Course Description / Course Readings / Course Requirements   |   SCHEDULE: September / October / November / December

Course Description and Objectives

We will study four 20th-century thinkers in the "continental" tradition who have forged new philosophical approaches to thinking about God and religion: Martin Heidegger, Jean-Luc Marion, Emmanuel Levinas, and Jacques Derrida.  The texts we will read show how questions about God and religion arise from and form an integral part of the most fundamental philosophical questioning - about human experience, about ethics, and about language and meaning.

A core objective of this class is to develop skills of close reading, textual analysis, and strong writing.  The assignments are designed for students to use and improve those skills.  The course is structured in a way that encourages students to approach their education as a process that both requires and rewards active engagement.  Because the course presupposes that successful education requires the active, informed participation of students, participants are required to complete assigned readings prior to the course meeting at which they will be discussed, to attend all sessions, and to participate actively in class meetings.  Preparation for, attendance at, and participation in class meetings are required and will count toward the final grade.

Course Readings

There is usually more than one way to obtain each primary reading for this class.  See details for each title on the syllabus.

• Books for this course have been ordered with Titles (visit the "Tank": TSH B203).  In addition to the books that contain course readings I am asking you to purchase a writing reference book: Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 5th ed. (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011); and have also ordered Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources. A Guide for Students, 2nd ed. (Hackett, 2008) as an "optional" title.
• Some readings will be made available in a coursepack produced by Custom CourseWare at Titles.  However, since it is much cheaper to make personal copies of readings from the books on reserve than to buy the coursepack, I encourage you to do the former. 
• For many readings, you have the option to make your own copy from a book/photocopy on reserve (look up the list of items on reserve for this course at Mills Library) or from an online resource.
• Some optional, supplementary readings will be available in the Short-Term Loan section of Mills library (loan period is 24 hours).
  
• Original German-language and French-language versions of all the works to be studied are on reserve, and students with even rudimentary knowledge of German/French are encouraged to consult the English and the German/French versions in parallel. Please let me know if you would like help locating a particular title.  I am also happy to offer support for your German- or French-language reading.

You must have your own copy of all the texts to be discussed--with the same pagination as the edition selected for the class--whether in book or xeroxed form, so that you can mark them as you read and be prepared to refer to specific passages in class and when you write the exams.

Course Requirements

• One Text Summary (2-3 pages) - please sign up in class for Text Summary assignments 1, 2, or 3 below, on the assigned readings for September 20, October 4, or October 11 - to be handed in at the end of the class session.

• One Text Preparation (2-3 pages) - please sign up in class for Text Preparation assignment 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (specific assignments will be posted a week before the due date) on the assigned readings for Oct. 25, Nov. 8, Nov. 15, Nov. 22, Nov. 29, to be handed in at the end of the class session on the day we are discussing the selection they are on.  

The purpose of the Text Summary and the Text Preparation assignments is (1) to encourage you to read carefully and reflect on issues that come up in the reading, so that you are in a position to participate knowledgeably and actively in class and tutorial; and (2) to give you feedback on your writing and on working with primary texts, in preparation for writing the exam essays (or the optional final paper) for this class.  

In preparing these and other written assignments, you are encouraged to consult the writing guides by Hacker and Harvey, and to seek out the writing support services at the Student Success Centre.

• Attendance is mandatory, since participating in in-class work is crucial to successful completion of this course.  If you need to be absent from a class session, please notify me by e-mail, and be sure to ask a classmate to fill you in on what you missed.

• Participation includes: reading the material carefully ahead of time and raising points and questions about it in class, taking part in in-class group assignments, communicating with the instructor outside of class, etc. 

• Midterm Exam and Final Exam will consist of short-answer questions and essay questions involving textual analysis and will be open-book.

Grades will be based on Text Summary (10%), Text Preparation (15%), Attendance/Participation (20%), Midterm Exam (25%), Final Exam (30%).  Failure to write any of the assignments or examinations, or 8 unexcused absences from class, constitute sufficient grounds for earning an "F" in the class.

Final Paper Option.  At the discretion of the instructor, students who do well on the Text Summary/Preparation assignments and on the Midterm Exam may elect to write a 6-8-page paper in place of the Final Exam (with a proposal submitted for approval in advance; a detailed assignment will be posted).  For those writing a final paper in place of a final exam, grades will be based on Text Summary (10%), Text Preparation (15%), Attendance/Participation (20%), Midterm Exam (25%), Final Paper (30%).

You are advised to retain copies of any written work you submit for this class, and all your research notes, until you have received an official grade.

SCHEDULE

September 13

INTRODUCTION

September 15

INTRODUCTION, cont'd

Reading Assignment for September 15

*NOTE: To view the "Bibliography" portion of REP articles, click on "Bibliography" on the blue bar above the article heading.

September 20

Martin Heidegger, "Phenomenology and Theology" (1927), trans. James Hart and John C. Maraldo in Pathmarks, ed. William McNeill: pp. 40-48 bottom ("...what theology is not") [essay in coursepack / purchase book / make personal copy from book on reserve] (Note: we will not be looking at the "Appendix" from 1964.)

Please familiarize yourself with: Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources, esp. pp. 1-3, 6, 10-19, 22-23, 50-51 [purchase book / selection in coursepack / make personal copy from book on reserve]

September 27

October 4

• p. 241 ("You ask..." - "thinking is what it is according to its essential origin")
• p. 242 ("When thinking comes to an end" - "what must be rejected as unintelligible")

October 6

Text Summary 2 due in class from some students.

October 11

• p. 243 line 9 ("The widely and rapidly spreading...") - p. 249 bottom:  "the ecstatic relation to the clearing of being."  (Note: We will not look closely at the two complete paragraphs on p. 247)
  
• p. 250, two short bits:   (1) "By way of contrast..." - "oblivion of the truth of being";  and (2) two sentences near the bottom of the page, beginning "Sartre's key proposition..."
  
• p. 251 ("But in order...") - p. 252 ("...in the light of being.")
• p. 262 ("You ask...") - p. 271 line  6  ("...originary ethics.")  p. 266 bottom ("With the existential determination...") - 268 to first paragraph break ("...in the metaphysical sense")
  
  

October 13

selections from: Jean-Luc Marion, God Without Being: Hors-texte (1982), trans. Thomas A. Carlson [selection in coursepack / purchase book / make personal copy from book on reserve]

Original French edition: Dieu sans l'être [book on reserve]

Robyn Horner, Jean-Luc Marion. A Theo-logical Introduction (2005) [book on reserve]

October 18

• pp. 25–29 middle (“...that which it apprehends under the name of ‘God’”)
• p. 33 (“The first idolatry...”) – 35, 9th line from bottom (“...without immediately betraying its insufficiency”)
• p. 36 (“What have we gained...”) – 37, 4th line from bottom (“...Being as Being”)
• p. 42 line 8 (“In fact, one should...”) – p. 44 paragraph 2, line 4 (“...second idolatry”)
• p. 45 (“But what indeed...”) – 47 paragraph 1, line 6 (“...assure it or confirm it”)
• p. 48 (“b) There is more:...”) – 49 section break (“...to love?”)
  

October 25

Jean-Luc Marion, cont'd

Midterm Exam Preparation Sheet to be distributed/posted.

October 27

selections from:

Emmanuel Levinas, "Philosophy and the Idea of the Infinite" (1957), trans. Alphonso Lingis, in Adriaan Peperzak, To the Other. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas [purchase book / essay in coursepack / make copy from book on reserve]

-----, Ethics and Infinity. Conversations with Philippe Nemo (1982), trans. Richard A. Cohen [purchase book / make copy from book on reserve]

Original French edition: Ethique et infini [book on reserve]

Reading Assignment for October 27 and November 3

Original French edition: "La philosophie et l'idée de l'infini" in Peperzak, To the Other [book on reserve]

Background Reading on Levinas:

Robert Bernasconi, "Levinas, Emmanuel," in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1998)* [online / Mills Reference]

*NOTE: To view the "Bibliography" portion of REP articles, click on "Bibliography" on the blue bar above the article heading.

Dana Hollander, "Levinas, Emmanuel," from The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism, 2nd ed., 2005 [handout / online (Note that the online version contains some errors.)] 

Further Reading on Levinas:

Adriaan Peperzak, To the Other. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (1993) [book on reserve]

Edith Wyschogrod, Emmanuel Levinas. The Problem of Ethical Metaphysics, 2nd ed. (2000) [book on reserve]

Salomon Malka, Emmanuel Levinas. His Life and Legacy (2002), trans. M. Kigel and S. Embree [book on reserve]

November 1

MIDTERM EXAM

November 3

Levinas, cont'd (see Oct. 27 above)

November 8

Please review the readings for Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 and read as much as possible of:  Emmanuel Levinas, Ethics and Infinity. Conversations with Philippe Nemo (1982), trans. Richard A. Cohen: 21-25, 75-77, 85-92, 95-101, 105-110 [purchase book / make copy from book on reserve]

Original French edition: Ethique et infini [book on reserve]

Text Preparation 2 due in class from some students.

November 10

Please complete reading assignment for Nov. 8

November 15, 17

Ethics and Infinity, 113-122  [purchase book / make copy from book on reserve]

selection from "Revelation in the Jewish Tradition" (1977), in Beyond the Verse. Talmudic Readings and Lectures, trans. Gary D. Mole [essay in coursepack / make copy from book on reserve]: 

• 141 - 147 ("...philosophical profession today")
• 148 (section II.3) - 150

Original French edition: "La Révélation dans la tradition juive," in L'Au-delà du verset [book on reserve]

Text Preparation 3 due in class on Nov. 15 from some students. 

Optional Final Paper Assignment (see above) to be distributed.

November 22, 24

Jacques Derrida, "How to Avoid Speaking: Denials" (1986), trans. K. Frieden and E. Rottenberg, in Psyche. Inventions of the Other, Volume II (Stanford UP, 2008) [purchase book / essay in coursepack / make copy from book on reserve]: pp. 143-155 top 

Original French edition: "Comment ne pas parler: Dénégations"  in Psyché. Inventions de l'autre [book on reserve]

Background Reading:

Kevin Hart, "Jacques Derrida" in Graham Oppy and Nick Trakakis (eds.), The History of Western Philosophy of Religion (2009), vol. 5: Twentieth-Century Philosophy of Religion [article on reserve]

David Braine, "Negative Theology" (1998), in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online / Mills Reference]: esp. the introductory section (sections 1 and 4 are also relevant)

Leonard Lawlor, "Jacques Derrida" (2006/2008), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online]: esp. introductory section, section 1, section 3

Derrida, cont'd:

Text Preparation 4 due in class on Nov. 29 from anyone who has not yet submitted a Text Preparation.

Optional Final Paper Proposals due

Final Exam Preparation Sheet to be distributed/posted.

Final Exam - December 7, 12:30 - 2:00 p.m., Burke Science Building 117A