Hartwick college

Texts:
Martin Heidegger, Basic Writings (Harper Collins)

Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (Continuum).

Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition (University of Minnesota Press)

Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge, (Pantheon)

The Foucault Reader, edited by Paul Rabinow, (Pantheon).

Jurgen Habermas, The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity (MIT).

Secondary Source:
The Cambridge Companion to Gadamer, edited by Dostal (Cambridge)

Overview:
Much modern philosophy is dedicated to the Enlightenment project of progress through rationality. Philosophers like Descartes and Kant thought that rationality, when used appropriately and autonomously, could enable us to progress as a civilization. Our aim in this course will be to come to terms with the challenge to these modernist notions that has come to be called 'postmodernism'. We will begin with a brief look at some of Heidegger's early work, and move quickly to an in-depth analysis of Gadamer's Truth and Method. Gadamer's explication and defense of a methodology appropriate to understanding this existence marks a critique of traditional approaches to philosophical questions of all sorts. Following a careful examination of (portions of) this work, we will look at developments of the postmodern by examining works by Foucault, the later Heidegger, and Habermas. We will consider, for example, Foucault's criticism of traditional notions of the human subject, freedom, and knowledge claims. We will assess Foucault's claim that knowledge turns out to be another form of power which radically limits human possibilities, paying special attention to what such a critique might mean for our everyday practices. Our primary concern will be to assess what is gained and what is lost with these critiques of Enlightenment rationality, subjectivity, and autonomy.

Course Requirements:

You will be required to give one class-presentation, write two short papers (3-4 pages), several short response papers (one page each), and one substantive term paper (10 pages). The breakdown of your grade will be as follows:

• Several short (one page) writing assignments (20%)
• Two 3-4 page papers (20% each)
• One substantive term paper (8-10 pages), which can incorporate and develop earlier writing assignments (30%)One in-class presentation (10%)

I will assign topics for the first two papers, as well as the response papers, but the term paper is to be written on a topic of your own choosing. While term papers can build on the shorter writing assignments, they are expected to be substantially developed, and go well beyond the exegetical task of the short papers.

	Heads up! It's an explanation of the philosophy of the subject.
Wisnewski and Res role-play a dialogue between Habermas and Foucault.
	Philosophy can have a lighter side. And hats.
Despite appearances, Postmodernism is actually very exciting.