READING GROUP:
This Spring we will be turning to the extensive corpus of Jean-Paul Sartre—who was once the public philosopher, but who has more recently become the third-rail of continental philosophy. We will be looking at a wide swath of his work, putting it into conversation with his many contemporaries—from his most well-known interlocutors (such as Simone de Beauvoir and Maurice Merleau-Ponty) to some of his lesser-known contemporaries (such as Trần Đức Thảo). Don’t miss our meetings most Tuesday evenings (8:00-10:00pm) on the INTERNET! (login information below in red).
This week:
As discussed last week, we will interrupt our current schedule to add in Camus, who was not only a contemporary of Sartre (and one not already on our list) but also wrote The Plague that includes reflections on the anxiety of quarantine and other issues deeply relevant to our current context. For the group, we will focus on Part II, though the full book is also recommended. Since even Part II alone is a bit long, I have included a link to the audiobook for folks who might prefer that option (I know I will).
- Apr. 7 — Albert Camus, The Plague, Part II
Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE
Please bring either a digital or hard copy of the text with you to the discussion.
Time: 8:00pm-10:00pm
Location: Online
LOGIN INFORMATION:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/386853234?pwd=dnlab2VleExLOTNrVVBmaTg2Njk2QT09
Meeting ID: 386 853 234
Password: i<3sartre
To join by phone:
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As a reminder, even though we have moved to thematic groups, there is no expectation that people participate in every week, so even if you can’t commit to the whole section, you are still more than welcome to join us when you can.
OTHER EVENTS THIS WEEK:
OTHER NEWS:
Schedule:
Phenomenology and the Ego
- Jan 21
- Husserl, Edmund. Logical Investigations. Investigation V, Chapter 1.
- Husserl, Edmund. Ideas II. §§22-23.
- Recommended: Levy, Lior. “Intentionality, Consciousness, and the Ego: The Influence of Husserl’s Logical Investigations on Sartre’s Early Work.”
- Jan 28
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. Transcendence of the Ego. Chapter I, “The I and the Me”
- Recommended: Baert, Patrick. Introduction in The Existential Moment: the Rise of Sartre as a Public Intellectual.
- Feb 4
- Thảo, Trần Đức. Phenomenology and Dialectical Materialism, Chapter 2.
- Feb 11
- Sarte, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness, Part I, Chapter 1.
Intersubjectivity and Ethics
- Feb 18
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness, Part III, Chapter 1.
- Feb 25
- Levinas, Emmanuel. Time & the Other, Part III-IV.
- Mar 3
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism is a Humanism.”
- Mar 10
- Heidegger, Martin. “Letter on Humanism” in Basic Writings.
- Mar 31
- De Beauvoir, Simone. Ethics of Ambiguity, Chapter 1.
- Apr 7
- Camus, The Plague, Part II
Psychology and Literature
- Apr 14
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Emotions: Outline of a Theory, Introduction and Chapter 3.
- Apr 21
- Fanon, Frantz. Decolonializing Madness. Chapter 1.
- Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth, Chapter 5.
- Apr 28
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. What is literature?, Chapter 1.
- Recommended: Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Age of Reason.
- May 5
- Barthes, Roland. Writing Degree Zero, Introduction and Chapter 1.
Politics and Oppression
- May 12
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Anti-Semite and the Jew, Chapter 1.
- May 19
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Black Orpheus.”
- May 26
- Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth, Chapter 1.
- Recommended; Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Wretched of the Earth, Preface.
- June 2
- Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Search for a Method. Chapter 1, “Marxism and Existentialism.”
- June 9
- Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Humanism and Terror, Authors Preface.
- June 16
- Weil, Simone. Oppression and Liberty, Prospectus.
- Weil, Simone. “The Illiad, or the Poem of Force”
Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE
This Spring we will be turning to the extensive corpus of Jean-Paul Sartre—who was once the public philosopher, but who has more recently become the third-rail of continental philosophy. We will be looking at a wide swath of his work, putting it into conversation with his many contemporaries—from his most well-known interlocutors (such as Simone de Beauvoir and Maurice Merleau-Ponty) to some of his lesser-known contemporaries (such as Trần Đức Thảo). Don’t miss our meetings most Tuesday evenings (8:00-10:00pm) on the INTERNET! (login information below in 
READING GROUP: