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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: Safe space for discussion despite disturbing historical content.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.
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