Topic: Kierkegaard
This section meets with P535

Gentle reader, do you doubt the philosophical maxim that the
inner is the outer and the outer the inner? You don’t? What? You’ve
never given it much thought, don’t understand it, never heard of it,
much less care about it? Well, lucky you—you still have that ahead
of you! Have you never worried a little just how to become yourself?
No? Oh, are you in for a treat!
Here is an advanced undergraduate/graduate course on Søren
Kierkegaard, designed to introduce you to all these wonders. We’ll
go well beyond the standard “package”-presentation you may have
heard before (may even have heard from me). You’ll inevitably be
amazed by what’s really going on, surely baffled, probably
intrigued, perhaps attracted, maybe offended—possibly even outraged.
But, make no mistake, you’ve never seen anything like it.
Kierkegaard was a prolific writer, and we can only scratch the
surface. But it will be a deep scratch that draws blood. We’ll read
his Fear and Trembling and Sickness unto Death, as well as generous
extracts from Either/Or and portions of several of his other major
and lesser works, including The Concept of Anxiety. Topics will
include things like: the nature of a self, how to choose how to
live, the role of factual “evidence” in that choice, time
and “eternity,” the relation between ethics and religion, the notion
of guilt and especially collective guilt for things you didn’t
personally do—and on and on!
Students will write a series of weekly quizzes over details
and factual background, two essay-type examinations, and a full-
dress term paper consisting of a philosophical commentary on some
text or extended passage from Kierkegaard. (I’ll suggest lots of
possibilities and refer you to appropriate supplementary sources.)
This is an “advanced undergraduate/graduate” class. If you are
an undergraduate, it is intended as a capstone to your studies in
philosophy at IU. It will be an “advanced” course, and will
presuppose philosophical background. Novices who are simply
attracted by cool things and lack appropriate preparation won’t last
two weeks. I’ll presuppose no special knowledge of Kierkegaard, but
will certainly assume some philosophical training. (If in doubt
about your qualifications, by all means ask.) If you are a graduate
student, chances are you nevertheless won’t have had a lot of
background in Kierkegaard, and so won’t have much of an unfair
advantage. If enough graduate students enroll, I’ll arrange
occasional meetings with them separately for additional readings in
greater depth.
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! For the price of a mere
three hours of tuition, learn “the difference between a genius and
an apostle”!

Required texts:

	* Susan Leigh Anderson, On Kierkegaard (Wadsworth). For a
quick overview.
	* Robert Bretall, ed. A Kierkegaard Anthology (Princeton).
	* Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, Hannay trans.
(Penguin).
	* Søren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Anxiety, Thomte trans.
(Princeton).
	* Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness unto Death, Hannay trans.
(Penguin).

Recommended but not required:

	* Alastair Hannay and Gordon D. Marino, ed. The Cambridge
Companion to Kierkegaard (Cambridge).