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A Reading Of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit
Alex Steinberg
Tuesdays, 7:30pm -- 9:00pm
12 Sessions, October 4 – December
20
Tuition: $150 -- $180, sliding scale
The True is the Bacchanalian revel in which no member is not drunk.
Preface to the Phenomenology
of Spirit
It has been said that one cannot
understand much of what has transpired in terms of art, culture, politics or
philosophy in the last 200 years without having read Hegel's Phenomenology
of Spirit. For good reason, many have considered this work to be the
culmination of the Western philosophical tradition that began in ancient
Greece.
In this 12-session series, we will explore the different shapes of
consciousness that have inhabited our culture and continue to shape our
world. We will go on a journey that takes us from the Inverted World, to the
Master-Slave dialectic, to the Unhappy Consciousness, to the Beautiful Soul,
to Absolute Freedom and Terror and finally to Absolute Knowing. Along the
way, we will consider Hegel's relationship to the Enlightenment, Romanticism,
the French Revolution, and to his student, Karl Marx.
By the end of this study, students should be able to judge for themselves
what is living and what is dead in the work of this titan of the Western
tradition. No prior background in philosophy is expected or assumed.
Students should get a hold of the A.V. Miller translation of the
Phenomenology (Oxford University Press). The reading for the first session is
Hegel's (not Findlay's) Introduction -- not the Foreword, which is supposed
to be read last. The instructor has prepared an annotated reading list.
Syllabus
Alex Steinberg holds an MA in Philosophy from the New School for Social
Research; he left the PhD program after participating in the student takeover
of the New School following the Kent State massacre in 1970. Steinberg is
facilitator of a philosophy and literature discussion group in Brooklyn and
author of several essays, including "The Case of Martin Heidegger"
and "From Alienation to Revolution: A Defense of Marx's Theory of
Alienation." He has also served as a member of the WBAI Local Station
Board (2004) and as Chairperson of the WBAI LSB Programming Committee.
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