PHILOSOPHY 319: Existentialism and Its Sources

Kierkegaard and Indirect Communication

Mondays & Wednesdays 2-3:20pm
Annenberg Hall G32
Professor: Mark Alznauer
m-alznauer@northwestern.edu
Office: Crowe 1-171
Office Hours: M/W 10:45-11:45am

Teaching Assistant: Morganna Lambeth

morganna.lambeth@gmail.com
Office: Locy 304
Office Hours: W 3:30-5:30pm

Class Description: This class will involve a close reading of Kierkegaards Concluding
Unscientific Postscript with particular attention to the theme of indirect communication
and the various philosophical reasons one might think it necessary to engage in such
indirection.
Class Requirements: Although the class presupposes no previous acquaintance with
Kierkegaard, enrollment is restricted to students who have completed two prior courses in
philosophy. Significant amounts of careful reading will be required. There will also be
weekly assignments and a final paper.
Teaching Method: Seminar, twice a week.
Required Texts (available in the bookstore):
1. G. E. Lessing, Philosophical and Theological Writings [PTW], ed. H. B. Nisbet
(Cambridge, 2005) ISBN: 978-0521538473
2. S. Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific Postscript [CUP], trans. A. Hannay
(Cambridge, 2009) ISBN: 978-0521434225
Evaluation Method:
i.) Participation & Attendance (20%): You are allowed up to 2 excused absences
without penalty. For an absence to be excused, you must contact the TA in
advance of the class missed. If you miss a class without an excuse, this will
justify the loss of a full percentage point from your final grade. Frequent lateness,
lack of participation, etc., are also grounds for a grade reduction under this
category. Note: you are always expected to bring the book or article being
discussed to class.
ii.) Weekly Assignment (30%): From Weeks 2 through 9, you are expected to write
a short comment on canvas prior to the end of the day on Tuesday. The comment
needs to engage one of the readings from that week or another students comment.
On average, comments should be around 250 words excluding quotations (or 1
page double spaced). These will be graded by the T.A.: check plus (for a very
good comment); check (for a perfectly adequate comment); and check minus (for
a sub-par comment). Think of these, roughly, as A, B, and C grades. Keep in
mind that a check is the default for a satisfactory comment (neither a sign that you
are not doing a good job nor a sign that you have no room to improve).
iii.) Final Paper (50%): The greatest part of your grade for this course will be
based on your final paper. A one-page summary of your topic and strategy for
treating it will be due on April 15th (e-mail it to Morganna). The final paper is
due on the last day of class (June 1st). Final papers will also need to be submitted

to canvas on the same day. More detailed information about what is expected will
be provided in class.
Reading Schedule
Week 1 (3/30)
M: Introduction
W: Lessing, On the proof of the spirit and of power; The Testament of St John; A
rejoinder [PTW, pp. 83-109]
Optional: Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, I.6-9
(http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/posterior.html).
Week 2 (4/6)
M: Lessing, Ernst and Falk: dialogues for freemasons [PTW, pp. 184-216]
W: L. Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing (http://thenewschoolhistory.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/06/strauss_persecutionartwriting.pdf); On a Forgotten Kind of
Writing (http://www.jstor.org/stable/25293010?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents).
Week 3 (4/13)
M: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 1-53.
W: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 1-53.
Week 4 (4/20)
M: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 53-107.
W: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 53-107;
Optional: Jacobi, Recollections of conversations with Lessing in July and August 1780
[PTW, pp. 241-256]
Week 5 (4/27)
M: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 107-59.
W: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 107-59
Week 6 (5/4)
M: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 252-303.
W: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 252-303.
Week 7 (5/11)
M: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 470-531.
W: Kierkegaard, CUP, pp. 470-531.
Paper Topic is due (Friday 5/15)
Week 8 (5/18)
M: Kierkegaard, Journals & Papers, Communication, pp. 252-319 (canvas)
W: Kierkegaard, Journals & Papers, Communication, pp. 252-319 (canvas)

Week 9 (5/25)
M: Memorial Day (no classes)
W: J. Conant, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and Nonsense
(http://philosophy.uchicago.edu/faculty/files/conant/k%20w%20and%20nonsense.pdf)
G. Schonbaumsfeld, No New Kierkegaard
(http://philosophy.uchicago.edu/faculty/files/conant/No%20New%20Kierkegaard.pdf)
Optional: H. Allison, Christianity and Nonsense
(http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20124312?
sid=21106237262863&uid=3739256&uid=2129&uid=4&uid=3739656&uid=70&uid
=2);
J. Conant, Putting Two and Two Together: Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and the Point
of View of Their Work as Authors
(http://philosophy.uchicago.edu/faculty/files/conant/Putting%20Two%20and%20Two
%20Together,%20Part%20I.pdf)
Week 10 (6/1)
M: G. Vlastos, Socratic Irony (canvas); J. Lear, To Become Human Does Not Come
That Easy (canvas). Final Papers due (Monday 6/1).
Optional: M. Lane Reconsidering Socratic Irony
(http://www.princeton.edu/~mslane/lane_Irony.pdf)
Irony and Humanity: A Dialogue Between Jonathan Lear and Alasdair MacIntyre
(http://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/irony-and-humanity/)
(No final exams)