How, in Fear and Trembling, is Abraham supposed to be different from a "tragic hero"? From a "knight of infinite resignation"? Do you find Abraham (as represented in Fear and Trembling) to be admirable? Why or why not?Due Mon., Feb. 5:
What does Kierkegaard's Johannes Climacus mean when he says that "subjectivity is the truth" for an existing individual? What are your thoughts about this?Due Mon., Feb. 12:
EITHERNO PAPER DUE ON FEB. 19.Pick one "form of despair" discussed in Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death, describe its main characteristics, and either (i) give an example of it, or (ii) say why you think there are no examples of this type of "despair".ORIn The Seventh Seal, two quite different attitudes to life and death are represented by the Knight (Antonius Block) and his Squire (Jons). Briefly describe these contrasting attitudes and say which you find more congenial and why.
Due in class Mon., Feb. 26:
Write a very short one page paper on one of the following topics.Either
What is the principal content of what Nietzsche calls "slave morality"? What are one or two of his main objections to this content? Do you agree or disagree with these objections?ORWhat is Nietzsche's doctrine of Eternal Return? Why does he think it's such a big deal? What do you make of it?
Due in class Mon., March 5:
This week, we've encountered four interesting fictional "characters" - the Underground Man, the Grand Inquisitor, Jesus (as conceived by Dostoevsky), and Don Manuel (from the Unamuno story). You may respond to ONE OR THE OTHER of the the following questions. The first concerns only the Underground Man. The second concerns the other three characters.
- Imagine a professor of philosophy who (a) is teaching an existentialism class, (b) has a personality something like that of the Underground Man, and (c) notices a student who spends a substantial amount of her time "text messaging" in his class. How would the professor react to the observation he has made? Make sure you make good use of the text of Notes from the Underground in answering this question.
- Imagine that Unamuno's Don Manuel has just read "The Grand Inquisitor". Whose "side" would he be on? Would he side with the Grand Inquisitor? Or with Jesus? Or would he find a bit of the right stuff on each side? Explain your answer.
NO PAPER DUE ON MAR. 16.
Due in class Mon., April 2.What does Sartre mean when he says that the cafe waiter cannot be a cafe waiter in the same sense as that in which "this inkwell is an inkwell, or the glass is a glass?" What, according to Sartre, does this tell us about the being of humans beings? (See pp. 386-7.)
Due in class Mon., April 9.
In Sartre's play, "No Exit", the character named Inez articulates some key Sartrean doctrines. What are these doctrines? How are they illustrated in the play? What are your own thoughts about them?
Due in class on Monday, April 16.
What, according to Simone de Beauvoir, is the central "antinomy" of ethical action"? What are a couple of the examples that she discusses? How does she deal with the antinomy in each case? Do you agree or disagree with her judgment about the correct course of action in these cases?Due in class on Monday, April 23.
At the very end of The Stranger, Meursault explicitly arrives at a certain view of his own life. What is this view? What are your reactions to it?