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HEIDEGGER AND SOCIAL THOUGHTCommittee on Degrees in Social StudiesHarvard UniversitySocial Studies 98ngDr. Rodrigo ChacónFall Semester, 2014Hilles Library 54 Wednesdays, 4-6Office hours: Mondays, 2-4Barker Center 103chacon@fas.harvard.eduMartin Heidegger (1889-1976) was arguably the most influential thinker in the twentieth century Continental tradition. Perhaps no other thinker since Hegel has exercised a comparable sovereignty over fields ranging from philosophy and theology, to ecology, psychology, psychiatry, architecture, the theory of art, and, increasingly, social and political thought. Few thinkers have also been as controversial. Indeed, Heidegger’s support of National Socialism has cast a long shadow over his dazzling fame.In this tutorial, we begin to read Heidegger as he was read—or heard—by young undergraduates in the early 1920s. In most weeks, we will read a selection of his work together with a statement by a major student of his thought. In order to provide an overview of Heidegger’s work as a whole, we shall also study selections from his later writings. In particular, we shall seek to show (1) how his most famous work, Being and Time (1927), opens up when read in the light of his early interpretations of Aristotle; (2) how those interpretations inspired some of the most powerful currents of contemporary social and political thought; and, ultimately (3), the sense in which his project to interrogate the foundations of science—including social and political science—remains alive and urgent.READINGS (available for purchase on Amazon. All other readings can be downloaded from the course website):George Steiner, Heidegger (Chicago, 1991)Martin Heidegger, Towards the Definition of Philosophy (Continuum, 2008)Martin Heidegger, Plato’s Sophist (Indiana, 1997)Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. MacQuarrie and Robinson (Harper, 2008). (Make sure to get this translation.)Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays (Harper, 1977)EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTSThis tutorial is designed as a seminar and research workshop. Its success will depend on the informed participation of every member in our weekly meetings. Students will also be expected to communicate beyond the class through weekly blog entries and collaborative assignments. A central goal of a junior tutorial is to provide students with research skills and experiences that will prepare them to write their senior theses. The following requirements have been designed to achieve that goal: Weekly blog entries Every week the group will be divided in pairs. Every Monday (before midnight), half of the group will post short responses to the reading (max. 500 words). The other half will reply to their partners’ response by Tuesday (also before midnight). The blog is meant not only to extend the dialogue beyond class but also for you to keep a journal with reactions, questions, as well as citations and quotations. The most helpful entries will probably include all four. Presentations Beginning on week 3, each student will read a short paper (3-5 double-spaced pages) to be followed by questions and comments. (Depending on the number of participants in the seminar, each student will present once or twice during the semester.) These papers should identify problems or puzzles in the readings assigned for that week and propose answers to them. That is, they should take a stance on the reading by developing a thesis, even if it’s a very specific thesis or a seemingly minor point. (The problem can be anything from “What is going on here?” or “What is the author trying to say?” to “How does this change the way we think about x?”) These short papers may also incorporate secondary literature from the recommended reading (or beyond). Please print out your papers and bring copies for your peers. (Students presenting papers need not write blog responses that week. Papers are due on Tuesdays before midnight.)Research paperThe big question. Think of a big question or problem that you would like to investigate during the semester. Write this question down and explain why it is interesting in a short memo of around 500 words. The big question is due on week 4 (October 1) during tutorial. (The question may also be small with a narrow focus, but it should be big in terms of your interests or the things that matter to you.)The answerable question. After discussing your big question with me, you should narrow it down into a version that can be answered within the limits of a research paper. Write down your answerable question, including notes on the sources with which you plan to address it in a memo of between 500 and 1000 words. The answerable question is due on week 7 (October 22) during tutorial.The introduction draft. Write a first version of the introduction to your paper. Make sure to include the following 4 points: your question; the problem or puzzle it raises—or why the question matters; your guiding thesis (addressing the question); the steps your paper will follow to develop the thesis. Include in a separate document an annotated bibliography with at least 10 sources, explaining briefly (max. 3 sentences) how each source will contribute to developing your thesis. The prospectus is due on week 10 (November 12).The final research paper will be due on Friday December 17 at 5pm in my mailbox in Social Studies. The final paper should be 20-25 pp. (double-spaced; 12-font; 1-inch margins). Note: I will not read drafts of the final research paper. However, I will be happy to discuss your paper projects at length. Extensions will only be granted on the basis of personal emergency or medical necessity verified with a note from your doctor or Resident Dean.One-on-one meetings. We should meet at least three times during the semester, ideally on weeks 5 or 6 to discuss the big question, 7 or 8 to discuss the answerable question, and 11 to discuss your introduction. Please schedule an appointment with me during office hours (Mondays 2-4 Hilles 54).GRADINGBlog entries: 20% of your grade Paper presentations: 20% Timely submission of big question, answerable question, and introduction: 10%Final paper: 50%(Late papers will be graded 1/3 of a letter grade lower for each day that they are late.)Collaboration policy:Collaboration Permitted in Written WorkDiscussion and the exchange of ideas are essential to academic work. For assignments in this course, you are encouraged to consult with your classmates on the choice of paper topics and to share sources. You may find it useful to discuss your chosen topic with your peers, particularly if you are working on the same topic as a classmate. However, you should ensure that any written work you submit for evaluation is the result of your own research and writing and that it reflects your own approach to the topic. You must also adhere to standard citation practices in this discipline and properly cite any books, articles, websites, lectures, etc. that have helped you with your work. If you received any help with your writing (feedback on drafts, etc.), you must also acknowledge this assistance.SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS AND READINGS:Week 1 (9/10): Introduction: Heidegger’s Breakthrough to Phenomenology (1919)George Steiner, Heidegger (all)Martin Heidegger, Towards the Definition of Philosophy, pp. 51-99 Week 2 (9/17): The “Natorp Report”: A Heideggerian Grundrisse? (1922) Hans-Georg Gadamer, “Martin Heidegger—85 Years,” 111-120Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Books I, VI, X, chapters 6-9 Martin Heidegger, “Phenomenological Interpretations with Respect to Aristotle,” Part I, 358-384Week 3 (9/24): Heidegger’s Reading of Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI (1924-25)Hans-Georg Gadamer, “Man and Language,” 59-69; “The Universality of the Hermeneutical Problem,” 3-17Martin Heidegger, Plato’s Sophist, 5-44 Week 4 (10/1) ContinuedMartin Heidegger, Plato’s Sophist, 89-129Recommended: Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, 312-324Week 5 (10/8) The Project of Fundamental Ontology (1927)Karsten Harries, “Fundamental Ontology and the Search for Man’s Place,” 65-79Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, Introduction (pp. 21-64), section 83 (pp. 486-488).Franco Volpi, “Being and Time: A Translation of the Nicomachean Ethics?”Week 6 (10/15) ContinuedCharles Taylor, “Overcoming Epistemology,” 1-19Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, sections 9-24 (pp. 65-148)Charles Taylor, “Self-Interpreting Animals,” 45-76Week 7 (10/22) The Turning: Subjectivism, Technology, and Nihilism (1930s-50s)Heidegger, “Why I Stay in the Provinces” , “The Question Concerning Technology,” in The Question Concerning Technology , “The Age of the World Picture,” in The Question Concerning Technology ________, “The Word of Nietzsche: ‘God is Dead’,” in The Question Concerning TechnologyWeek 8 (10/29) Thinking Beyond Humanism (1946)Martin Heidegger, “Letter on Humanism”Jean-Paul Sartre, “Existentialism and Humanism”Recommended: Michel Foucault, The Order of Things, Chapter 10Week 9 (11/5) Thinking Beyond Philosophy (1950s)Martin Heidegger, “The Thing” , “What are Poets For?” , “Building, Dwelling, Thinking” , “Poetically Man Dwells” Weeks 10-12 (11/12, 11/19, 12/3) Heidegger and the SocialBased on students’ interests, themes may include:Philosophy and NazismMartin Heidegger, Introduction to Metaphysics , “The Self-Assertion of the German University” , “Only a God can Save us” (Der Spiegel Interview) , “Letter to the Rector of Freiburg University”Recommended readings:Peter Trawny (ed.), On Hegel's Philosophy of Right: The 1934-35 Seminar and Interpretive Essays Michael Allen Gillespie, “Martin Heidegger's Aristotelian National Socialism” Jacques Derrida, Of Spirit: Heidegger and the Question Pierre Bourdieu, The Political Ontology of Martin Heidegger Dominique Janicaud, The Shadow of That Thought Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Heidegger, Art, and Politics: The Fiction of the PoliticalKarl L?with, Martin Heidegger and European NihilismGu?nther Neske & Emil Kettering (eds.), Martin Heidegger and National Socialism: Questions and AnswersHans Sluga, Heidegger's Crisis: Philosophy and Politics in Nazi GermanyTechnology and Environmental ThoughtRecommended reading:Trish Glazeburg, “Heidegger and environmental philosophy”? (ed.), Heidegger on Science , “Heidegger on Aristotle, Galileo and Newton” Iain Thomson, Heidegger, Art, and Postmodernity , Heidegger on Ontotheology: Technology and the Politics of Education Ladelle McWhorter and Gail Stenstad (eds.),?Heidegger and the Earth: Essays in Environmental Philosophy Timothy Rayner, “Biopower and Technology: Foucault’s and Heidegger’s Way of Thinking” Andrew Feenberg, Questioning Technology Nancy J. Holland, “Rethinking Ecology in the Western Philosophical Tradition: Heidegger and/on Aristotle”?Thomas Sheehan, “Nihilism: Heidegger/Jünger/Aristotle” Leslie Paul Thiele, “Nature and Freedom: A Heideggerian Critique of Biocentric and Sociocentric Environmentalism” Bernard Stiegler, Technics and Time, 1 Michel Haar, The Song of the Earth Hubert Dreyfus, “Heidegger on the Connection between Nihilism, Art, Technology, and Politics” Michael E. Zimmerman, “Heidegger, Buddhism, and Deep Ecology”? , Heidegger’s Confrontation with Modernity: Technology, Politics, Art , “Toward a Heideggerean Ethos for Radical Environmentalism”Silvio Vietta, Heideggers Kritik am Nationalsozialismus und an der Technik Embodied Philosophy and FeminismRecommended reading:Martin Heidegger, Zollikon SeminarsKevin Aho, Heidegger’s Neglect of the BodyNancy Holland and Patricia Huntington, eds.?Feminist Interpretations of Martin HeideggerLuce Irigaray, The Forgetting of Air in Martin HeideggerFinding Meaning in a Secular World, Or: Heidegger and the Question of God(s)Recommended reading:Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly,?All Things ShiningCharles Taylor, A Secular AgeHans K?chler, “God in the Thought of Martin Heidegger,” in: S. A. Matczak (ed.), God in Contemporary ThoughtRafal Kazimierz Wilk, “On Human Being: A Dispute between Edith Stein and Martin Heidegger” Hans-Georg Gadamer, “The Religious Dimension,” in Heidegger’s WaysKarl L?with, “M. Heidegger and F. Rosenzweig or Temporality and Eternity” Heidegger and Political ThoughtRecommended reading:Stuart Elden, Speaking Against Number: Heidegger, Language and the Politics of CalculationDaniel Gross (ed.), Heiedegger and Rhetoric Fran?ois Raffoul and David Pettigrew (eds.), Heidegger and Practical PhilosophySlavoj ?i?ek,?The Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political OntologyReiner Schürmann, Heidegger on Being and Acting: From Principles to Anarchy Leslie Paul Thiele, “Twilight of Modernity: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Politics” Robert Dostal, “Friendship and Politics: Heidegger’s Failing” Stephen K. White, “Heidegger and the Difficulties of a Postmodern Ethics and Politics” Fred R. Dallmayr, “Ontology of Freedom: Heidegger and Political Philosophy” ................
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