Bachelor 2023/2024

Existentialism in Philosophy and Literature of the XX-th century

Type: Elective course (Philology)

Area of studies: Philology

Delivered by: School of Philosophy and Cultural Studies

Where: Faculty of Humanities

When: 3 year, 4 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of one campus

Instructors: Tatyana Petrovna Lifintseva

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Contact hours: 36

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course is devoted to the problems of existential philosophizing both in traditional philosophical discourse and art prose. The term “existentialism” itself is rather ambiguous: it is extremely difficult to define the concept "existentialism" because in its strict sense we can strictly apply it just to one of thinkers of this direction – Jean-Paul Sartre in his works of 1940 — 1950th years. And maybe we unite in this case on our own arbitrariness those thinkers which did not have wished to name themselves this name?... More likely, telling "existentialism", we mean “existential philosophy” more often. Last concept is also much more wide for it doesn't assume accurately fixed program, credo, the conceptual device etc. Representatives of this current (who very seldom call themselves existentialists!) trace their philosophical gender tree from St. Augustine, M. de Montaigne, B. Pascal, F. Dostoevsky, S. Kierkegaard, of course. We shall also discuss those sources. During the XX-th century to this direction were carried the authors so not similar among themselves, as M. Heidegger, J.-P. Sartre, A. Camus, K. Jaspers, G. Marcel, М. de Unamuno, H. Ortega y Gassett, N. Berdyaev, L. Shestov, M. Buber, F. Rosenzweig, N. Abbaniano, P. Tillich, K. Bart, R. Bultmann and many other persons. At first sight, the characteristics of the current are rather various. Hence, to define "existentialism" by means of a set of philosophical formulas would be erroneous. Any formula, volume enough for the description of all tendencies of existential philosophizing, can appear empty and senseless for a concrete example. How in such situation can we build "the gender tree" of existential philosophy? Most likely, so: there are some repeating themes which have been not necessarily connected with each other, however in the history of thought getting to a certain generality. These themes are that: 1) person and system; 2) intentionality of consciousness; 3) temporality of consciousness, 4) being and nothingness; 5) absurdity; 6) freedom 7) the nature and value of a choice; 8) the role of boundary experience (boundary situation); 9) the sense and value of communication. As for art prose, many of the named thinkers were also writers and their art prose may not be considered a kind of just “popularization” of their philosophical views but an original way of expression of existential worldview. As well as many writers and artists (absolutely without considering themselves philosophers) discovered deepest existential epiphanies. We shall touch, for example, prose of A. Chekhov, F. Kafka, A. Platonov in our course. In this case, there’s a temptation to find in the creativity of any brilliant writer existential worldviews… We shall read the texts and discuss those problems.