Seminar in Nineteenth Century Philosophy

Catalog description

This course builds on its precursor ( PHIL 203 : Nineteenth Century Philosophy) to focus on specific topics and issues of the nineteenth century. These may typically include the moral and practical implications of Kant's critical philosophy; Hegel's conception of history, religion and society; the socially progressive and socially conservative appropriations of Hegelian philosophy (e.g., Feuerbach's "projection theory" of religion, Marx's historical materialism and labor theory of value, and Kierkegaard's radical separation of faith and reason); Nietzsche's critique of realism, rationalism, and classical theories of the origin and value of morality; Mill's utilitarianism and liberalist conception of freedom; and Freud's theory of the unconscious. The instructor may choose a selection of representative texts or excerpts, for example Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, Marx's Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and Capital, Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy or Genealogy of Morals, and Mill's On Liberty.