Module Directory

By the beginning of the 19th century, it had become clear to many European thinkers that modernity was in a state of crisis. The 'age of Enlightenment' had long undermined confidence in traditional forms of community, authority and value. But it was still far from clear what should be put in their place. Philosophers, theologians and poets saw themselves as faced with nothing less than a threat of cultural and existential collapse.

In this module, we will examine rival responses to this 19th-century crisis of culture via the writings of Søren Kierkegaard. We'll begin with his portrayal of aesthetic life and consider the critical light this throws on Romantic responses to the modern experience of alienation. Secondly, we'll examine Kierkegaard's famous attack on Hegel and on Rationalistic accounts of what it would mean for we moderns to feel at home in the world. We'll then turn to Kierkegaard's own diagnosis of the crisis of modernity in terms of a loss of subjectivity through the process of 'levelling'. Finally, we'll critically examine his positive suggestions about what a non-alienated form of modern subjectivity would look like, focusing on his conception of self-constancy.

The aims of this module are:

• To familiarise students with some of the major themes of 19th-century European philosophy.


• To undertake, with the help of secondary sources, a close reading of selected texts from this period, focussing on Kierkegaard’s writings.


• To foster an understanding of conceptions of modernity in terms of cultural and existential crisis and some major lines of response to the crisis.


• To advance an understanding of key philosophical concepts, including subjectivity, alienation and self-constancy.


• To develop the ability to produce argumentatively precise and robust critical analysis of philosophical texts and ideas.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to

1. Reconstruct the philosophical positions in 19^th Century philosophy that they have studied.


2. Begin to critically evaluate the strategies and positions of 19^th Century philosophers about the crisis of modernity.


3. Understand the practical implications of such strategies and positions (e.g., the ways in which certain problems and themes of the critique of modernity are developed in the writings of figures like Fichte, Hegel and Kierkegaard) and how they might inform and relate to current debates about culture and society.


4. Begin to form their own opinions (also drawing on the writing covered in this course) on the positions and strategies others have suggested for the complex problems of the crisis of modernity.

Skills for your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)

By the end of this module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular, be able to:

1. Process diverse (and sometimes conflicting) arguments and empirical studies.


2. Compare and evaluate different arguments.


3. Write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of strategies, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications.


4. Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.

Syllabus

• Modernity in Crisis.


• Introducing Kierkegaard.


• The Limits of the Aesthetic.


• Introducing Johannes Climacus.


• Illusions of Pure Thought.


• ‘The Present Age’.


• Back to Socrates!


• Truth as Subjectivity.


• Modernity and the Religious.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 2-hour session per week, which will consist of a combination of a lecture by
  the module leader and a seminar with contributions from students and classroom discussion.

Typically, students will read weekly assignments and engage in a range of assessments (e.g. presentations,
commentaries, essay plans and essays). Module leaders will use a range of teaching methods: for instance, a lecturer might ask students to develop their coursework in peer groups and will submit one draft of their final
submissions to their peer group for comments.

Detailed information about the learning and teaching methods will be available in the outline of the Module
Directory and from the full module description.