Themes in

European
Philosophy
7 pm
Wednesdays
October 6- 27
Central Library
251 Dundas Street
Stevenson & Hunt Room A
The series will focus upon European Philosophy in the Twentieth century. In particular, it will
explain how different thinkers (Nietzsche, Irigaray, Husserl, Cassirer, and Heidegger) have both
critiqued a certain traditional way of thinking and attempted to re-think the human condition.

OCTOBER 6
The Genealogy of Morals
DENNIS KLIMCHUK
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
argued that morality has a genealogy, that is, a
pedigree or a history. We will explore what he meant
by this, focusing in particular on his discussion of the
institutions of punishment and their justification.
OCTOBER 13
Love and Intersubjectivity
HELEN FIELDING
Luce Irigaray questions what it means to love
someone. How does love differ from “I desire you, I
take you, I seduce you, I order you, and I instruct you”?
We will consider what some philosophers, Irigaray in
particular, have to say about love and relations
between subjects.
OCTOBER 20
The Importance of Meaning: Husserl
and the Interior Life
ANTONIO CALCAGNO
Edmund Husserl believed that meaning or sense was
central for one’s life. He devised a method for creating
and uncovering the rich layers of an inner life that
could animate one’s existence and wellbeing. We will
explore the nature of meaning and why it is important
for us today.
OCTOBER 27
The ‘sense’ of being human: Cassirer,
Heidegger, and the Search for a New
Humanism
STEVE LOFTS
Who are we as human beings? At the beginning of the
20th century there was a fundamental shift in the way
this question was understood. With human nature no
longer taken as fixed, Ernst Cassirer and Martin
Heidegger set out to establish new ways of
understanding what it means to be human.

FREE!
No registration required.
2 hours free validated parking in Citi Plaza during
Library hours. Dept. of Philosophy