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Overview

Radical ideas about the human condition. Topics include existentialism, freedom, authenticity, nihilism, feminism, meaning, and modernity. Authors studied include Nietzsche and Sartre.

This course is a study of radical ideas about the human condition: freedom, authenticity, human existence, knowledge, power relations, and modernity. What it is to live a meaningful life? How (if at all) can we seek the truth? What is our future? We engage with rebellions against orthodox views of religion, society, race, gender, and science, as found in the work of thinkers within the existentialist and phenomenological traditions of philosophy, including Nietzsche, de Beauvoir, and more.

About this paper

Paper title Radical Philosophy
Subject Philosophy
EFTS 0.15
Points 18 points
Teaching period Semester 1 (On campus)
Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) $1,103.10
International Tuition Fees Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website.
Schedule C
Arts and Music
Eligibility
Suitable for all students.
Contact

Professor Zach Weber

Teaching staff

Professor Zach Weber and Professor Greg Dawes

Teaching Arrangements

Lectures and tutorials.

Textbooks

Joel Smith, Existentialism: A Philosophical Inquiry (Routledge 2022.  Available to purchase in hard copy or free of charge electronically via the university library).

Other texts will be provided via PHIL106's BrightSpace.

Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.
Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this paper will have:

  1. A demonstrated ability to appreciate, explain and assess philosophical issues in writing and to think critically and independently about them
  2. An understanding of the main ideas and place of some major philosophers since the 19th century
  3. The ability to read philosophical texts critically
  4. The ability to develop and analyse philosophical reasoning collaboratively in group discussion
Assessment details

Assessment by an in-class test, a written essay, and a final exam.

Overview

Radical ideas about the human condition. Topics include existentialism, freedom, authenticity, nihilism, feminism, meaning, and modernity. Authors studied include Nietzsche and Sartre.

This course is a study of radical ideas about the human condition: freedom, authenticity, human existence, knowledge, power relations, and modernity. What it is to live a meaningful life? How (if at all) can we seek the truth? What is our future? We engage with rebellions against orthodox views of religion, society, race, gender, and science, as found in the work of thinkers within the existentialist and phenomenological traditions of philosophy, including Nietzsche, de Beauvoir, and more.

About this paper

Paper title Radical Philosophy
Subject Philosophy
EFTS 0.15
Points 18 points
Teaching period Semester 2 (On campus)
Domestic Tuition Fees Tuition Fees for 2027 have not yet been set
International Tuition Fees Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website.
Schedule C
Arts and Music
Eligibility
Suitable for all students.
Contact

Professor Zach Weber

Teaching staff

Professor Zach Weber and Professor Michael LeBuffe

Teaching Arrangements

Lectures and tutorials.

Textbooks
  • Joel Smith, Existentialism: A Philosophical Inquiry (Routledge 2022. Available to purchase in hard copy or free of charge electronically via the university library).

Other texts will be provided via PHIL 106's Aoroa.

Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.
Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this paper will have:

  1. A demonstrated ability to appreciate, explain and assess philosophical issues in writing and to think critically and independently about them
  2. An understanding of the main ideas and place of some major philosophers since the 19th century
  3. The ability to read philosophical texts critically
  4. The ability to develop and analyse philosophical reasoning collaboratively in group discussion
Assessment details

Assessment by an in-class test, a written essay and a final exam.

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