PHIL 3133 - Existence, Language, History: Twentieth-Century European Philosophy

3 (3-0)

Prerequisite(s): Communication Core complete and 3 hours of prior philosophy coursework or permission of instructor.

Europe in the twentieth century was a continent in crisis. Two world wars and a devastating economic depression killed or displaced millions of people and the role of science in spreading devastation on ever-greater scales left philosophers grappling with the very foundations of Western culture. This course will explore the major trends in twentieth-century European philosophy, widely known as the Continental tradition. We will investigate the ways in which Continental thinkers grappled with the crises of their times by (1) developing new philosophical methodologies such as phenomenology; (2) questioning the meaning and value of existence itself; (3) engaging with the power of our shared histories and their promises for the future; and (4) pushing on the limits of our language and its capacity to adequately capture a picture of the world and our place in it.

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