The Crises of European Humanity

Annotation

(NOTA BENE: THIS IS NOT A COURSE FOR ERASMUS STUDENTS.

IF ERASMUS STUDENTS WANT TO ATTEND IT, THEY NEED TO PRELIMINARILY CONTACT THE TEACHER, FOR ONLY A FEW SPOTS WILL BE AVAILABLE)

WINTER 2019

Charles University

Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

(MA Module)

Daniele De Santis, Ph. D.

Office hours: Thursday 11:00-12:00

Email: [e-mail]

The Crises of European Humanity

(Wednesday: 12:30-14:05)

Room: 225V 1. General Description and Aims of the Module

Husserl’s The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology is by far one of his most famous and influential texts, not only because of the first official appearance of some crucial concepts such as that of life-world (Lebenswelt) (on which many generations of phenomenologists would systematically draw in order to develop further his thought), but primarily because of the “grand” diagnosis of the so-called “crisis” of European humanity that Husserl proposes therein. As a matter of fact, in the first part of Crisis an analysis is offered of the current state of philosophy and more in general of Western sciences in such a manner that the misleading impression is given that Husserl’s target here is the system of positive sciences. By contrast, and as we will try to argue for, what Husserl is criticizing is a certain conception of “philosophy” accused of having given up on its highest aspiration, namely, that of making metaphysics possible in a sense to be further explained.

This being preliminarily clarified, the goal of the module is to try to understand what such “crisis” actually is, primarily by discussing Husserl’s overall concept of philosophy and, linked to it, that of the history of philosophy from Plato on in order to better understand what he means by metaphysics and what kind of role the latter would in theory have in the “system of sciences.” In order to do so, we will mainly focus on the first part of Crisis (where the diagnosis is properly proposed), and also partially on the second one. Moreover, a series of handouts will be provided on Husserl’s concept of metaphysics and its development(s) over the years that run from before the Logical Investigations through until the very end of his life. 2. Structure

Ideally speaking, the module will be divided into three parts:

(1) A first part will be dedicated to understanding what Husserl means by “crisis” of European humanity and, more specifically, of European philosophy;

(2) Attention will then be paid to Husserl’s concept of “metaphysics” and, more in general, of “philosophy;”

(3) Depending on how much time will be left, a third part of the module will be briefly dedicated to comparing Husserl’s diagnosis with both Heidegger’s (The Self-Assertion of German University) and Patočka’s (Plato and Europe), so as to better highlight analogies and differences. 3. Course Outline

Part 1

(Week 1-Week4)

The Idea of a Crisis of European Humanity and the Husserlian Concept of Metaphysics

Part 2

(Week 5-Week 8)

Husserl on The History of the (Original) Concept of Philosophy and how it Fell into Crisis

Part 3

(Week 9-Week 12)

Tentative Comparative Readings (Husserl, Heidegger, Patočka)

Recapitulation

(Week 13)