Admission requirements
Admission to this course is restricted to:
BA students in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including Philosophical Skills and one of the following courses: Logic OR Ethics OR Continental Philosophy from a Global perspective OR World Philsophies: Greek and Roman Antiquity.
BA students in Filosofie, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including Filosofische vaardigheden and one of the following courses: Logica OR Continentale filosofie: de vraag naar het heden OR Ethiek OR Griekse en Romeinse filosofie.
Description
The universe is a large place in which we are but tiny specks, living all-too briefly. And, yet, from the first-person perspective, we can appear as the center of the universe, our lives brimming with significant happenings. The human condition is a rich topic and philosophical reflection on existential questions can have a deep impact on us.
There is no single snappy doctrine that defines existentialism. Existentialists typically deny that the world comes to us with a pre-determined meaning to our lives and deny that we find ourselves with a pre-given and fully fleshed-out identity. Who we are, and any meaningfulness that we find in the world is in some way due to ourselves. How these and related topics manifest themselves in our first-person lived experience is taken to be revealing and the basis for our philosophical treatments of them.
Existentialism is standardly introduced in a historically situated manner, and by focusing on iconic big names from the continental tradition, such as Heidegger, Sartre and de Beauvoir. This course takes a different approach on both counts: the focus will be on contemporary texts, written by philosophers in the analytic tradition.
In what ways are we free, if any? In what ways can we shape who we are? What is the relation between our commitments and who we are? What is the impact of our experience on our identity? What are the sources of the reasons to do things? And, how should we regard the discrepancy between our first-person perspective and more objective view on the world? Not only do analytic philosophers address these existential questions, they also (often independently, without much influence from the continental thinkers) come to develop views that deserve to be called existentialist.
As we discuss analytic treatments of existential questions and themes, students will be at the same time introduced to several key debates in metaphysics and (meta-)ethics, such as on the nature of free will and personal identity, and the sources of our reasons for action.
Course objectives
This course aims to familiarize students with analytic treatments of existential questions.
Students who successfully complete this course will have a good understanding of:
views in metaphysics that can serve as a foundation for existentialist views, such as compatibilist and libertarian views on free will, and narrative-based and self-constitution views on personal identity;
views in (meta-)ethics that allow for the creation of reasons and meaningfulness, such as voluntarism about reasons;
views on the place of the first-person or subjective perspective in making sense of certain aspects of ourselves and the world around us;
views on the meaning of life, with a focus on subjectivist views.
Students who successfully complete this course will have practiced and developed their skills in:
explaining verbally concepts, theories and arguments on a range of existential questions;
independently researching academic work in analytic philosophy;
writing a short argumentative philosophy paper;
having fruitful philosophical discussions with fellow students in class.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Short paper (50%)
Oral examination (50%)
The oral exam will consist of questions about the topics discussed in class and about the contents of the short paper that was written for the course. Sufficient attendance and having submitted the short paper are required for admission to the oral examination.
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
Resits for the individual partial exams are not offered. The resit consists of an oral exam. The result of the resit replaces all previously obtained partial grades (100% of the final result). Having submitted the short paper is required for admission to the resit.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Feedback on the short paper and the oral examination will be provided orally, right after the oral examination.
Reading list
The reading list will be published via Brightspace. Readings will be made accessible via Brightspace, and need to be studied at home before the relevant seminar.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
Not applicable.