Science Theory
Dr. David Holdsworth
Enlightenment Epistemology and Scientific Culture
This course will provide a critical overview of empiricist and rationalist thought in European culture, with special emphasis on the conduct of scientific inquiry. Among its thematic movements will be (1) a critical analysis of canonical notions of scientific objectivity, (2) a critique of the received view of scientific methodology , (3) a historical and conceptual assessment of the relationship between political doctrines of liberalism and scientific doctrines of empiricism , (4) an evaluation of the emerging schools of social and cultural construction, and (5) an inquiry into the role of science (and other epistemic enterprises) within contemporary industrial culture. Both Anglo-American and continental texts will be studied in an attempt to establish a dialogue between post-empiricist work on rationality , historicity and social context within the philosophy of science and the various postmodern critiques of enlightenment epistemology. A variety of British, American , German, and French texts will be used for this purpose.
Topics in Continental Philosophy
Dr. David Holdsworth
Anglo-American empiricism and continental rationalism share common origins; both refer back to Kant as a seminal figure in their histories. Although the philosophical sympathies of these two traditions appear to diverge, it will be a premise of this course that the differences have been overstated. We shall foreground the emergence of forms of empiricism within the continental tradition, although by implication, we shall also be interested in the forms of rationalism that have come to characterize Anglo-American and analytic philosophy. Beginning with Kant (whose work we shall understood as a kind of integration of the rational and the empirical) we shall look briefly at the movement of thought in German philosophy through Fichte, to Schelling, to Hegel, and the appearance of a new form of dialectic. This will be our reference point as we move in multiple directions through aspects of contemporary Continental thought. We shall study Nietzsche and Heidegger (reading them both through the Italian philosopher Vattimo) without treating them as specifically German thinkers. They are the ground upon which we shall consider the French and German traditions. We shall consider briefly the German tradition, from Hegel to Apel to Habermas. Our objective, through a focused encounter with the Habermas/Luhmann debates, will be to develop a perspective on German social theory and to highlight Luhmann’s theory of social systems. Luhmann will be our point of contact/contrast with the French tradition. We shall consider the French tradition somewhat more thoroughly; the focus will be on Foucault and Deleuze. Our aim will be to expose the ways in which the movement of French thought, from Nietzsche on the one hand, and Poincaré on the other, to Bachelard, Canguilhem and Foucault, can be interpreted as a history of the French enlightenment. Through the reading of Foucault, offered by Deleuze, our attention will finally come to rest on Deleuze as exemplary of contemporary French enlightenment thought, albeit one that is strongly anti-Platonic and anti-Hegelian. The course will conclude with a brief analysis of the differences and similarities between Luhmann and Deleuze on our core themes: rationalism versus empiricism, and the radical transformation of Enlightenment culture within the continental tradition.
Performance Theory
Dr. Veronica Hollinger
“Seems, madam? Nay, it is, I know not ‘seems’” (Hamlet)
“And I imagine you – my ideal audience –” (M. Butterfly)
The contemporary subject is an intensely self-conscious subject, defined by terms such as “self-reflexivity,” “irony,” “complicity,” “skepticism,” “anti-essentialism,” and “masquerade.” Performance theory, a multiplex of ideas developed at the intersections of anthropology, sociology, linguistics, philosophy, theatre, and performance art, has tended to construct the subject as a subject in process, subject to transformation in time, and never fully present to itself. It is not surprising, therefore, that metaphors of performance, of theatre, and of role-playing have been applied so successfully to the exploration of the contemporary subject (for example, in theoretical constructions of gender performativity); nor is it surprising that increasing mediation by technology has raised complex questions about presence, authenticity, and embodiment. This course aims to provide a brief overview of the development of some strands of performance theory through a reading of critical, theoretical, and dramatic texts.
The course will be structured to some extent by readings from the second edition of Marvin Carlson’s Performance: A Critical Introduction. Other readings will include texts by Antonin Artaud, Philip Auslander, J.L. Austin, Bertolt Brecht, Judith Butler, Caryl Churchill, Jacques Derrida, Michael Fried, Joan Riviere, Richard Schechner, Tom Stoppard, and Victor Turner.
Cultural Theory
Dr. Anne Meneley
Cultural Theory: The Ethics of Circulation
This course discusses classic approaches to exchange, such as those proposed by Mauss and Simmel. However, the theme of circulation allows us to open up the theme of “the gift” to incorporate commodity exchange as well. The theme of ethics of circulation allows us to consider exchanges which are not equal and do not necessarily produce social solidarity; we will take the opportunity to examine exchanges that are in themselves productive of social inequality and strife, invoking the profound influence of Marx. We examine the circulation of people and other living beings, of material objects, and of ideas. Circulation as a theme can be used to query the concept of “culture” central to anthropology and beyond. We explore the theoretical possibilities of tracking things, ideas and people instead of depending on a timeless concept of culture that is tied to place. We will investigate the possibilities of circulation for different things, people and ideas; what initiates, facilitates or constrains or entirely halts circulation; and what factors affect the trajectory of circulation. We consider how social imaginaries as well as legal and military practices affect the possibility of circulation. Further, the concept of circulation also allows us to think across boundaries within or among disciplines. The class is run as a seminar and regular class participation is required by all students. Final papers will address a topic related to circulation. Students may base their final papers on a case study of their choice which involves circulation. The papers may be based on ethnographic research if desired
Phenomenology
Dr. David Morris
Phenomenology is a philosophy committed to beginning from within human experience. Instead of seeking an eternal beginning point, beyond the realm of human subjectivity, it studies the phenomena as they present themselves to us and tries to find its beginning point from within. In the end, phenomenology thereby challenges the very idea of theory as theoria, a Greek word for looking at a spectacle with curiousity from a distance, from the periphery. It does this by showing how theories have their genesis in pre-theoretical beginnings. The question, then, is how to find such a beginning, how to conceptualize what we find there without distortion from prejudiced theoretical frameworks of everyday life, and whether such a beginning is even possible. Could not the very idea of such a starting point already be fraught with prejudiced theory? Can we disentangle ourselves from our powerful theoretical prejudices and commitments? And is there an experience of ourselves to speak of in advance of everyday attitudes and theories? Can there be a theory of pre-theoretical beginnings?This course explores phenomenology, its starting points, and its results through a brief discussion of Husserl’s phenomenological project, followed by close study of two key phenomenological works: Heidegger’s Being and Time and Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception. We will be paying attention to Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty’s methods and results, and the way their results challenge everyday views of ourselves and the world, and traditional conceptions of philosophy and theory. We will be focusing in particular on what they have to say about interpretation, situatedness, perception, emotion, intersubjectivity and the body, as pretheoretically shaping our theorizing. We will also be studying their thoughts on temporality and thinking.
The Return of the Religious
Dr. Zsuzsa Baross
A troubling and unexpected development in critical discourse today is the return of the "religious" to the domain of critical thought itself. The seminar turns to examine a diverse, heterogeneous, and internally fractured corpus of texts that in some fashion solicit (in the sense of shaking up), deconstruct, and/or otherwise rewrite the "rational" relation (the inheritance of the Enlightenment) between reason and faith, critique and revelation, the sacred and the law, religion and the political. Texts will be considered under three global and necessarily imprecise categories: works (Benjamin and Levinas are the principal representatives) that predate or, as precursors perhaps even announce today's very visible penetration of the political sphere by the religious; works (Derrida is the best example, but there are many others, among them Levy and Yerushalmi) that themselves "perform" the turn and stage in the writing an encounter with "faith," "revelation," the "sacred," and the "absolute" on the other (reverse) side of reason; and works (Zizek, Badiou, Nancy) that in some fashion maintain a critical distance.
From Heidegger to Deleuze
Dr. Constantin Boundas
This seminar will examine Heidegger's and Deleuze's contributions to ontology, poetics/rhizomatics, and political theory, both for their own sake and in comparison to each other. The dominant influences on each one of them will be visited, as well as the ideological, cultural, and political factors that account for, and make intelligible the transitions from the one to the other. Students wishing to enrol in this course may want to read before our seminar begins the following: Gilles Deleuze/Claire Parnet, Dialogues; Todd May, Gilles Deleuze: An Introduction; and Martin Heidegger, What is Metaphysics.