This course offers an introduction to contemporary French philosophy focusing on the way in which the themes of love, freedom and death appear in thought, about language, meaning and being as well as in ethics and politics. The course will both aim to provide an overview of post-WW2 French philosophy and focus selectively on two or three of its most important representatives, for instance Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Blanchot, Levinas, Derrida, Lyotard, Nancy or Badiou.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate familiarity with some of the major themes of contemporary French thought & be aware of how contemporary ideas in French philosophy emerge out of a critical engagement with the philosophical tradition.
2. Develop techniques for engaging with challenging reading and going deeper into the insights and problems it poses.
3. Relate the theoretical debates in the texts studied to current ethical and political questions.
4. Show intellectual discrimination - the ability to pick out key points and to construct an argument/interpretatio.

Article Review 1000 words (25%) [LO's 1, 2, 4]

Final Essay 2500 words (55%) [LO's 1-4]

Class Presentation 500 words (10%) [LO 3]

Tutorial performance (10%) LO's 2, 3]

Two hours per week of lectures and 12 tutorials.  Students are expected to undertake approximately 7 hours of independent study each week.

Completion of at least 12 units of Philosophy. Students who have completed other units to the value of 12 units may also be admitted with the permission of the lecturer.

Jean-Francois Lyotard, 'Answering the Question What is Postmodernism?' The Postmodern Explained pp 1-16
Jean-Luc Nancy, The Inoperative Community - Author's preface
Jacques Derrida 'On Forgiveness' in On Cosmopolitanism and forgiveness

This course may be counted towards the European Studies major.