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Fall 2020, CairoShort Course

The light we must destroy?

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Course details

Cycle
Fall 2020, Cairo
Starts
Friday, Sep 25
Meets
Friday, 17:00–19:00
Length
10 sessions
Format
Online
Taught in
English

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About the course

What is philosophy today and what do we need it for? This course provides an introduction to the turn against “philosophy” that has shaped the philosophical debate since the 20th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Together, we shall see why this turn is considered fundamental if one wants to critically engage in any fruitful reading of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. The course surveys the following three topics: the problem(s) of western philosophy and metaphysics; the limits of our language and the importance of art; and the political consequences of these issues – especially in thinking about utopia/dystopia and pedagogy. Combined the three topics bring into perspective the significance of many of the thinkers that we are going to read, like Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, and Derrida, for today.

Who teaches it

  • Hisham Fahmy is a writer, lecturer and translator of philosophy. He graduated with a political science degree and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in philosophy. Hisham has published in both English and Arabic on issues of Islamic philosophy, political theory, and anthropology. He also has given numerous lectures on philosophy in general and political philosophy in particular – especially on the work of Carl Schmitt, Eric Voegelin, Theodor Adorno, Martin Heidegger, and Michel Foucault. He currently works as a teaching assistant of philosophy at the American University in Cairo and is a graduate of the Cairo Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2018).

    From the fellow

    Without such an introduction, it would be hard to read and understand what they are talking about, and it would also be hard to understand why there is a turn towards the “post-modern”, the “grassroots”, the “upcoming community”, “the death of God”, and the likes of these thorny, contemporary issues. Participants in this course are expected to express their engagement with the readings and film/videos weekly, at the end of the course, or both.

Course flow

Showing 10 sessions

September 2020

  • Topic One: The problem of Western philosophy and the need to overcome metaphysics

    • The parable of the madmanFriedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882, 1887) para. 125; Walter Kaufmann ed. (New York: Vintage, 1974), pp. 181-82.
    • Nietzsche and MetaphysicsHoulgate, Stephen, “Hegel, Nietzsche, and the Criticism of Metaphysics”. PP: 38-90.
    • The opening scene of Bella Tar’s Werckmeister HarmoniesFilms/Videos/Notes column.

October 2020

    • What is Metaphysics?Martin Heidegger.
    • The thought of the nothing: Heidegger’s what is metaphysics? (1929)In: Lawlor’s Early Twentieth Century Continental Philosophy.
    • Philosophy – what is that?Martin Heidegger.
    • Ontotheology? Understanding Heidegger’s Destruktion of MetaphysicsIain Thomson.
    • Derrida’s Objection to the metaphysical tradition
    • Letter on HumanismMartin Heidegger.
    • The Humanism DebateThomas Baldwin.
    • Beyond the death of man: Foucault, Derrida, and Philosophical Anthropology

  • Topic Two: the limits of language and the importance of art

    • Letter to Lord ChandosHugo Von Hoffmannstahl.
    • Adorno and Heidegger on language and the inexpressibleRoger Foster.
    • LanguageHeidegger.
    • Dwelling in the speaking of Language: Heidegger’s Language (1950)In: Lawlor’s (Ibid.)
    • A preface to TransgressionFoucault. Further reading.
    • The Thought of the OutsideFoucault. Further reading.
    • Enveloped in a nameless voice: Foucault’s ‘The thought of the Outside (1966)’Lawlor. Further reading.

November 2020

    • Poetically man dwellsHeidegger.
    • Heidegger on Poetic Thinking and the Cinema of Andrie Tarkovsky, Chapter 1Evi Haggipavlu.
    • Excerpts from RilkeFurther reading.
    • What are the poets for?Heidegger. Further reading.
    • Heidegger on Poetic Thinking and the Cinema of Andrie Tarkovsky, Chapters 2 and 3Evi Haggipavlu.
    • A Cinema of Boredom: Heidegger, Cinematic Time, and Spectatorship
    • StalkerTarkovsky. Films/Videos/Notes column.
    • Praying through CinemaLike Stories of Old. Films/Videos/Notes column; medium not stated.

  • Third Topic: Political Implications

    • Utopia: a political ontologyMichael Marder.
    • EmancipationIn: Biesta’s The Beautiful Risk of Education.

  • In class

    • DiscussionRecap and Discussion on the final papers.

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