Week Thirteen	Merleau-Ponty's World of Perception
Tuesday, April 17^th	Chapters Five & Six
Thursday, April 19^th	Chapter Seven
Week Fourteen	Sartre's Nausea
Tuesday, April 24^th	First sixty or so pages
Thursday, April 26^th	Second sixty or so pages
Week Fifteen	Sartre's Nausea
Tuesday, May 1^st	Last sixty or so pages
Finals Week
Friday, May 11^th	Final Essay Due