(in Polish) Phenomenology of Emotions

elective seminars

(in Polish) Basic knowledge of the history of philosophy. Good ability in English.

The course is to be a general introduction to a phenomenology of emotions. Our starting point is the strong conviction (opposed to the dominant, in the philosophical tradition, view) that human emotions and affects have profound cognitive, disclosing, constituting and normative powers of their own. They not only enrich our mental life, but also are means of self-cognition. They determine the ways in which we relate to ourselves and constitute our identities. They disclose the world around us and present it as having such and such objective characteristics. Eventually and above all, they seem to play the fundamental role in our being among other people and as such they imply particular modes of normativity.

The philosophical tradition seems to be divided into two opposed perspectives with regard to the role and importance of emotional phenomena. However both of them can be united under the general distinction between reason and sensibility. The distinction obviously assumed the irrationality of the latter. In accordance with the first perspective emotional and affective phenomena were seen as standing on the way to the ethical perfection or moral autonomy. The best and the most radical expression of this perspective can be found in the Kantian dismissal of all empirical emotions (as being pathological) in order to create the space for the only valid and genuine one, which is the respect before the moral law. The second perspective determined emotional and affective phenomena as having their own rights, but these rights remain non-transparent, resisting any attempts of being rationally mastered and rightly so. Although this picture is based on the serious oversimplification – one can find in the history of philosophy, or more in the history of culture the examples which would undermine this view – one can still claim that there is a kind of general and commonsensical distrust in emotional phenomena as being the obstacles for creating the stable, self-reliable and autonomous personality. This distrust finds its expressions in many common sayings like: “Don’t let your emotions get the better of you!”

In opposition to that view the course is based on the strong conviction that human emotions and affects have profound cognitive, disclosing, constituting and normative powers of their own. They not only enrich our mental life, but also are means of self-cognition. They determine the ways in which we relate to ourselves and constitute our identities. They disclose the world around us and present it as having such and such objective determinations. Eventually and above all, they seem to play the fundamental role in our being among other people and as such they imply particular modes of normativity.

We will also reflect on the cultural determinations of the phenomena in which we are interested.

The objects of our analysis will be emotional phenomena such as: anxiety, shame, guilt, repentance, hope, despair and love.

M. Nussbaum, “Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions” (frag.)

J.-P. Sartre, “Sketch for a Theory of Emotions”

P. Tillich, “The Courage to Be” (fr.)

E. Levinas, “On Escape”, (fr.)

J.-P. Sartre, “Being and Nothingness”, (fr.)

G. Agamben, “Shame, or on the Subject”, in; G. Agamben, „Remnants of Auschwitz”,

K. Jaspers, “The Question of German Guilt” (fr.)

M. Scheler, “Repentance and Rebirth”

G. Marcel, “Sketch of a Phenomenlogy and a Metaphysic of Hope”

D. von Hildebrand, “The Nature of Love”, (fr.)

After the course students:

Knowledge:

- review and enrich vocabulary and linguistic skills in English (on level C1);

- have orderly and detailed knowledge about different roles narrative imagination plays in human life and in culture;

- have basic knowledge about the main directions of development and new achievements in the field of philosophy;

- know the basic philosophical methods and argumentative strategies characteristic for the main philosophical subdisciplines;

- know the methods of interpreting philosophical text;

Skills:

- have ability to find, analyze, evaluate, select and use information from written and electronic sources;

- have ability to acquire knowledge on their own as well as of developing research skills while guided by a supervisor;

- can read and interpret a philosophical text;

- understand an oral presentation of philosophical ideas and arguments and have necessary skills to prepare their own oral presentations;

- correctly use acquired philosophical terminology;

- correctly define terms of the common language and correctly create definitions of their own terms used in their presentations;

- analyze philosophical arguments, identify their crucial theses and premises and reveal the interrelations between them;

- choose argumentative strategies; creates, on the basic level, critical arguments; formulate responses to a critique

- under the guidance of a supervisor conduct research on a basic level;

Social competence:

- are open to new ideas and ready to change his opinion in light of available data and arguments;

- on the basis of creative analysis of new situations and problems create, on their own, new ways of solving them;

- undertake and initiate, on their own, simple research activities;

- effectively organize their own research work and are capable to critically evaluate its development;

- can work in a group by undertaking different roles in it.

The final grade will be based on: active participation in discussions during the course and a written essay.

In both cases assessed will be: the ability to understand and solve a given philosophical problem by using defensible arguments; using correctly the acquired terminology; comparing different perspectives on a given problem and evaluating critically arguments of different perspectives; using the most appropriate argumentative strategy for a given philosophical problem; argumentative and narrative clarity of a written essay; convincing and adequate responding to a critique. Evaluated will be also the basic research skills such as ability to find, select and critically use relevant sources.

Number of absences: 2