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Send Dr. Daniel a message:Syllabus: PHIL 419.500 (Current Continental Philosophy)
Fall 1997, Dr. Stephen H. Daniel
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:
Class Schedule
Grades are based on an in-class test on Oct. 7 (20%), a take-home test due Nov. 7 (20%), three brief (no more than two typed pages) reading summaries (10% each), and either a final (take-home) exam or term paper (30%). The first reading summary must be completed by Sept.23, and the second must be completed by Oct 21. If you write more than three reading summaries, each extra effort will add to your semester grade in the following way: A=3 pts, B=2 pts, C=1 pt. Class attendance can affect how the tests, questions, and summaries are graded. Reading summary guidelines are below.
Office (Blocker 510): Tues/Thurs 11:15-12:30; and 3:45-4:30 (except on Philosophy Dept. colloquia days). 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. 23 and a second summary must be submitted by Oct. 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 the 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 these secondary sources clarify particular points in the readings. Be sure to include full bibliographic reference to the two (or more) sources you cite.
There are many resources available in the library on which you can draw. Some provide summaries of individual thinkers or individual works. Others go into much greater detail. For our purposes, it might be best to begin with more general studies such as the following:
Richard Kearney, Twentieth Century Continental Philosophy (New York: Routledge, 1994).
David West, Introduction to Continental Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: Polity, 1996).
Simon Critchley and William Schoeder, eds., A Companion to Continental Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1997).
John Lechte, Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers (New York: Routledge, 1994).
Quentin Skinner, ed., The Return of Grand Theory in the Human Sciences (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985).
John Sturrock, ed., Structuralism and Since (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979).
Collections of an author's writings (e.g., A Kristeva Reader) provide informative introductions to selected works; and books devoted entirely to a thinker often describe in detail points that are raised in the essays we study. In any event, you should make sure that the secondary sources you use address specific topics raised in the reading on which you comment, because in your summary you will be expected to indicate exactly where your secondary sources address the issues with which you are concerned. You can do this easily in your summary by parenthetically citing your source and then giving the full bibliographic entry at the end of your summary.
For example, suppose you are summarizing Kearney's interview with Derrida ("Deconstruction and the Other") and you want to clarify the meaning of the point he makes about his notion of differance by referring to David West's discussion of Derrida in the book mentioned above. You could simply write: "Differance is the act of alluding to something while at the same time attempting to erase the very gesture by which the allusion is made (West, 136)"; and then give the full citation at the end of your summary. That way, you make use of West without having to say something like "as David West explains ..." Remember, you only have two pages in which to summarize the points of the essay(s) we are studying that day, so use your words economically. Likewise, use paper wisely: don't turn in a page with one or two lines at the top; squeeze them in on the previous pages by changing the margins to accommodate them.
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