READING ASSIGNMENTS & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
PART I: FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE (1844-1900)
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
PART II: EMMANUEL LEVINAS (1906–1995)
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT / CLASS DISCUSSIONS
Students of all levels are welcome – from the novice to those with training in the area. All are expected to schedule an adequate amount of time for readings between class sessions. The level of dialogue and quality of student involvement with the topics and readings for each session largely determines the pace of this course.
This course primarily follows a seminar format. The instructor will provide some background material, but much of the class time will be devoted to discussion. Your preparation, enthusiasm, willingness to ask questions, pursue insights, share knowledge, and your serious engagement with the ideas of your fellow classmates will greatly contribute to the success of this course. My hope is that all of us will grow throughout this course, not only in terms of gaining new knowledge of content, but in the very process of mutual learning within our community. Therefore, I expect you to have completed the assigned readings on time and that you make substantive contributions during each class session. I look forward to the frequency and quality of your participation in your comments, questions, and interactive discourse, as you raise new perspectives or concerns based on the course material and actively engage the claims of your fellow classmates.
In order to help facilitate this dialogue, students are asked to prepare responses to central questions or particular themes related to the readings. Prior to each class, I may note some questions for your consideration related to the next class's readings. You also may prefer to select a particular passage or selection from the reading that you found very significant or compelling. The purpose of these questions or selections is to stimulate class discussions, keep each particular session focused, help you to better organize your own thoughts and inquiries, and aid in your thoughtful preparation for class.
ENTHUSIASM
PART I: FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE (1844-1900)
Session 1
- Course Introduction - Setting the Stage
- Syllabus Overview/Explanation
- Defining Our Terms
- Nietzsche Biography/Background
Session 2
- Reading: On the Genealogy of Morals, 15-23; 24-27, 33-46 [Preface: 1-8; 1st Essay: 1-3, 7-13].
- What is the central question (subject) Nietzsche is exploring in this polemic?
- What does Nietzsche mean when he says prior attempts of understanding morality lack an historical awareness (i.e. “unhistorical”)?
- What are the two types of people in the world and how does this relate to the two types of morality that developed in history?
- What is Nietzsche’s understanding of “ressentiment” and how does it relate to his notion of “slave morality?”
- What does Nietzsche mean when he states that “you cannot separate the doer from the doing?”
Session 3
- Reading: On the Genealogy of Morals, 46-56; 84-96 [1st Essay: 14-17; 2nd Essay: 16-24].
- How does Nietzsche account for the origin of the soul?
- How does Nietzsche distinguish between “Good and Bad,” “Good and Evil,” within the distinctions of his moral system?
- What does Nietzsche mean by the “bad conscience” and how does he describe its origin?
Session 4
- Reading: On the Genealogy of Morals, 46-56; 84-96 [1st Essay: 14-17; 2nd Essay: 16-24].
- How does Nietzsche account for the emergence of the commonwealth and how does it relate to his notion of the “Will to Power?”
- What is the “Creditor-Debtor” relationship? How does it relate to altruistic morality?
Session 5
- Reading: On the Genealogy of Morals, 148-156, 162-163 [3rd Essay: 24-25; 28].
- Why is Nietzsche so critical of ascetic ideals?
- What is Nietzsche’s attitude toward the possibility of making “truth claims?”
- What is Nietzsche’s understanding/criticism of science?
- Why does Nietzsche see value in art?
- What does Nietzsche say about ascetics, meaning, and suffering?
PART II: EMMANUEL LEVINAS (1906–1995)
Session 6
- Reading: Difficult Freedom: Essays on Judaism, 16-23.
- How does Levinas initially describe the “ethical relation?” How does he connect it with human freedom/sovereignty and obligation to the other?
- How does Levinas correlate ethics and moral relation with our vision of God? What are the implications of this claim?
- How does Levinas connect the notion of “ritual law” to “social justice?”
Session 7
- Reading: Difficult Freedom: Essays on Judaism, 16-23.
- What is Levinas’ understanding of both divine and human capabilities for pardoning human crimes and activities? How does this relate to his argument about human moral obligations to the other?
- How does Levinas explain Jewish election, particularism, and its connection to universalism and citizenship in modern states? How does he connect this with his ethical theory?
Session 8
- Reading: Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority, 194-204; 215-219.
- What does Levinas mean when he claims that “speech proceeds from absolute difference?” How does this relate to his understanding of discourse and the “formal work of language?”
- How does the “face” put the “I” in question (i.e. as a “moral summons,” etc.)?
- Explain Levinas’ central claim that the Other, “rather than limiting the freedom of the same, founds and justifies it by calling it to responsibility…” “…by arousing my goodness.”
Session 9
- Reading: Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority, 194-204; 215-219.
- In what ways is discourse both a “rupture and commencement” by conditioning thought? Discuss why the “essence of discourse” is ethical. What is its relationship to “reason?”
- Why does Levinas argue that “interpersonal” takes place in a space that is “asymmetrical?”
Session 10
- Concluding Reflections & Review on Nietzsche and Levinas
- What do you consider to be the central questions each author is exploring in their respective philosophical works? How do they go about addressing their concerns (i.e. their methodological approach; how do they discuss their primary issues, etc.)?
- What are the most significant themes (i.e. concepts, terms, etc.) you found in each author’s writings? Why are they so important for their arguments?
- What do you consider to be the strengths and weaknesses of each of their works?
- How would you describe your own ethical views and understandings of the human condition in relationship with the authors we have read this semester? How do you think your conception of morality has been challenged or changed after reading these texts?
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT / CLASS DISCUSSIONS
Students of all levels are welcome – from the novice to those with training in the area. All are expected to schedule an adequate amount of time for readings between class sessions. The level of dialogue and quality of student involvement with the topics and readings for each session largely determines the pace of this course.
This course primarily follows a seminar format. The instructor will provide some background material, but much of the class time will be devoted to discussion. Your preparation, enthusiasm, willingness to ask questions, pursue insights, share knowledge, and your serious engagement with the ideas of your fellow classmates will greatly contribute to the success of this course. My hope is that all of us will grow throughout this course, not only in terms of gaining new knowledge of content, but in the very process of mutual learning within our community. Therefore, I expect you to have completed the assigned readings on time and that you make substantive contributions during each class session. I look forward to the frequency and quality of your participation in your comments, questions, and interactive discourse, as you raise new perspectives or concerns based on the course material and actively engage the claims of your fellow classmates.
In order to help facilitate this dialogue, students are asked to prepare responses to central questions or particular themes related to the readings. Prior to each class, I may note some questions for your consideration related to the next class's readings. You also may prefer to select a particular passage or selection from the reading that you found very significant or compelling. The purpose of these questions or selections is to stimulate class discussions, keep each particular session focused, help you to better organize your own thoughts and inquiries, and aid in your thoughtful preparation for class.
ENTHUSIASM
- Laugh at most (if not all) of my jokes