Philosophies of Love 3700-AL-PL-OG

The study of love in French culture follows two intertwined paths: philosophical questions raised by 21st-century thinkers (for instance: Jean-Luc Marion, Alain Badiou, Marcel Conche, André Comte-Sponville, Luc Ferry, Ruwen Ogien, Francis Wolff, Emmanuel Levinas, Eva Illouz), and close readings of fiction in its historical evolution from the Middle Ages to our times (for instance: Marguerite de Navarre, Molière, Montaigne, Laclos, Maupassant, Baudelaire, Marguerite Duras, David Foenkinos, Abdellatif Kechiche, Annie Ernaux).

By combining literary readings with philosophical inquiry, this seminar develops the ability to interpret and comprehend love across its multicultural and historical manifestations.

The seminar will explore the French and Francophones cultures of erotic and romantic love through their philosophical conceptualizations and artistic representations in literature and film.

The seminar work will follow a twofold historical and conceptual path. We will start with the roots of Western romantic love, the courtly love of the middle ages and from there proceed to Renaissance platonic and Christian mystic eros, the Enlightenment libertinage, ending up with contemporary e-love. In parallel we will tackle a series of conceptual problems, such as the acts and rituals of love (falling in love, thinking and talking about love, learning how to love); love’s ethical dilemmas (selfishness vs. generosity, exclusivity vs. openness, attraction vs. destruction); love’s cultural qualifications (toxic, true, reasonable, crazy). Each stage of our considerations will be formulated in the form of a specific question to which our readings will provide specific, yet debatable, answers.

The readings of the seminar will be composed of approachable philosophical essays as well as literary and cinematographic works. They will be introduced through short lectures, to provide the basis for philosophical considerations, historical contextualization, and literary interpretation. The readings will be assigned in advance and equipped with indications regarding the issues to be considered while preparing for the seminar discussion. The in-class discussion will be conducted in English and will be closely related to the assigned readings and films viewings. Students will have the option of doing their written work in English, Polish or French.

During the last part of the semester students will be invited to work on their individual (or team) Research Projects. The semester will conclude with a small Seminar Symposium during which students will present their Research Projects.

The course has three main goals:
- To train students’ interpretative skills through reading of philosophical and literary texts (in English) devoted to philosophical conceptualizations of love in French and Francophone cultures,
- To foster a constructive exchange of ideas in an academic setting,
- To promote the students’ original conceptualization of fundamental questions pertaining to the topic of the course.
The goal of this class is not to promote any particular philosophical or ideological agenda.

Plan of the course:

[UNIT 1] Introduction:

• February 19: Love at first sight?
Stéphane Foenkinos and Charles Baudelaire (21st and 19th c.)

[UNIT 2] A How-to Guide to Love:

• February 26: How to talk about love?
Romance of the Rose, (13th c.)
• March 4: How to think about love?
Louise Labé (16th c.)
• March 11: What do we love when we love?
Marguerite de Navarre (16th c.)
• March 18 : Can we learn how to love?
Michel de Montaigne (16th c.)

[UNIT 3] Virtues and Vices of Love:

• March 25: Is love necessarily selfish?
La Rochefoucauld (17th c.)
• April 8: Is love seductive?
Laclos (18th c.)
• April 15: Is love exclusive?
Laclos (18th c.)
• April 22: Is love destructive?
Guilleragues (17th c.)

[UNIT 4] Epithets of Love:
• April 29: Chosen Love?
Abdellatif Kechiche (21st c.)
• May 6: Toxic Love?
Annie Ernaux (21st c.)
• May 13: Rational Love?
Marguerite Duras (20th c.)
• May 20: Crazy Love?
Laetitia Colombani (21st c.)

[UNIT 6] Conclusion:
• May 27: True Love?
Eva Illouz (21st c.)
• June 3: Seminar Symposium
• June 10: Seminar Symposium

Course Materials: They will be available on the Moodle page of the course. To get access to this webpage, please contact Prof. Miernowski immediately after registering at jmiernow@wisc.edu

Type of course

general courses

Prerequisites (description)

The only prerequisite is to be able to do the readings in English. The written work will be done either in English or Polish, according to the individual choice of the student (students are also welcome to do their written work in French if they wish to do so). Students are not allowed to submit material generated by ChatGPT or any other Large Language Model. They can use ChatGPT for editorial purposes of the work they wrote themselves, on the condition however that they specify in writing the extent of ChatGPT use and provide the prompt as well as the original version of their work they submitted to ChatGPT.

Course coordinators

Jan Miernowski

Learning outcomes

MA Student)K_W02, K_W04, K_W06)
- knows how to use terms used in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences
- knows how to use methods of analysis and interpretation of scholarly texts
- knows how to use various methods of analysis and interpretation of cultural texts and artworks

MA Student (K_U02, K_U05, K_U06, K_U07, K_U08, K_U09, K_U10, K_U11):
- knows how to select and apply specific research tools to analyse artworks, scholarly publications, and visual materials
- knows how to use interdisciplinary research methods to analyse various cultural phenomena
- knows how to participate in academic conferences, symposiums, and debates
- knows how to complete an academic writing assignment using digital solutions and respecting the principles of protection of intellectual property
- knows how to analyse scholarly publications in the area of humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences in Polish and a foreign language
- has a good command of a foreign language at the upper-intermediate level
- knows how to outline and deliver a speech for target audiences
- understands and knows how to implement the principles of teamwork

MA Student (K_K03, K_K05, K_K06, K_K07):
- is competent to carry out a self-appointed task using appropriate solutions and methods
- is empathetic and respects the cultural diversity of a community
- respects the cultural and natural heritage of a community
- respects the cultural and natural diversity of a community

Assessment criteria

In order to be successful in this class you should:
- read and annotate carefully all the required readings and work on all the required lectures
- participate actively in all the in-class discussions
- strive to develop your own personal interpretation of readings and your own conceptualization of problems under discussion
- respect the deadlines of all the assignments in this course.

The final grade of the course is composed of:

- 50% for the Research Project;

- 30% for quizzes written during the semester. The quizzes will have the form of “take home exams”: the students will have up to 48 hours to complete each quiz and they will be allowed to use any notes or library sources they wish (all sources have to be acknowledged). 3 out of 4 best grades for the quizzes will count toward the final grade.

- 20% for the preparation of readings and film viewings, as demonstrated by the assiduity and the quality of participation in the discussions in class.

Bibliography

[selective]:
• Alain Badiou et Nicolas Truong, Éloge de l’amour (2009)
• Roland Barthes, Le discours amoureux (1974-1976)
• André Burguière, Le mariage et l’amour en France de la Renaissance à la Révolution (2011)
• Michel Cazenave, Histoire de la passion amoureuse (2001)
• André Comte-Sponville, Le sexe ni la mort. Trois essais sur l’amour et la sexualité (2012)
• Luc Ferry, La Révolution de l’amour. Pour spiritualité laïque (2010)
• Luc Ferry, De l’amour. Une philosophie pour le XXIe siècle (2012)
• Alain Finkielkraut, Et si l’amour durait (2011)
• Jacques Le Brun, Le pur amour de Platon à Lacan (2002)
• Nicolas Grimaldi, Métamorphoses de l’amour (2011)
• Eva Illouz, Why Love Hurts (2012)
• Vladimir Jankélévitch, Les vertus et l’amour (1970)
• Jean-Luc Marion, Le Phénomène Érotique. Six méditation (2003)
• Ondine Millot, L’amour à mort. Histoires, enquêtes, rencontres et autres crimes passionnels (2013)
• Julie Neveux, Le langage de l’amour (2022)
• Paul Ricoeur, L’amour et justice (1989)
• Ruwen Ogien, Philosopher ou faire l’amour ? (2014)
• Francis Wolff, Il n’y a pas d’amour parfait (2016)

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 3700-AL-PL-OG in USOSweb