180111 LPS Meaning/less (2020W)
Readings on the Meaning of Life
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from We 16.09.2020 09:00 to We 23.09.2020 10:00
- Registration is open from Fr 25.09.2020 09:00 to Fr 02.10.2020 10:00
- Deregistration possible until Sa 31.10.2020 23:59
Details
max. 45 participants
Language: German
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Tuesday
13.10.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
20.10.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
27.10.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
03.11.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
10.11.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
17.11.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
24.11.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
01.12.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
15.12.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
12.01.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
19.01.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Tuesday
26.01.
11:30 - 14:00
Digital
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Imagine you’re a supercomputer, your name is DEEP THOUGHT and you’ve spent the last 7.5 million years determining what the meaning of life is … Well, in that case you’ve probably come up with a viable answer: 42. – Now stop imagining. You’re actually human. Your average life span lies at around 80 years. You’ve already used up a quarter of that with no clue what life is about. Will you find out in the remaining three quarters? Who knows? Maybe philosophy can help you. There’ve been others before you … Schopenhauer, Sartre, Nagel, Nozick, Williams, … we’ll be reading their texts this term to make up our mind whether life has meaning or is meaningless after all.Didactic goal of this course: This is an introductory reading seminar. Its purpose is to develop the students’ skills in philosophical interpretation and and their communication of ideas. A critical stance to one’s own opinions may be considered a further goal.Method: Regular attendance in our online-sessions via Collaborate on Moodle, regular timely upload of your assignments (two days prior to class), a short presentation (alternatively in the form of a short podcast) and active participation in discussions.
Assessment and permitted materials
Each assignment will be graded by a point-system (5 out of 5 possible points amounts to „excellent“). Students can view their individual points in Moodle. – The complete set of corrected papers handed in each week will be visible in Moodle, however, these papers will have been anonymized. This way students can learn from reading their peers’ work.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
In order to get a positive grade you have to hand in ten short assignments as will be explained in the first unit. Attendance in our online-meetings is mandatory, you may miss two course units. You will be graded on each part of your contributions to class, the written papers amount to 70 per cent of your final grade, 30 per cent are based on your active participation in in-class discussions.
By registering for this course, you tacitly agree to having all your electronic submissions checked by Turnitin.
By registering for this course, you tacitly agree to having all your electronic submissions checked by Turnitin.
Examination topics
This is an introductory seminar for students who want to learn how to read and write philosophical texts. No final exam.
Reading list
A good introduction to our reading seminar is:Metz, Thaddeus (2013): “The Meaning of Life”, in: Edward N. Zalta (ed.): The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2013 Edition), Online unter URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2013/entries/life-meaning/We will be reading – amongst others – excepts and essays taken from these volumes (all texts will be provided as PDFs in moodle):Camus, Albert (1970): Lyrical and Critical Essays. Ed. by Philip Thody. New York: Random House.
Nagel, Thomas (1979): Mortal Questions. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Nagel, Thomas (1986): The View from Nowhere. New York & Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Nozick, Robert (1989): The Examined Life. Philosophical Meditations. New York et al.: Simon & Schuster.
James, William (1992): „Is Life Worth Living?“ [1896], in: Writings 1878–1899. New York: Library of America. pp. 480–503.
Sartre, Jean-Paul (1993): Der Ekel [La Nausée]. Reinbeck near Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Schlick, Mortiz (2008): „Vom Sinn des Lebens“ [1927], in: Die Wiener Zeit. Aufsätze, Beiträge, Rezensionen 1926–1936 (= Gesamtausgabe, Bd. 6), ed. and intro. by Johannes Friedl and Heiner Rutte. Vienna & New York: Springer, 99–125.
Schopenhauer, Arthur (1994): „Nachträge zur Lehre von der Nichtigkeit des Daseyns“ [1851], in: Parerga und Paralipomena, Vol. 2. Zurich: Haffmanns.
Williams, Bernard (2008): Problems of the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Nagel, Thomas (1979): Mortal Questions. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Nagel, Thomas (1986): The View from Nowhere. New York & Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Nozick, Robert (1989): The Examined Life. Philosophical Meditations. New York et al.: Simon & Schuster.
James, William (1992): „Is Life Worth Living?“ [1896], in: Writings 1878–1899. New York: Library of America. pp. 480–503.
Sartre, Jean-Paul (1993): Der Ekel [La Nausée]. Reinbeck near Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Schlick, Mortiz (2008): „Vom Sinn des Lebens“ [1927], in: Die Wiener Zeit. Aufsätze, Beiträge, Rezensionen 1926–1936 (= Gesamtausgabe, Bd. 6), ed. and intro. by Johannes Friedl and Heiner Rutte. Vienna & New York: Springer, 99–125.
Schopenhauer, Arthur (1994): „Nachträge zur Lehre von der Nichtigkeit des Daseyns“ [1851], in: Parerga und Paralipomena, Vol. 2. Zurich: Haffmanns.
Williams, Bernard (2008): Problems of the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Association in the course directory
Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:18