Undergraduate Course: Phenomenology: Merleau-Ponty (PHIL10158)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Focusing on the work of Merleau-Ponty, this course will introduce students to the philosophical movement of Phenomenology - an influential research programme that flourished in the early 20th century, and aimed to draw fundamental philosophical conclusions from careful consideration of the structures of experience and thought. |
| Course description |
This course will introduce students to the 20th century philosophical movement of Phenomenology. Originating with the work of Edmund Husserl, Phenomenology attempts to ground substantive philosophical claims concerning metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and beyond, in a careful articulation of the ways in which our experience of the world is structured. After introducing Phenomenology via some key ideas from Husserl's work, the course will focus on Merleau-Ponty's influential 1945 work, Phenomenology of Perception. There, Merleau-Ponty argues that proper attention to the structures that characterize thought and experience reveals that we are fundamentally embodied creatures, and that this has important consequences for our understanding of mind, language, metaphysics and epistemology. After spending the majority of the course (weeks 3-8) exploring ideas and arguments of key sections of Phenomenology of Perception in detail, the final weeks of the course will consider how Merleau-Ponty applied his views to aesthetics and ethics, and how other thinkers such as Heidegger and Sartre pursued Husserl's research programme in different ways.
Required texts:
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice & Landes, Donald A. (2012). Phenomenology of Perception. Routledge.
Romdenh-Romluc, Komarine (2011). Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Merleau-Ponty and Phenomenology of Perception. Routledge.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Philosophy courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 29 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 11,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Midterm essay: 40%«br /»
Final essay: 60% |
| Feedback |
Midterm essay of 1500 words, due mid semester |
| No Exam Information |
|
| Academic year 2017/18, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: 5 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Midterm essay: 40%«br /»
Final essay: 60% |
| Feedback |
Midterm essay of 1500 words, due mid semester |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate core skills in philosophy, including the ability to interpret and engage with philosophical texts, to evaluate arguments, and to develop one¿s own critical ideas in response
- Understand what is distinctive and important about Phenomenology as a method of philosophical inquiry
- Understand some key concepts in Husserl¿s work, including: protention, retention and the anticipatory structure of experience
- Understand some key concepts in Merleau-Ponty¿s work, including: the lived body, motor intentionality, ¿empiricism¿ and ¿intellectualism¿
- Reflect critically on the relationship between Merleau-Ponty¿s work and current work in cognitive science, philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology
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Reading List
Dreyfus, Hubert (2005). Merleau-Ponty and recent cognitive science. In Taylor Carman & Mark B. N. Hansen (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Merleau-Ponty. Cambridge University Press.
Gardner, Sebastian, Merleau-Ponty's Transcendental Theory of Perception.
Goehr, Lydia (2005). Understanding the Engaged Philosopher: On Politics, Philosophy, and Art. In Taylor Carman & Mark B. N. Hansen (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Merleau-Ponty. Cambridge University Press. 318--51.
Madary, Michael (2012). Husserl on Perceptual Constancy. European Journal of Philosophy 20 (1):145-165.
Romdenh-Romluc, Komarine (2007). Merleau-ponty's account of hallucination. European Journal of Philosophy 17 (1):76-90.
Romdenh-Romluc, Komarine (2007). Merleau-Ponty and the power to reckon with the possible. In Thomas Baldwin (ed.), Reading Merleau-Ponty: On Phenomenology of Perception. Routledge.
Smith, A. D. (2003). Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Husserl and the Cartesian Meditations. Routledge.
Smith, A. D. (2008). Husserl and externalism. Synthese 160 (3):313 - 333.
Young, Iris Marion (1980). Throwing like a girl: A phenomenology of feminine body comportment motility and spatiality. Human Studies 3 (1):137 - 156.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
One hour lecture and one hour tutorial every week |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Dave Ward
Tel: (0131 6)50 3652
Email: Jenni.Brown@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Samantha Bell
Tel: (0131 6)50 3602
Email: |
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