This course offers an introduction to contemporary French philosophy focusing on the way in which the themes of love, freedom and death appear in thought, about language, meaning and being as well as in ethics and politics. The course will both aim to provide an overview of post-WW2 French philosophy and focus selectively on two or three of its most important representatives, for instance Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Blanchot, Levinas, Derrida, Lyotard, Nancy or Badiou.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:- Demonstrate familiarity with some of the major themes of contemporary French thought and contemporary ideas in French philosophy that emerge out of a critical engagement with the philosophical tradition;
- Develop techniques for engaging with challenging reading and going deeper into the insights and problems it poses;
- Relate the theoretical debates in the texts studied to current ethical and political questions; and,
- Show intellectual discrimination, the ability to pick out key points and to construct an argument/interpretation.
Other Information
This course may be counted towards the European Studies major.
Indicative Assessment
Article Review 1000 words (25%) [LO's 1, 2, 4]Final Essay 2500 words (55%) [LO's 1-4]
Class Presentation 500 words (10%) [LO 3]
Tutorial performance (10%) LO's 2, 3]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures, and 12 hours of tutorials; and,
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Preliminary Reading
Jean-Francois Lyotard, 'Answering the Question What is Postmodernism?' The Postmodern Explained pp 1-16
Jean-Luc Nancy, The Inoperative Community - Author's preface
Jacques Derrida 'On Forgiveness' in On Cosmopolitanism and forgiveness
Majors
Minors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $3180 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $4890 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
