Syllabus for Recent
Continental Philosophy
Philosophy 424
Fall 1998
Office: JUB 303
Office Hours: MW 1:00 - 2:00, TTH 1:30 - 2:30,
and by appointment
Phone: 898-5774
E-mail: jpurcell@frank.mtsu.edu
My Homepage: The
Eclectic Diner
How to Create a Simple Web Page: HTML
Course Requirements
Each student will be required to write two
papers of 8 - 10 pages each, and participate in class
discussions.
Hard-Copy Texts
The following texts are available in the
campus bookstore, unless otherwise indicated
Jean-François Lyotard, Postmodern Fables
Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition
Jean-François Lyotard, The Inhuman: Reflections on Time
Jean-François Lyotard, Just Gaming
Jean-François Lyotard, The Differend: Phrases in Dispute
We will also read three to five articles,
depending on time restrictions.
No, I'm not obsessed with Lyotard, though I am
very appreciative of his work, and on the two occassions I met
him, I found him an extremely interesting and amiable man. I had
two reasons for choosing to focus on Lyotard for the course. The
first is that he strikes me as a very important figure with
respect to issues and questions centering around what is called
"postmodernism." Secondly, though his works concerning
various issues seem to me (and others) important, relatively
little attention has been paid to his work. Finally, and this
isn't a reason, but perhaps something of a tribute,
Jean-François Lyotard died on April 22, 1998.
Here are a few Websites devoted to Lyotard:
A bibliographic Page
Lyotard and Literary/Performance Theory
Starter Links
Following the links below, and the links
contained within them, should get you started on the Web.(you may
of course need to invoke a search engines such as Excite, Yahoo, AltaVista, Lycos).
The Eclectic Diner
Philosophy & Theory Pages
Bombardi's Homepage
MTSU Philosophy Department Homepage
Steven Shaviro's Homepage
Some Sources for On_Line
Texts
-
- Ctheory
- An on-line journal containing numerous
articles on theory, cyberspace, etc. Contains back issues
also. Ctheory
- PostModernCulture (PMC)
- An on-line journal dealing with
postmodernism and culture issues. Also contains back
issues. PMC
- The English Server
- The English Server at Carnegie Melon
University provides on-line texts concerning a vast
multiplicity of different issues, disciplines, practices,
etc. It's well worth a visit. The
English Server
- Spoon Collective Mailing Lists
- This site is a list of the mailing lists
maintained by the Spoon Collective - a service maintained
by the University of Virginia. Spoon Collective Mailing Lists
- Voice of the Shuttle
- This site provides a good list of
Web-related resources on the humanities. Voice of
the Shuttle
- Postmodern Theory, Cultural Studies and
Hypertext
- This site provides links to numerous
on-line essays mostly devoted to issues of hypertext.
Many of these texts are somewhat dated, but provide a
number of experiments with the potentials of the Web, at
least as related to texts. Postmodern Theory, Cultural Studies and
Hypertext
- CMC
- The On-Line Journal, Computer-Mediated
Communication, is a journal devoted to the
philosophical examination of various issues related to
communications via computers. CMC
- Contemporary Philosophy, Critical
Theory & Postmodern Thought
- A list of texts concerning several
contemporary philosophers and theorists, including
Derrida, Foucault, Habermas, et al. Contemporary Philosophy
- Study Break
- I'll let you figure this one out. Games
THE END