Current Continental Philosophy: PHIL 419.500

Current Continental Philosophy examines themes developed by French and German philosophers in the last 40 years. Major movements to be studied include structuralist psychoanalysis, deconstruction, Neo-Marxist critical theory, semiotics, philosophical hermeneutics, poststructuralism, and postmodernism.

Texts: John Lechte, Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers (1994) [L]

Richard Kearney, Modern Movements in European Philosophy, 2nd ed. (1994) [K]

Collection of readings available from Notes-n-Quotes [R]

Aug. 29 Introduction 31 Daniel article [R]: "Postmodernity, Poststructuralism, and the Historiography of Modern Philosophy," selection Sept. 5 Saussure: L 148-52; K 240-51; and [R] selection from Course in General Linguistics 7 Lacan: L 66-71; K 268-82 12 Lacan: "The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious," article [R] 14 Derrida: L 105-110; K 113-33 19 Derrida: "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences," article [R] 21 Derrida: "Deconstruction and the Other," article [R] 26 Test 1 28 Benjamin: L 203-7; K 151-68 Oct. 3 Adorno: L 177-81; 1st half of Negative Dialectics selection [R] 5 Adorno: 2nd half of Negative Dialectics selection [R] 10 Gadamer: "The Universality of the Hermeneutical Problem," article [R] 12 Habermas: L 186-91; K 220-38 (13) (Optional take-home question, due 5 p.m.) 17 Althusser: L 37-41; K 299-318 19 Althusser: "Contradiction and Overdetermination," article [R] 24 Althusser: "On the Materialist Dialectic," article [R] 26 Deleuze: L 101-5; "A Theory of the Other," article [R] 31 Deleuze: "Psychoanalysis and Desire," article [R] Nov. (1) (Optional take-home question, 5 p.m.) 2 Kristeva: L 141-44; K 332-42 7 Kristeva: "Women's Time" article [R] 9 Jardine: "Gynesis" article [R] 14 Foucault: L 110-115; K 283-98 16 Foucault: "What is an Author?" article [R] 21 Foucault: "Discourse on Language," article [R] (23) (Thanksgiving) 28 Foucault: "Two Lectures" article [R] 30 Lyotard: "The Postmodern Condition" article [R] Dec. 5 Baudrillard: "Simulacra and Simulations" article [R]

Grades are based on an in-class test on Sept. 26 (20%), the answer to a take-home question due either on Oct. 13 or Nov. 1 (20%), three brief (no more than two typed pages) reading summaries (10% each), and the final (take-home) exam (30%). At least one of the reading summaries must be completed by Sept. 21. If you write more than three reading summaries or do the additional take- home question, each extra effort will add to your semester grade (A=4 pts, B=3 pts, C=2 pts, D=1 pt). Class attendance can affect grading significantly. Reading summary guidelines are below.

Office (Blocker 510): Tues/Thurs 10-12:30; 3:45-5:00

Office phone: 845-5619; home phone 846-4649

Guidelines for Reading Summaries Of the 26 class days for which there are readings assigned, you must select at least three on which to write brief (no more than two typed-page) summaries of the material covered that day. The decision about which readings to write is up to you, though at least one summary must be submitted by Sept. 21. You may submit more than three summaries if you want to add extra points to your final semester grade. Summaries are to be submitted at the beginning of the class the day we discuss the material; after that class, you should work on another reading.

The summaries should address the question: What are the main points the author is making in the assigned readings? In clarifying the readings, each summary must refer to at least two secondary sources other than the readings themselves, pointing out how specific topics issues raised in the readings can be further explained. That means that you will have to find books or articles in the library that talk about our author's treatment of the topics raised in the reading, and you should indicate how the particular points made by these secondary sources. Be sure to include full bibliographic reference to the two (or more) sources you cite.

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