Phenomenology was introduced into modern philosophy by Edmund Husserl, and then developed by philosophers such as Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas. Via readings of Heidegger’s Being and Time followed by a selection of his later writing, the module will trace the link between phenomenology as a method and the importance of ontology in 20th Century philosophy. Perspectives critical of Heidegger's ontology may also be examined: e.g., those developed by Emmanuel Levinas and Gilles Deleuze.

The essay (Assessment Element 1) will provide evidence to evaluate students against Learning Outcomes 1, 2, and 3.

The mid-semester assessment (Assessment Element 2) will provide evidence primarily to evaluate students against Learning Outcome 1. It may take the form of a short critical analysis, a review of a piece of relevant secondary literature, or an equivalent presentation in the form of a podcast or video.

The discussion board contributions (Assessment Element 3) will primarily provide evidence to evaluate students against Learning Outcome 3.

The main focus will be guided independent study within a structured framework organised around reading and research materials provided by the module tutor. Week by week students will work through course materials (e.g., 'lecture notes,' tutorial videos, podcasts, delivered via blackboard) that provide guidance in reading key texts, the context in which they sit, and activities and/or questions. This work will be undertaken on an individual basis as independent study, but students will be expected to interact regularly with fellow students, tutors, and guest lecturers through the discussion forum.

1. Understand critically a range of key ideas in 20th century continental philosophy within the development of phenomenology as a philosophical method. Knowledge, Enquiry

2. Understand these discrete ideas in relationship to each other, and in relation to their context and history. Analysis, Enquiry

3. Communicate in a clear, balanced, well-structured, critical and analytical manner concerning your research findings. Communication

Blackboard
Library Services

Miguel de Beistegui, Truth and Genesis: Philosophy as Differential Ontology (Indiana University Press, 2004).

Tina Chanter, Time, Death, and the Feminine: Levinas with Heidegger (Stanford university Press, 2001).

Gilles Deleuze, The Deleuze Reader, ed. C Boundas (Columbia University Press, 1993).

Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, translated by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (Wiley, Blackwell, 1978).

Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, translated by Joan Stambaugh (SUNY Press, 2010).

Joanna Hodge, Heidegger and Ethics (Taylor and Francis, 2012)

Luce Irigaray, The Forgetting of Air in Martin Heidegger (University of Texas Press, 1999).

Emmanuel Levinas, Basic Philosophical Texts. Ed. Adriaan T Peperzak, Simon Critchley, and Robert Bernasconi (Indiana University Press, 1996).

Michael Lewis and Tanja Staehler, Phenomenology: an Introduction (Continuum Press, 2010).

Dermot Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology (Routledge, 1999).

Richard Polt, Heidegger: An Introduction (Taylor and Francis, 2018).

Tanja Staehler, ‘Unambiguous Calling? Authenticity and Ethics in Heidegger’s Being and Time. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 39:3, 293-313.

Selected papers in The Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology and Research in Phenomenology.

The list above indicates the range of texts that may feature in the module. It is not meant to be a recommended or required book list.

Study one of the major figures in twentieth century philosophy in detail and learn about ontology, phenomenology, and the ideas behind existentialism and post-structuralism. The module will include a careful reading of Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time.