Introductory description

PH335-15 Hegel in Context

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This module will concentrate on key works by G.W.F. Hegel (such as the Phenomenology,
Philosophy of Right, or Aesthetics lectures). Topics that will be covered may include, for example, Hegel's account of
desire and recognition, of the master / slave dialectic and of freedom in civil society and the state.
The study of Hegel may be preceded by the study of other relevant German philosophers, such as Kant or Fichte, or it
may be followed by the study of thinkers profoundly influenced by Hegel, such as Marx,
Beauvoir, or Fanon.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• understand and differentiate arguments and views in the philosophies of Hegel and other figures studied, and offer relevant support for and critical responses to those arguments and views.
• isolate the important claims within readings, understand the structure of arguments, test views for strengths and weaknesses, make pertinent use of examples, and compare the substance of views consistently.

Indicative reading list

Primary Texts:

The Hegel Reader, ed. S. Houlgate (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998).
S. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans. Borde & Malovny-Chevallier (New York: Vintage, 2011).
F. Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks (London: Pluto Press, 1968).
J.G. Fichte, The Science of Knowledge, trans. P. Heath and J. Lachs (Cambridge: CUP, 1982).
J.G. Fichte, Foundations of Natural Right, ed. F. Neuhouser (Cambridge: CUP, 2000).
Karl Marx: Selected Writings, ed. D. McLellan, 2nd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 2000).
The Kierkegaard Reader, ed. J. Chamberlain and J. Ree (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001).

Secondary Texts:

S. Houlgate, An Introduction to Hegel. Freedom, Truth and History (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005).
D. James, Hegel. A Guide for the Perplexed (London: Continuum, 2007).
D. James, Fichte's Social and Political Philosophy (Cambridge: CUP, 2011).
The Cambridge Companion to Marx, ed. T. Carver (Cambridge: CUP, 1991).
C. Carlisle, Kierkegaard's Philosophy of Becoming (Albany: SUNY Press, 2005).

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

Students will acquire an understanding of some core ideas from Hegel and German Idealism.

Students will acquire an appreciation of the developmental trajectory of Hegel's ideas in 19th and/or 20th century philosophy.

Students will be able to discuss clearly in speech and in writing the issues raised by their close reading and critical analysis of the set texts and materials.

Students will be able to engage with primary and secondary texts in a way that demonstrates relevant and appropriate philosophical and scholarly skills.

Transferable skills

Students will acquire strong foundational knowledge of several key topics and issues in the history of German philosophy, and come to appreciate Hegel's particular role in this tradition as it has been carried forward to the present.

Students will be able to understand, analyze, and critique nuanced philosophical ideas laid out in the primary and secondary materials, in speech and in writing.