PHIL 343

Instructor: Jay Worthy

Course Description

Nearing the turn of the 19th century, Immanuel Kant pushes for a “Copernican revolution” in thinking: Rather than supposing that an external world shapes and directs our pursuit of knowledge, he says, we should begin with the human subject as what shapes the world, organizing it into something rational and knowable. In this course, we look at Kant’s unique account of the human subject and follow several of the diverse debates it sets off in response throughout the 19th century. We begin with Kant’s “critical” account of the rational subject, followed by Hegel’s “speculative” expansion on the Kantian project. We then consider two paths of critique: A materialist critique (e.g. Feuerbach and Marx) that argues for the primacy of an embodied and unconscious aspect of subjectivity and human relations, as well as an existentialist critique (e.g. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche) that emphasizes the primacy of passion and will over Kantian and Hegelian notions of reason and consciousness. These debates over the role of the subject will raise a number of crucial themes, including the nature and scope of scientific knowledge, the place of religious institutions, the origins and structure of socioeconomic relations, the direction of historical progress – and in all of this lurks a broader debate over the purpose of human existence.

Note: This course has no prerequisites, but the material often takes some understanding of central philosophical questions for granted. As a result, some prior exposure to philosophy is recommended. If you want to talk about whether the course is right for you, please feel free to get in touch with the instructor at jworthy@ualberta.ca.