2021w-apphil3081m-03

AP/PHIL3081 3.0 M: Hegel

Offered by: PHIL


 Session

Winter 2021

 Term

W

Format

LECT

Instructor

Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite

An examination of the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, with a special focus on his Phenomenology of Spirit. Prerequisite: Six credits in philosophy. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Prerequisite: Six credits in philosophy. Course credit exclusion: AK/PHIL 3081 3.00.


Course Start Up

Course Websites hosted on York's "eClass" are accessible to students during the first week of the term. It takes two business days from the time of your enrolment to access your course website. Course materials begin to be released on the course website during the first week. To log in to your eClass course visit the York U eClass Portal and login with your Student Passport York Account. If you are creating and participating in Zoom meetings you may also go directly to the York U Zoom Portal.

For further course Start Up details, review the Getting Started webpage.

For IT support, students may contact University Information Technology Client Services via askit@yorku.ca or (416) 736-5800. Please also visit Students Getting Started UIT or the Getting Help - UIT webpages.


    Additional Course Instructor/Contact Details

Jim Vernon
jvernon@yorku.ca

    Expanded Course Description

Hegel’s philosophical system is the arguably most ambitious in the Western canon. From the most basic categories of thought, experience, and being, he sought to deduce the precise structures of human cognition, history, and duty as well as nature, religion, art, and virtually every other topic of interest to philosophers. So successful was his attempt that, for a brief period at least, many considered philosophy’s work to be done. It is not an accident, then, that so many philosophers have since devoted their energies to either disproving, discrediting, or steadfastly ignoring his works.

 

This course is an intensive study of (much of) Hegel’s ‘preface’ to his system, the Phenomenology of Spirit. Class time will be split between close analysis of the text and more general discussion of the philosophical import of Hegel’s ideas. Our focus will be on the nature of the individual ego and its relation to its world and others. Topics covered will include perception, consciousness, inter-subjectivity, ethical/communal life, morality and freedom. Our objective will be not only to grasp Hegel’s philosophy itself, but to judge the adequacy of Hegelian concepts and method for resolving the problems of contemporary philosophy and society.

Important Note/Warning on Text/Course

 

While such judgments are always in part subjective, this course covers perhaps the most notoriously difficult thinker in the Western philosophical canon. Hegel’s thought, and mode of presentation, are both radically unique and as a result this course is arguably among the most demanding that our department offers. Reading and thinking through Hegel requires a radical suspension of one’s own philosophical intuitions not only about the content of philosophy, but about the form of argument for it. This text combines phenomenological, historical and conceptual analyses in a singular manner, and it will often take us several weeks to get to Hegel’s actual thesis regarding a particular topic. As such, Hegel’s text is infamously, exceedingly difficult, and thus the schedule of readings may change in accordance with class discussion, etc. and should be treated as a more or less accurate guide, not as a rigid time schedule. Put bluntly, these are readings you will need to do at least twice, and both attendance and active involvement in class are absolutely essential to succeeding in the course. I highly recommend that you and your fellow students form study groups to discuss on their own (philosophy is always better when studied this way), and consult me in office hours and on email whenever you have concerns or questions throughout the course.

    Additional Requirements

Technical requirements for taking the course: The course will run synchronously on Zoom, so you will need a reliable internet connection to participate in the course.

 

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

 

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]

 

Times and locations: [Clearly communicate to students that this is a course that will be remotely delivered, be an online course, etc.. Suggested language is provided in blue font.] Please note that this is a course that depends on remote teaching and learning. There will be no in-person interactions or activities on campus.

Virtual office hours: TBA

    Required Course Text / Readings

Required Course Text / Readings: G.W.F. Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, trans. A.V. Miller (Oxford: Clarendon Press).

Do not use alternate editions!!!

    Weighting of Course

Mid-Term 25% or 20%

Term Paper 35% or 40%

Take-Home Final ‘Exam’ 40%

The highest grade out of the first two assignments will automatically be weighted at 5% more, as indicated in the amounts above.

    Organization of the Course

Lecture/Reading Schedule:

Tues. Jan. 12th

Introductory lecture on Hegel’s method (optional reading: §73-89)

Tues. Jan. 19th

Consciousness; ‘Sense-Certainty’ (§90-110)

Tues. Jan. 26th

Consciousness; ‘Perception’ (§111-131)

Tues. Feb 2nd

Consciousness; ‘Force and the Understanding’ (§132-148)

Tues. Feb. 9th

Consciousness; ‘Force and the Understanding’, cont. (§149-165);

Tues. Feb. 16th

No Class (‘Reading’ week)

Essay Questions posted!

Tues. Feb. 23rd

Review of consciousness; transition to Self-Consciousness

Tues. Feb. 25th

Self-Consciousness; ‘Lordship and Bondage’ (§166-196)

Tues. Mar. 2nd

Self-Consciousness; ‘Freedom of Self-Consciousness’ (§197-230)

Tues. Mar. 9th

Spirit; ‘The Ethical Order’ (§438-463)

Tues. Mar. 167th

Spirit; ‘The Ethical Order’; cont. (§464-486)

Tues. Mar. 23rd

Spirit; ‘Morality’; (§597-631)

Essays Due on turnitin.com!!!!

Tues. Mar. 30th

Spirit; ‘The Beautiful Soul’ (§632-671)

Take-Home Final Exam posted

Tues. Apr. 6th

Take-Home Final Exam due on turnitin.com

    Course Learning Objectives

To understand and critical appraise Hegel’s early accounts of epistemology, freedom, and moral life.

    Relevant Links / Resources