Teaching

This course introduces students to “Continental philosophy” — that is, philosophy from the continent of Europe, from about the year 1800 to the present. Together, we explore what makes Continental philosophy distinct from its counterpart, “analytic,” or Anglo-American philosophy. We also consider what European philosophy, specifically, can teach us about the nature and aims of philosophy, more broadly.
 

To do this, we look primarily at the works of four of the most famous Continental philosophers: the so-called “Masters of Suspicion”—Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud—plus, a new addition to the pantheon—Michel Foucault. These philosophers ask us to be skeptical about the things we have been taught regarding society, human beings, and human development. They direct our attention to the hidden struggles in our lives—the struggles between competing economic classes, between competing wills, between competing practices and discourses and even, between competing parts of our own psyches.

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In our readings and discussions, we consider the following questions, among others:

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• What is society?

• Is society the product of human actions, or are human beings the product of their

  societies?

• Can we change society? Can we change ourselves? How?

• Is there a human nature?

• What is history?

• What is science?

• What is power?

• What is the human condition? What does it mean to be human?

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