Course Description
This course is about the nature of selfhood, and the way the self is shaped or constituted by the affirmation of value. For thinkers such as Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Kierkeggard, the self is not something that just exists; it only comes to exist through its own actions and judgments. This means that selfhood needs to be understood in ethical and teleological terms. To be a self, these thinker believe, is to form or constitute oneself in pursuit of the good: a self is a being that determines itself by evaluating and willing certain actions; and, by evaluating and willing certain actions, a self enacts its values. Yet does this also mean that selfhood needs to be understood in religious terms? Schelling and Kierkegaard believed that only a religiously informed conception of selfhood can do justice to the nature of human action and judgment. We will discuss their reasons for believing this and their criticisms of Kant and Fichte. We will also discuss the views of these thinkers’ contemporary interpreters, including Christine Korsgaard, Stephen Engstrom, Michelle Kosch, Anthony Rudd, and Wayne Martin.
This course is about the nature of selfhood, and the way the self is shaped or constituted by the affirmation of value. For thinkers such as Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Kierkeggard, the self is not something that just exists; it only comes to exist through its own actions and judgments. This means that selfhood needs to be understood in ethical and teleological terms. To be a self, these thinker believe, is to form or constitute oneself in pursuit of the good: a self is a being that determines itself by evaluating and willing certain actions; and, by evaluating and willing certain actions, a self enacts its values. Yet does this also mean that selfhood needs to be understood in religious terms? Schelling and Kierkegaard believed that only a religiously informed conception of selfhood can do justice to the nature of human action and judgment. We will discuss their reasons for believing this and their criticisms of Kant and Fichte. We will also discuss the views of these thinkers’ contemporary interpreters, including Christine Korsgaard, Stephen Engstrom, Michelle Kosch, Anthony Rudd, and Wayne Martin.
- Teacher: Karin Nisenbaum