Exploring European Intellectual History

Aug 11, 2024

European Intellectual History Since Nietzsche

Lecture 1: Course Introduction and Logistics

Instructor Introduction

  • Instructor: Historian with a focus on European intellectual history, especially Eastern Europe.
  • Research Languages: Czech, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak.
  • Relevance: Ongoing war in Ukraine impacts perspective on history.

Teaching Fellows

  • Daniel
  • Yun-in
  • Sophia
  • Sebastian
  • Susanna
  • Matthew

Course Logistics

  • Lecture Recordings: Recorded and to be posted on YouTube after semester.
  • Section Registration: Online only.
  • Office Hours: By appointment, mostly in-person but can be remote.
  • No Electronic Devices: In-class policy to foster real-time engagement.
  • Handouts: Posted on Canvas before lectures, useful for taking notes and studying for exams.
  • Readings: Mostly posted online except for Kafka's "The Metamorphosis".
  • Lecture-Reading-Section Structure: Lectures set up readings; sections discuss readings.
  • Section Attendance: Mandatory and part of grade.

Course Design

  • Level: Introductory, no prerequisites.
  • Goals: Gateway into the humanities (history, literature, philosophy).
  • Teaching Style: Traditional lecture course.
  • Readings: Primary sources, dense, need to be read multiple times.
  • Philosophers Covered: Marx, Freud, Hegel, Nietzsche, Lenin, Kafka, Husserl, Arendt, Heidegger, Sartre, Foucault, etc.

Intellectual History

  • Interdisciplinary Field: Crosses history, philosophy, and literature.
  • Focus: History of ideas in context, not abstract.
  • Real People: Ideas tied to biographies and historical context.
  • Philosophical Approach: Mostly continental philosophy.
  • Analytical vs Continental Philosophy:
    • Analytical: Math, logic, purifies arguments.
    • Continental: Historical consciousness, literature, tolerates contradictions.

Modernity

  • Start Date: Traditionally 1789, French Revolution.
  • Characteristics: Break with tradition, new conception of time.
  • Trauma and Crisis: Romantic love, Marxism, assimilation, pogroms.
  • Central Problem: Alienation, replacing God.
  • Focus: How thinkers deal with destabilization from loss of God.
  • Course Topics: Modernity, postmodernity, post-truth.

Final Notes

  • Classroom Environment: Safe space for discussion despite disturbing historical content.
  • Conclusion: Overview of what will be covered in the semester.