Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)

Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995)

PHIL 4250/5250-001    R 4:30-7:00 PM Scott Hall 1004

  PHENOMENOLOGY: Heidegger and Levinas

DESCRIPTION

        What is phenomenology? Has it reached its end or does it continue in the critiques and transformations of it? Should this end or transformation of phenomenology proceed through the question of being (ontology) as developed in the later thought of Martin Heidegger or through the moral address of the other (ethics) as articulated by Emmanuel Levinas? What resources do their respective critiques, of the history of western metaphysics as the forgetting of being and the critique of western thought as obsessed with identity and totality, provide for contemporary reflection? Is Western thought dominated by onto-theo-logy or has it forgotten the primary ethical significance of God? Do we need a revised humanism oriented towards the other person rather than oneself or is humanism precisely the problem? What possibilities are opened up by a poetic thinking of being responsive to the givenness of things or an ethical discourse that calls us to be responsive to the other?

        In this course, we will examine two attempts to transform and overcome the limits of previous phenomenology. In the first half of the course, we will consider questions of metaphysics, politics, ethics, technology, poetry and art in the later thought of Martin Heidegger beginning with his failed and disastrous political engagement of the 1930's.  In the second half of the course, we will discuss Emmanuel Levinas' ethical critique and transformation of phenomenology in general and Heidegger's in particular.  We will pursue Levinas' critiques of the identity, sameness, and totality dominant in western thought and his articulation of an alternative through the ethics of the face and the other. We will compare Heidegger's and Levinas' critiques of and responses to the history of western philosophy and explore their thought through questions of identity and difference, humanism and antihumanism, the question of being and the ethical demand of the face. We will also look at the question of the violence of Martin Heidegger's philosophy by examining Heidegger's approach to violence in his Introduction to Metaphysics (1935) and Levinas' argument that Heidegger's thought is inherently violent and unethical. We will accordingly consider whether thinking with Heidegger is impossible after the Holocaust or whether Levinas provides a powerful corrective to Heidegger which allows us to continue to critically and productively engage with his thought.

PREREQUISITES

Two 3000 or one 3200 level philosophy course and junior standing or instructor permission.

REQUIREMENTS

This will be a reading and thinking intensive course. You will be expected to have done the reading for each class and participate in discussion.  The final grade will be based on (1) Attendance and Participation (20%), note that both are mandatory rather than an option; (2) one short presentation during the first half of the semester and one research presentation at the conclusion of the semester (20%), note that all presentations should bring into play other works by the authors as well as related and secondary works; and (3) Two research papers due on March 17 and May 5 (60%), note that emailed papers will not be accepted. Your final paper should be based on your research presentation.

Note that Jan. 27 and April 21 will be extended sessions to make up for no classes on Jan. 20 and April 28.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

1. Professionalism: students are required to adopt a professional attitude toward class conduct and fellow students. Please be on time and leave when the class is over. Please do not engage in discussions that are unrelated to class material and distract your fellow students. Cell phones and pagers should be turned off and calls should be taken after class is over except in cases of extreme emergency (emergencies related to imminent mortality or imprisonment).
2. Work should be turned in on time. Late work will not be accepted or penalized at my discretion.
3. Attendance is mandatory and not an option. Students who do not regularly attend class will be dropped or receive an F.
4. You are expected to keep up with the reading assignments and participate in class discussions. Consistent failure to keep up with the readings will seriously compromise your ability to succeed in the course.
5. If you have any suggestions, questions, problems, or concerns, feel free to talk with me after class or during my office visiting hours. I will also be available at other times by appointment.
6. If you have a disability that will present a difficulty in this class or experience problems that will interfere with success in this class, please discuss this with me immediately.

READING LIST

1. Martin Heidegger, Basic Writings (HarperSanFrancisco; ISBN: 0060637633)

2. Martin Heidegger, Introduction to Metaphysics (Yale University Press; ISBN: 0300083289)

3. Emmanuel Levinas, Totality and Infinity (Duquesne University Press; ISBN: 0820702455)

4. Emmanuel Levinas, Emmanuel Levinas: Basic Philosophical Writings (Indiana University Press; ISBN: 0253210798)

SCHEDULE

I. Martin Heidegger: From Phenomenology to Thought

1. Jan. 13: Introduction to Phenomenology, Heidegger and the Question of Metaphysics.

2. Jan. 20: Questioning Heidegger: Presentations on (1) Heidegger's "Rectoral Address", (2) Heidegger, Metaphysics, and the Question of Being. Read chapter one (pages 1-54) of Introduction to Metaphysics.

3. Jan. 27: No class!

4. Feb. 3 Being and Truth: Presentations on (1) Heidegger and Greek Philosophy, (2) Heidegger, Logic and Truth. Read chapters two and three (pages 55-97) of Introduction to Metaphysics and  "On the Essence of Truth" (pages 111-138) in Basic Writings.

5. Feb. 10: Pursuing the Question of Being: Presentations on (1) Heidegger and Nietzsche, (2) Heidegger and Sophocles, (3) Heidegger and History. Read chapter four (pages 98-221) of Introduction to Metaphysics. [Note: This will be an EXTENDED SESSION to make up for no class on Jan. 27]

6. Feb. 17: The Work of Art and the Question of Techne: Presentations on (1) Heidegger on Techne and Technology and (2) Heidegger and Art. Read "The Origin of the Work of Art" (pages 140-212) in Basic Writings.

7. Feb. 24: Humanism, Anti-Humanism and the Question of Ethics: Presentations on (1) ethics, (2) religion, (3) humanism, and/or (4) Heidegger and Sartre.  Read "Letter on Humanism" (pages 214-265) in Basic Writings.

8. March 3: The Possibility of Thinking: Presentations on (1) Heidegger and the Poetic, (2) Heidegger's notion of thinking, (3) Heidegger on dwelling. Read "Building Dwelling Thinking" and "What calls for Thinking? (pages 344-392) and "The End of Philosophy and the Task of Thinking" (pages 428-449) in Basic Writings.

March 10: No class today, it's Spring Break!

II. Emmanuel Levinas: From Phenomenology to Ethics

9. March 17:  Philosophy in the Shadow of the Holocaust--(1) Levinas and Heidegger: Read "Is Ontology Fundamental?" (pages 1-10) and "Truth of Disclosure and the Truth of Testimony (pages 97-107); (2) The Context of Totality and Infinity: Read "Transcendence and Height" and "Meaning and Sense" (pages 11-64). All essays available in Emmanuel Levinas: Basic Philosophical Writings. FIRST RESEARCH PAPER DUE! It is due at the beginning of class.

10. March 24: The Same and the Other: Read section one (pages 21-105) of Totality and Infinity.

11. March 31: Interiority and Economy: Read section two (pages 109-183) of Totality and Infinity.

12. April 7: Exteriority and the Face: Read section three (pages 187-247) of Totality and Infinity.

13. April 14: Beyond the Face: Read section four (pages 251-307) of Totality and Infinity.

14. - 15. April 21: (I) From Totality and Infinity to Otherwise than Being: Read "Substitution" (pages 79-95), "Essence and Disinterestedness" and "God and Philosophy" (pages 109-148)  in Emmanuel Levinas: Basic Philosophical Writings. (II) Research Presentations (based on our readings and discussions of Heidegger and Levinas in the works of Jacques Derrida, Luce Irigaray and others) and (III) Course-Evaluations. [Note: This will be an EXTENDED SESSION as there will be no class on April 28]

May 5: SECOND RESEARCH PAPER DUE! Drop your paper off at my office or department mailbox before Sundown!

Some Introductory Readings

Eric Sean Nelson, Violence and Trauma in Heidegger's Introduction to Metaphysics

Eric Sean Nelson and Antje Kapust, Preface to Eric Sean Nelson, Antje Kapust, and Kent Still (Forthcoming), Addressing Levinas (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2005).

 Eric Sean Nelson, Review of Levinas and the Political

Some Additional Sources

Richard F. H. Polt, Gregory Fried (eds), A Companion to Heidegger`s "Introduction to Metaphysics"

James Risser (ed), Heidegger Toward the Turn: Essays on the Work of the 1930s

Bettina Bergo, Levinas Between Ethics and Politics: For the Beauty That Adorns the Earth

Howard Caygill, Levinas and the Political

Heidegger, Levinas and Deconstruction

Jacques Derrida, "Violence and Metaphysics" in Writing and Difference

Jacques Derrida, Adieu: To Emmanuel Levinas

Jacques Derrida, Of Spirit: Heidegger and the Question

Simon Critchley, The Ethics of Deconstruction: Derrida and Levinas

Heidegger, Levinas and Feminism

Tina Chanter (ed), Feminist Interpretations of Emmanuel Levinas

Tina Chanter, Time, Death, and the Feminine: Levinas With Heidegger

Nancy J. Holland, Patricia J. Huntington (eds), Feminist Interpretations of Martin Heidegger

Luce Irigaray, An Ethics of Sexual Difference

Luce Irigaray, The Forgetting of Air in Martin Heidegger

Claire Elise Katz, Levinas, Judaism, and the Feminine: The Silent Footsteps of Rebecca