HEGEL: Self-Consciousness and Freedom Inphenomenology of Spirit

Fall 2017, Phil 167a/HOID

Phil 167a

HEGEL: Self-Consciousness and Freedom inPhenomenology of Spirit

Professor: Eugene R. Sheppard

Email:

office phone: 781-736-2965

Office Hours: Monday 9:30-11:00am

Office: Lown 307

Classroom: Rabb 333

Course Description

From the end of the 18th century, a variety of European philosophers grappled with the challenge to see the modern self as the basis for the systematic understanding of all knowledge. Perhaps no other figure of nineteenth century idealism remains as often invoked and fiercely contested as that of GWF Hegel. For Hegel attempted to introduce a new philosophical system, and just as importantly, a new way of doing philosophy. Phänomenologie des Geistes(Phenomenology of Spirit, henceforth PhS) has captivated, frustrated, and inspired so many readers in great part because of the unique way in which the form of the argument demonstrates the substantive content of various positions.

This course will offer a close reading of this pillar of modern European philosophy. Special attention will be attended to Hegel’s analyses of the changing patterns of understanding and self-understanding and the ways in which Hegel’s readers experience these transitions and transformations while making their way through the book. In Hegel’s modern paradigm, the Subject and the Object of thought necessarily affect one another’s potential, essence, identity, and fate. And through a rational comprehension of role of Spirit (Geist) in thought and the world, Hegel attempts to reveal how both subject and object become inextricably bound together. Indeed, for Hegel, the dialectic between subject and object provides the very ground for the self-aware and free person uniquely suited to the ethical possibilities and demands of social, religious, and political life.

Learning Goals:

Students in Philosophy 167a will be introduced to fundamental debates regarding the construction of the self in modern continental philosophy and especially within nineteenth century German idealism. Students will learn to critically read and engage a monumental philosophical text and develop the ability to identify, articulate and evaluate philosophical claims and arguments. Students will also be asked to develop these skills in written form by developing interpretive and philosophical positions which emerge from the text.

Grading:

1. Class Participation: Students will be expected to participate having read and reflected about the assigned reading and study questions. = 20%

2. Journal: Students will be asked to keep a journal for the course in which they will respond to various prompts within and outside of the classroom. The journals will not be turned in for formal grading, but I will expect students to keep a running journal to which they can look back upon at any point in the semester. = 5%

3. One two-page close readingassignment = 5%.

4. Presentation: Students will be asked to consult with the instructor and present once a specific section or important interpretive legacy in the class. Presentations should be 10-15 minutes. = 5%

5. Take home midterm. 25%.

6. 7-10 page final paper due on May 1. I will provide some prompts, but would also encourage students to pursue and develop research topics. The final paper may also take on an unconventional form which expresses key interpretive and philosophical issues. Examples will be provided in the first weeks of class. = 40%

Graduate Students will be expected to follow the same requirements but also incorporate at least two secondary sources into their final papers which will be 12-15 pages long.

Required Texts

• Hegel, G. F. W. Phenomenology of Spirit, Trans. by A. V. Miller, Oxford University Press. (PhS)

• Stern, R., Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Hegel and the Phenomenology of Spirit, NY (RG)

• All other readings posted on Latte website

•The original German of can be consulted by following the 1988 edition edited by Wessels and Heinrich Clairmont.

Sources on Reserve to be consulted during the semester:

German Idealism

• Fichte, J. G., Introductions To The Wissenschaftslehre, ed. D. Breazeale, Hackett Publishing. (IW)

• Henrich, Dieter, Between Kant and Hegel, Lectures on German Idealism, Harvard.

• Franks, Paul, All or Nothing, Harvard.

• Pinkard, Terry, German Philosophy: 1760-1880, Cambridge.

• Beiser, Frederick, The Fate of Reason: German Philosophy from Kant to Fichte, Harvard.

• Ameriks, Karl, ed., The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism, Cambridge.

• Neuhouser, Frederick, Fichte's Theory of Subjectivity, Cambridge.

Hegel

• Taylor, Charles, Hegel, Cambridge.

•Fredric Jameson, The Hegel Variations: On the Phenomenologyof Spirit, London

• Martin Heideger, Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (1930-31 course), Indianna

• Beiser, Frederick, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Hegel, Cambridge.

• Pippin, Robert, Hegel's Idealism, Cambridge.

• Pinkard, Terry, Hegel's Phenomenology, Cambridge.

• Bristow, William, Hegel and the Transformation of Philosophical Critique, Oxford.

• Westphal, Kenneth, ed., The Blackwell Guide to Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, Blackwell.

• Butler, Judith, Subjects of Desire: Hegelian Reflections in Twentieth-Century France, Columbia.

• Hyppolite, Jean, Genesis and Structure of Hegel's 'Phenomenology', Northwestern.

• Kojève, Alexandre, Introduction to the Reading of Hegel, Cornell.

• Gadamer, Hans-Georg, Hegel's Dialectic, Yale.

Course Outline (This schedule is subject to revision)

Week Date Class Theme and Activities Assignment

Week 1 Introduction

Review of Syllabus and Introduction to Hegel and PhS:

German Idealism: Kantian Philosophy and the Self

Week 2 Entering the System from the Beginning and End

Hegel’s Preface in PhS

RG, pp., 1-29

Week 3 Consciousness

Introduction and Consciousness AI: Sense-Certainty

Week 4 Consciousness from Perception to Force and the Understanding

PhS, pp. 67-103

Week 5 Self-Consciousness

PS, 104-138

Week 6

Hegel’s Method: Radical Skepticism

PhS, § 73-89

RG: pp., 36-42

Week 7

Consciousness: Sense-Certainly and Perception

PhS, § 90-131

RG, pp., 43-59

Week 8

Transition to Self-consciousness

RG, pp., 59-70 (On Force and the Understanding)

PhS, § 166-177

RG, pp., 71-75

Week 9

Self-consciousness: Lordship and Bondage

PhS, § 178-196

RG, pp. 71-85

Week 9

Stoicism, Skepticism, and the Unhappy

Consciousness

PhS, § 197-230

RG, pp., 85-96

Week 10

The Truth and Certainty of Reason; and

The Actualization of Rational Self-

Consciousness Through its Own Activity

PhS, § 231-239 and RG, pp., 97-102

PhS, § 347-359 and RG, pp., 114-119

Week 11

Active Reason: The Spiritual Animal Kingdom

and Deceit

PhS, § 394-418

RG, pp., 124-7

Week 12

The Critique of Kant and the Transition to

Spirit: Reasons as Lawgiving and as Testing

PhS, § 419-437

RG, pp., 127-133

Week 13

Spirit: The Ethical Order

PhS, § 438-477

RG, pp., 135-145

Week 14

Absolute Knowing

PhS, § 788-808

RG, pp., 195-201

Attendance Policy

Your presence in class is a minimum condition of your success in this course. Attendance as well aslateness will be noted and factored into your final grade, as follows:

4 absences: final grade lowered by ½ grade (e.g. from B- to C+)

5 absences: final grade lowered by a full grade (e.g. from B- to C-)

6 absences: failure; no credit given

In general, the distinction between “excused” and “unexcused” absences is not recognized (an absence

is an absence). Repeated lateness in arriving to class will count as an absence.

Other Important Information

1. Unless otherwise noted readings, handouts, assignments, and other announcements will beposted on the course Latte page

2. The readings for this class are listed above by the week. If homework is not explicitly assignedin class, these readings are your homework. The reading schedule may change due toevents. If it does I will update the schedule on the latte site.

5. Unless an arrangement is made with me, a paper will be penalized a whole grade if it is up toone week late. Thereafter, it will be penalized a whole grade each additional week that it islate. I do not accept emailed papers unless I explicitly agree to it.

Late work policy: Unless there are legitimate reasons (e.g., serious illness or personal circumstances), work will not be accepted more than one week past the due date. Work turned in late will be docked 2% per day. Undergraduate incompletes are governed by the policy outlined in the university Bulletin. A similar policy will be applied to graduate students.

Academic integrity: Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person–be it a world-class philosopher or your lab partner–without proper acknowledgment of that source. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student.

Violations of University policies on academic integrity, described in Section three of Rights and Responsibilities, may result in failure in the course or on the assignment, or in suspension or dismissal from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification.

Students with documented disabilities: Students with disabilities certified by the Coordinator of Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and First Year Services will be given reasonable accommodations to complete required assignments. Disabilities that are not documented and approved by the Office of Academic Affairs will not be given accommodations.

Preparation time: Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, and preparation for exams) and writing assignments.

LAPTOPS AND CELLPHONES IN CLASS

Use of laptop computers in class often proves to be a distraction. If you wish to use your laptop for note-taking or other academic purposes please limit your use of electronic devices as much as possible. Resist the temptation to check for updates or even to run searches related to class material. If use of laptops becomes distracting, I reserve the right to change my policy regarding them.

Use of cell phones in class for talking, texting or reading/writing email is prohibited. If you wish to leave your cell phone on in silent mode because of an ongoing emergency situation that you may need to respond to, please speak to me or the TF at the start of class to let us know.