Towards a Philosophy of Existence - YBAJ017

• Title: Towards a Philosophy of Existence
• Guaranteed by: Programme Liberal Arts and Humanities (24-SHVAJ)
• Faculty: Faculty of Humanities
• Actual: from 2025
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, MC [HS]
• Extent per academic year: 26 [hours]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (30)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Jakub Marek, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses available to incoming students
• Is incompatible with: YBLP008

Annotation

English

The course is intended as an introduction to the German variety of existential philosophy (Existenzphilosophie). We will be discussing the philosophical work of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger, and Patočka. Our goal is to understand the basic scope, topics, and bearings of this particular variety of philosophy. The course is open to all interested students and requires no significant prior philosophical knowledge. Weekly Schedule: 1. Introduction: Existence and existentia 2. Kierkegaard I: Stages of Existence 3. Kierkegaard II: The Synthesis of Existence 4. Nietzsche I: Metaphorical Existence 5. Nietzsche II.: A Genealogy of the (also)Human 6. Kierkegaardian Renesance: German Philosophy in the interbellum period 7. Jaspers: World-Views and Limit Situations 8. Heidegger: Existence and Dasein 9. Heidegger contra Jaspers - The Role of Philosophy 10. Patočka I: Existence and the Natural World (Lebenswelt) 11. Patočka II: Movements of Life 12. Is Philosophy of Existence Still Viable Today? 13. Conclusion

Last update: Kozák Vratislav, Mgr., Ph.D. (26.04.2018)

Requirements to the exam

Students can decide between oral and written exam (essay). For the oral exam, several exam dates will be made available in January and early February (including an online one). 

The oral exam will be conducted as a colloquium (discussions in small groups of 2-4 students) and will be based on lectures, class readings and any relevant literature you want to present. 

Should you want to get grade A (1), you need to submit a short essay (1500-2000 words) on any relevant topic mentioned in the class. The essays should use both primary and secondary sources. 

The deadline for the essays is January 31st. 

Last update: Marek Jakub, Mgr., Ph.D. (19.12.2024)

Syllabus

Mandatory:

KIERKEGAARD. S.: The Sickness Unto Death. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.

NIETZSCHE, F.: On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense. In Philosophy and Truth. Selections from Nietzsche´s Notebooks of the early 1870´s. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1993.

FLYNN, T.: Existentialism. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Recommended:

KIERKEGAARD. S.: Fear and Trembling. In Fear and Trembling. Repetion. Kierkegaard´s Writings VI. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983. S. 1-123.

NIETZSCHE, F.: Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

JASPERS., K.: Philosophy of Existence. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971.

PATOČKA, J.: Body, Community, Language, World. Chicago: Open Court, 1998.

GOLOMB, J.: In Search of Authenticity. From Kierkegaard to Camus. London/New York: Routledge, 1995.

Last update: Kozák Vratislav, Mgr., Ph.D. (26.04.2018)