PHIL140 Existentialism
Department of Social & Behavioral Science: Philosophy
- I. Course Number and Title
- PHIL140 Existentialism
- II. Number of Credits
- 3 credits
- III. Number of Instructional Minutes
- 2250
- IV. Prerequisites
- None
- Corequisites
- None
- V. Other Pertinent Information
- None
- VI. Catalog Course Description
- A study of an influential modern philosophical movement, including such philosophers and writers as Dostoevski, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Jaspers, Camus, Sartre, and Buber. Includes an analysis of the influence of this movement on contemporary deconstructionism and post modernism.
- VII. Required Course Content and Direction
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Course Learning Goals
- To develop an understanding of the Existentialist Movement in Philosophy; how it arose as a reaction to Rationalism and Hegelian System-building;
- To gain a perspective of 19th and 20th century philosophy; how the existentialists open the way for recent trends, such as Deconstructionism and Post-Modernism;
- To see how it is possible to bring together reason and emotion, logic and poetry, discourse and fiction to express ideas; and
- To understand differences in philosophical outlook between Continental Europe on the one hand, and the United States and Britain on the other.
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Planned Sequence of Topics and/or Learning Activities
- Introduction: Defining Existentialism
- Dostoevsky: Notes from Underground
- Kierkegaard: The First Existentialist
- Nietzsche
- Jaspers: Existenzphilosophie
- Heideger: The Quest for Being
- Sartre: Existentialism
- Camus: The Myth of Sisiphus
- Buber: I and Thou
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Assessment Methods for Course Learning Goals
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Reference, Resource, or Learning Materials to be used by Student:
Text: See course syllabus.
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Review/Approval Date - 2/99; New Core 8/2015