Content

Every year a new theme and corresponding texts are selected from the wealth of phenomenology and contemporary continental philosophy. The focus of this seminar is on social philosophy.

The course aims at clarifying the difficult composition of action as a major dimension of social co-existence. Action brings together means and values, principled and pragmatic considerations. Action can take place in small-scale face-to-face interaction, but it is also institutionally mediated. Sometimes people act by following patterns of daily routine, sometimes they engage in exceptional initiatives of protest and even violence. Critique is to be understood as integral part of social interaction. Authors are selected from the treasure of social philosophy and have in the past included Bourdieu, Boltanski & Thévenot, Arendt, Mandela, Derrida, Fanon, Sartre, Jaeggi, Honneth, Fraser and others. During the 2023-24 year, the stated theme will be studied while keeping specifically its relevance for problems of racism in mind.

Course material

. A reading list and program will be made available during the first lecture.

Format: more information

A reading list and program will be made available during the first lecture. Students prepare for each meeting by working through the texts beforehand. In the seminar, these texts will be analysed, discussed and confronted with other relevant insights from philosophy or the social sciences. Attendance and active participation are required.