PH 203: French Philosophy in Context | From Existentialism o Globalization

PH 203: Topics in Philosophy

FRENCH PHILOSOPHY IN CONTEXT:

EXISTENTIALISM TO GLOBALIZATION

Block 2, Fall 2013 - Taught in Paris

This course explores the development of French philosophy from the interwar period to the present. Using the city of Paris as its context, the course examines how dramatic social and political challenges influenced the paths of French philosophical reflection, moving thinkers to question the foundations of knowledge, morals, and politics, leading ultimately to what might be called a "decentered" cosmopolitanism.

READINGS

The course will work chronologically, beginning in the interwar period with Sartre's critical existentialism and continuing up to the present. Specific readings and authors have not been chosen yet, but they will likely include some of the following:

Literary Existentialists: Bohemian philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus questioned given categories in the 1930s, embraced resistance to the Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War, and began radically rethinking ethics and knowledge in the 1950s.

Transforming Race and Sex: As colonized peoples began rising up against French and Western imperialism, philosophical writers like Simone de Beauvoir and Frantz Fanon moved from criticism to activism, exploding notions of sex and race.

Exposing Order: Feeling locked into routinized ways of being at the height of the Cold War, thinkers like Claude Lévi-Strauss and Louis Althusser embraced the principles of structuralism, pointing out how impersonal, pre-cognitive structures limit and direct life.

Living Dissonance: As Paris erupted with rebellious workers and students challenging the Fifth Republic and middle-class norms, scholars like Derrida and Foucault echoed the street with philosophies embracing the proliferation of dissonance and critique.

Multiculturalism & Globalization: Now an immigrant hub and just one of many EU cities, Paris today is simultaneously international and decentered. The block closes with contemporary critiques of the late modern condition, considering thinkers like Lacan, Irigaray, Baudrillard, and Nancy.

THE PARISAN CONTEXT

Taking full advantage of all that Paris has to offer—countless museums, a diverse cultural life, streets marked by historical events, and an ongoing intellectual tradition in which philosophy is expected to have a direct impact on how people live and in which philosophers themselves often become cultural "stars"—PH 203 will survey the intertwining of 20th and 21st century French philosophy with the recent social, political, and cultural history of Paris.

EXPENSES AND FINANCIAL AID

The Dean's Office will only allow us to estimate a program fee based on the costs of a course with 15 students. That fee would be about $4200. The Dean's Office says that it may be able to offer support "to offset at least part of the program fee," but it will not finalize the cost of the course until sometime before the end of block 8.

Financial aid will be available, with priority given to students with high financial need and little prior experience studying abroad. The Dean's Office will announce the process for financial aid applications later in block 7.

The program fee covers the following expenses: airport transportation in Paris, housing, a Paris Metro and bus pass, all meals, and all fees for class trips to museums, concerts, and the like. Airfare to and from Paris is not included.

LIVING IN PARIS

Students will lodge in the Pension Résidence du Palais, located directly across the street from the Luxembourg Gardens in the Latin Quarter of Paris, the traditional hub of student and intellectual life in Paris, and one of the most beautiful parts of the city. The pension's rooms are simple, but functional. Most meals will be served at the pension, which has Wifi. See: http://www.hotelresidencedupalais.com/

APPLY TO ENROLL

Enrollment is limited to 20, and is by consent of instructors only. Interested? Then download an application form HERE, and either see Dennis McEnnerney or visit his office hours in 124 Armstrong Hall. To schedule an office visit, sign up for an appointment on my Doodle poll HERE. Dennis will coordinate admissions with Jonathan Lee, who is teaching in Greece during block 7.

For more information, email Dennis McEnnerney. For a printable course description, click HERE.

Literary Existentialists: Bohemian philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus questioned given categories in the 1930s, embraced resistance to the Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War, and began radically rethinking ethics and knowledge in the 1950s.
			Transforming Race and Sex: As colonized peoples began rising up against French and Western imperialism, philosophical writers like Simone de Beauvoir and Frantz Fanon moved from criticism to activism, exploding notions of sex and race.
Exposing Order: Feeling locked into routinized ways of being at the height of the Cold War, thinkers like Claude Lévi-Strauss and Louis Althusser embraced the principles of structuralism, pointing out how impersonal, pre-cognitive structures limit and direct life.
			Living Dissonance: As Paris erupted with rebellious workers and students challenging the Fifth Republic and middle-class norms, scholars like Derrida and Foucault echoed the street with philosophies embracing the proliferation of dissonance and critique.
Multiculturalism & Globalization: Now an immigrant hub and just one of many EU cities, Paris today is simultaneously international and decentered. The block closes with contemporary critiques of the late modern condition, considering thinkers like Lacan, Irigaray, Baudrillard, and Nancy.