Love Death and Freedom (20th Century French Phenomenology)

6 unitsIn PersonNot offered

School of Philosophy · ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences

About this course

This course offers an introduction to contemporary French philosophy focusing on the way in which the themes of love, freedom and death appear in thought, about language, meaning and being as well as in ethics and politics. The course will both aim to provide an overview of post-WW2 French philosophy and focus selectively on two or three of its most important representatives, for instance Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Blanchot, Levinas, Derrida, Lyotard, Nancy or Badiou.

Learning outcomes

1Demonstrate familiarity with some of the major themes of contemporary French thought and contemporary ideas in French philosophy that emerge out of a critical engagement with the philosophical tradition;
2Develop techniques for engaging with challenging reading and going deeper into the insights and problems it poses;
3Relate the theoretical debates in the texts studied to current ethical and political questions; and,
4Show intellectual discrimination, the ability to pick out key points and to construct an argument/interpretation.

Assessment

Weights and hurdle requirements come straight from the imported ANU record.

Class Presentation 500 words

Learning outcomes 3

10%

Study expectations

Study information

130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures, and 12 hours of tutorials; and, b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing. Other Information This course may be counted towards the European Studies major.

Texts and reading

Preliminary Reading Jean-Francois Lyotard, 'Answering the Question What is Postmodernism?' The Postmodern Explained pp 1-16 Jean-Luc Nancy, The Inoperative Community - Author's preface Jacques Derrida 'On Forgiveness' in On Cosmopolitanism and forgiveness

Course essentials

Academic year: 2023
Course subject: PHIL
Subject name: Philosophy
Academic career: UGRD
School: School of Philosophy
College: ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Convener: Not listed
Delivery: In Person
Unit value: 6 units
EFTSL: 0.125
Last source update: Not listed

View the ANU course source

Fees

Domestic fee paying students: Domestic · 2023 · Course basis; $3,960
International fee paying students: International · 2023 · Course basis; $5,100
Student Contribution Band Code 14: Commonwealth supported · 2023; ANU contribution-band code 14

Areas and attributes

Areas of interest

Philosophy