Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

"The Humanism of Existentialism" (1946)

(approx. 2 classes)

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)

The Second Sex (Introduction) (1949)

(approx. 1 class)

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)	"The Question Concerning Technology (1953)	(approx. 2 classes)
Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)	“Tout Autre Est Tout Autre” (from The Gift of Death) (1992)	(approx. 1 class)

PART II:  MEANING, FINITUDE, THE OTHER

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938)

Logical Investigations I, II (selections) (1900-1901);  Ideas I (selections) (1913)  "Philosophy and the Crisis of European Humanity" (The Vienna Lecture) (1935)

(approx. 3 classes)   (approx. 1 class) Husserl Video (from the Husserl Page) Download free RealPlayer to see video

Martin Heidegger

Being and Time (selections)  (1927)

(approx. 4 classes)

Jean-Paul Sartre

Being and Nothingness (selections) (1943)

(approx. 4 classes)

Simone de Beauvoir	The Second Sex (selections) (1949)	(approx. 3 classes)
Jacques Derrida	“Differance” (from Speech and Phenomena) (1973)	(approx. 2 classes)
Emmanuel Levinas	Otherwise Than Being or Beyond Essence (Ch. II. Intentionality and Sensing, Ch. IV. Substitution) (1974)	(approx. 3 classes)
CONCLUSION		(1 class)

COURSE TOPICS:  twentieth century continental European philosophers’ views on meaning, finitude, choice, piety and the other. COURSE GOAL:  increased understanding of the course topics; increased self-awareness. COURSE TEXTS:  The course texts are books available from the university bookstore or handouts that will be made available by the instructor. Edmund Husserl, Logical Investigations I, II (selections); Ideas I (selections) (in The Essential Husserl, Donn Welton, ed.,     Indiana University Press) -------- "Philosophy and the Crisis of European Humanity" (The Vienna Lecture) (handout) Martin Heidegger, Being and Time (selections, in Guignon & Pereboom, Existentialism:  Basic Writings, Hackett Publishing     Company) -------- "The Question Concerning Technology" (in The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays, William Lovitt,     trans., Harper Colophon Books) Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness (selections, in Guignon and Pereboom) -------- "The Humanism of Existentialism" (in Guignon and Pereboom) Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, H.M. Parshley, trans. (Vintage Books) Jacques Derrida, “Différance” (in Speech and Phenomena, and Other Essays on Husserl’s Theory of Signs, David B.     Allison, translator, Northwestern University Press) (handout) --------“Tout Autre Est Tout Autre” (in The Gift of Death, University of Chicago Press) Emmanuel Levinas, Otherwise Than Being or Beyond Essence (Chapter II. Intentionality and Sensing, Chapter IV. Substitution)  (Duquesne University     Press) COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Readings as assigned Participation in class discussions Class attendance Nine take-home assignments Two papers (eight pages) ATTENDANCE:  Much of the important work in this course goes on in class.  Students are expected to be in attendance except in cases of illness, emergency or religious holiday, to be in attendance for the whole class session and not to make appointments that conflict with class sessions. Attendance is required and will be taken at the beginning of each class session.  Students may miss three classes without penalty.  Five points will be subtracted from the final grade for the fourth class missed and two additional points for each class missed after that.  Exceptions will be made in the case of illness, emergency or religious holiday.  A written excuse must be provided for exceptions to be made. TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENTS:  There will be nine take-home assignments, one on each of the assigned readings except for the last two (“Tout Autre Est Tout Autre” and the selections from Otherwise Than Being).  The take-home assignments will help students focus their reading and prepare them to write the essays.  Take-home #1   Take-home #2   Take-home #3  Take-home #4   Take-home #5   Take-home #6 PAPERS:  The papers will be essays (not research papers) on topics pertaining to the course texts.  They will be around eight pages long.   You need use no books other than the course texts in order to write the essays.  In an essay, you state a thesis, explain it and argue for it.  The basic structure of an essay is:  an introduction in which you state your thesis, the body of the essay in which you explain and argue for your thesis, the conclusion in which you summarize or highlight what you have done in the essay.  Paper #1  Paper #2 Essays will be word-processed or typed, double-spaced, in 10- or 12-point type.  They will have a title and a title page.  They will be in finished form and without errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.  All quotations will be accompanied by a reference in parentheses.  Long quotations will be indented. Essays will be evaluated on the following basis: 1.  Do you have the parts mentioned above (introduction, body, conclusion)? 2.  Do you fulfill the functions mentioned above (state thesis, explain it, argue for it, summarize or highlight)? 3.  Is the thesis you are writing about an interesting and important one? 4.  Does your explanation of the thesis show that it is an interesting and important one?  Does your explanation make the basic      concepts and terms in your essay clear to the reader? 5.  Are your arguments clear and convincing to the reader? 6.  Do you use specific examples from the text you are writing about to make your arguments stronger?  Do you use direct      quotations from the text you are writing about to make your arguments stronger? 7.  Does your conclusion add something to the essay as a whole? REFERENCES:  Quotations should end with a quotation mark followed by a reference in parentheses followed by a period, for example:  “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself” (HE 271).  “For questioning is the piety of thought” (QCT 35). EVALUATION: Grades will be based on the papers and take-home assignments, weighted equally (1/2 each).  Excellent participation may raise your grade somewhat over the mathematical average, at the discretion of the instructor. Late papers or take-homes will lose a letter grade for each class session they are late.  Papers and take-homes will be turned in not e-mailed.  There are no make-up examinations except in the case of illness, emergency or religious holiday.  There will be no extra credit work.  The student will be held responsible for knowing what goes on in class.  Absences will not excuse you from knowing due dates of take-homes and papers. The grading scale is:  94-100, A; 90-93 A-; 87-89 B+; 84-86 B; 80-83 B-; 77-79 C+; 74-76 C; 70-73 C-; 67-69 D+; 64-66 D; 60-63 D-; below 60, F. It is the instructor's policy that cheating, plagiarism or submission of written work for this course that was submitted in another course merits a course grade of 'F'. USE OF THE INTERNET:  Use of the internet for research purposes is appropriate.  However, students should use their own ideas in papers they write.  In addition, they should be aware that papers plagiarized from internet sources can easily be detected through the use of a search engine such as Google. COURSE LINKS:  The course outline and class assignments can be accessed through my homepage:  <www.unr.nevada.edu/~achten/homepage.html >.  They will also be distributed in class.  My homepage can also be accessed through the Department of Philosophy website:  <www.unr.edu/philosophy>;  through the University of Nevada, Reno website directory:  <unr.edu/homepage>; or by means of a search engine such as Google:  <www.google.com> (search for "Deborah Achtenberg" homepage). Some on-line reference books of use to students (you may need UNR access for some of these sites; visit the UNR library Off-campus Access page to learn how to gain access): Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy The on-line edition of Routledge's encyclopedia of philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Another good on-line encyclopedia of philosophy, this one from Stanford University. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary The electronic version of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, published in 1961, with updates. Oxford English Dictionary The electronic version of the OED with the latest new and revised entries. WordReference.com An on-line French, Italian and Spanish translation dictionary provided by Michael Kellogg. German-English Dictionary An on-line German translation dictionary provided by the Chemnitz Technical University and Frank Richter. Liddell, Scott, Jones Lexicon Perseus's on-line version of the Liddell, Scott, Jones lexicon (dictionary) of ancient Greek. Words William Whitaker's on-line translation dictionary of Latin. CLASS FORMAT:  This class will be a combination of lecture and discussion.  The discussion generally will be guided discussion rather than general discussion or general debate. Lectures and discussions will refer to course texts.  Students will need to bring the relevant course texts to class if they are to benefit from lectures and discussions. STUDYING:  Many students will find that they do better in this course if they study together with other students. WEB SITES:  Some web sites of interest include <www.spep.org>, the site of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, and <www.phenomenologycenter.org>, the site of the Center for Advanced Research in Phenomenology. DISABILITY POLICY:  The Department of Philosophy is committed to meeting the special needs of students with disabilities.  If you suffer from a disability and need to request accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible. * * * My office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:15 - 3:15 p.m., or by appointment (Cain Hall 108D).  Please feel free to come by to discuss the course topics or your progress in the course.  I am happy to meet with you at some other time if it is more convenient.  If you wish to make an appointment to see me at some time other time, call 784-6742 (my office).  If you try to get in touch with me and cannot, leave a message or a note with your phone number so that I can call you.  My e-mail address is:  <achten@unr.nevada.edu>.  I invite you to e-mail me.  Keep in mind that, due to time delays, e-mail can be an unsuccessful medium for making appointments or for taking care of other time-sensitive matters.  In addition, I prefer to do most advisement in person rather than by e-mail.