This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts and developments of the phenomenological tradition, spanning from its origins with Edmund Husserl to contemporary neo-phenomenology.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Comprehend the core principles and methodology of phenomenology.
2. Analyze key concepts in Husserl's transcendental phenomenology, including intentionality, noesis and noema, and the life-world.
3. Explore the contributions of Maurice Merleau-Ponty to phenomenology, focusing on his concepts of embodiment, intercorporeality, and the chiasmatic structure of experience.
4. Engage with contemporary debates in phenomenology, particularly the works of Shaun Gallagher, Dan Zahavi, Alva Noë, and other neo-phenomenologists.
Course Outline:
Module 1: Introduction to Phenomenology
1.1 What is Phenomenology? 1.2 Edmund Husserl and the Origins of Phenomenology 1.3 The Phenomenological Method: Epoché and Intentionality
Module 2: Husserl's Transcendental Phenomenology
2.1 The Life-World and the Noesis-Noema Relationship 2.2 Consciousness and Its Objects 2.3 Intersubjectivity and the Transcendental Ego
Module 3: Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology
3.1 Embodiment and the Body as Subject 3.2 Intercorporeality and the Experience of Others 3.3 The Chiasmatic Structure of Experience
Module 4: Contemporary Issues in Phenomenology
4.1 Gallagher and Zahavi: The Enactive Mind 4.2 Alva Noë: Sensorimotor Contingency and the Mind-Body Problem 4.3 Contemporary Phenomenological Approaches to Cognition, Emotion, and Ethics
Assessment:
• Class participation (50%)
• Final paper (50%)