Reading Heidegger II 3800-RH25-S
Phenomenology as such appeared as a reaction to a particular philosophical currents and tendencies such psychologism, subjectivism, simplified empiricism, positivistic and neo-positivistic scientism, but also as a reaction to abstract metaphysical speculation. Thus, it was founded on one basic postulate – “getting back to the things themselves.” That means, it is to work as a critical effort of clearing up the space of our experience of reality and of ourselves from all distortions, all artificially constructed, abstract concepts of reality and our modes of experiencing it. Thus, its foundational motivation was a genuine care for the truth of human experience of the world and of themselves; a genuine care for „what” really appears and „how” what appears manifests itself in different modi of its appearance. In doing so, it goes beyond artificially constructed divisions to reveal an essential, insurmountable entanglement of subject and object, subjectivity and objectivity, factuality and possibility, and so forth. In this sense phenomenology is a constantly renewed attempt to answer the question of how the objective reality can be (and is) there for us, how it appears (is constituted), in its different forms, within the field of subjective experience. One of the distinctive metaphilosophical features of phenomenology is a fundamental tension between transcendentalism, which absolutizes subject giving it an ontological priority, on the one hand; and on the other hand, an existential-ontological perspective where the human being is always already determined by his/her life-world and primordial, pre-reflective forms of experience. This tension clearly visible in the late works of Husserl – the founding father of the contemporary phenomenology – is suspended in philosophy of Martin Heidegger. In Heidegger’s view a truly radical phenomenological concept of experience leads us to the understanding of the human being as being-in-the-world; that is, as being essentially, and not accidentally, immersed in the world. This facticity is an “absolute” starting point of all human experiences and their thematizations. In this sense the foundational question of phenomenology – concerning the possibility of world’s existence (in fact, no longer contested) turns out to be a more radical question – a question concerning the very possibility of the human being. If so, then phenomenology must transform itself from somehow distantiated observation, still bound by traditional theoretical approach (typical, to a large extent, for Husserl’s version of phenomenology), into an active involvement. It is by means and through the latter that phenomenology (meaning philosophy in general) can fulfill its only task – to pose a question about meaning of Being, and to project possible answers. Human beings become what they are as a relentless, engaged activity of questioning and projecting this meaning. In whatever they do – being it an activity of practical or theoretical nature – this meaning is already laid down. However, it is never ultimate, final, complete. It is projected from within human immersion into their world, and thus, it is always determined by tradition, history of previous insights and efforts. Thus, one of the main points of Heidegger’s phenomenology is that the mystery of Being, and along with it that of human’s “essence”, lies in its temporal and historical nature. That is why phenomenology cannot be neutral, “objective”, distantiated description of a form and matter of our experiences. Heidegger’s version of phenomenology calls for hermeneutics – understood as both human efforts of understanding Being and philosophical efforts of revealing the meaning of these efforts, of questioning their conditions of possibility. And that is why it must simultaneously take on a double form – that of an existential analysis (fundamental ontology), and that of historical-hermeneutical investigation.
The course is planned as a thorough analysis (a careful, detailed – “sentence by sentence” - reading) of Heidegger’s opus magnum. It is a continuation of last year's seminar, but it is open to students who did not participate in that seminar. We will begin with a brief presentation of last year's conclusions and then continue with detailed reading (starting with chapter III, Division One)
Rodzaj przedmiotu
Założenia (opisowo)
Koordynatorzy przedmiotu
Efekty kształcenia
After the course student:
- review and enrich vocabulary and linguistic skills in English (on level C1);
- have orderly and detailed knowledge about the contemporary phenomenology – specifically Heidegger’s original version of phenomenology, its basic concepts and tools as well as its historical origins and place in the Western culture;
- knows and understands different methods and argumentative strategies used in phenomenology;
- have basic knowledge about the main directions of development and new achievements in the field of philosophy;
- knows different methods of interpreting a philosophical text.
After the course student can:
- read and interpret philosophical text;
- correctly use acquired philosophical vocabulary;
- analyze philosophical arguments, identify their crucial theses and premises and reveal the interrelations between them.
After the course student:
- is open to new ideas and ready to change his/her opinion in the light of available data and arguments;
- initiates and undertakes basic research activities.
Kryteria oceniania
Active participation in the class discussions and a short critical commentary of a chosen reading material.
Number of absences: 4 in the entire academic year
Literatura
M. Heidegger, „Being and Time”
M. Heidegger „The Basic Problems of Phenomenology” (frag.)
M. Heidegger, “Basic Writings”
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