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The philosophy called existentialism comprises a variety of views and attitudes that express a particular perspective on the nature and significance of human existence. It centers on a radical view of the freedom of human choice and action, and it emphasizes in various ways the uniqueness of the individual person. The existential tradition includes psychologists, theologians, novelists, playwrights, poets, and others who have expounded or made use of existentialist themes. Our course will focus primarily on the philosophical views that underlie these themes and their various expressions, but there will also be some readings from literature other than philosophy.
The main themes to be discussed include freedom and responsibility; the role of passion, or the non-rational, in human choice; the nature of consciousness; the relation of persons, as conscious beings, to non-conscious things and to other persons; and existential analyses of such human phenomena as anguish, self-deception, and love. These topics will be explored through some of the writings of Ortega, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Sartre, and others. The most extensive part of our study will deal with the existential metaphysics of Jean-Paul Sartre and the analyses he bases on it.
Course prerequisites are completion of GE Section A.1 (Composition) and 3 units of philosophy.
