UCL - Philosophy of History

[FILO2290]

[30h] 5 credits

This course is taught in the 2d semester.

Teacher(s): Marc Maesschalck

Language: French

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

Upon successful completion of the course, the student should :

Be able to identify the major schools of thought in the philosophy of history ;
Know the fundamental concepts associated with those schools of thought ;
Be able to explain briefly the conflicts of interpretation that have resulted within contemporary thought.

Main themes

The course will attempt to lay out the origin of the concept of a " philosophy of history " by distinguishing it from epistemological questions about the foundations of historical science.

The course will present a historical overview of the evolution of the concept of a philosophy of history.

Next, the course will present some observations on differing interpretations of the concept in order to point out the conflicts that set these interpretations against each other.

On this basis, a more specific debate shall be studied in order to provide an example of the general presentation.

Content and teaching methods

This year the course will examine the "rationalization of the life-world" through a study of the phenomenological perspective (Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Schutz) and the contextual pragmatics perspective (Habermas, Bourdieu). The aim is to examine the transformations brought about by Modernity in the manner in which subjects perceive their own being-in-the-world and the norms that orient their actions.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisites :
Basic instruction in the history of philosophy.