Dear all, Over the summer at the Verstehen Colloquium we will be reading extracts from Paul Ricoeur's first major systematic work, The Philosophy of the Will, covering all three volumes: The Voluntary and the Involuntary (1950), Fallible Man (1960) and The Symbolism of Evil (1960).
We will meet on Zoom on Thursday mornings at 10:30, starting next Thursday 24 June with the first two sections of his "general introduction" to his overall methodology in The Voluntary and the Involuntary, pp3-28 of the Kohák translation (see the full schedule at the end of this email or on our webpage https://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/seminars-phil/verstehen-colloquium). The framework that Ricoeur establishes in The Philosophy of the Will remained a reference point throughout his career. In The Voluntary and the Involuntary he builds on both Husserl's phenomenological work and the thought of his teacher Gabriel Marcel, takes a Kantian turn in Fallible Man, and introduces his distinctive brand of hermeneutic phenomenology in The Symbolism of Evil. Over the course of the texts, the topics that he covers include freedom and necessity, decision, choice, motivation, need, the body, action, the unconscious, imagination, symbols, myth, finitude, character, evil and responsibility. For access to the texts, and to be added to the mailing list for updates and invitations to the Zoom meetings, please contact Sen at sb2276. We look forward to seeing you there! Sebastian Raza-Mejia (Sociology) and Senthuran Bhuvanendra (Philosophy) Provisional schedule Note: readings each week are ~30 pages, but in general there will be a ~15-page selection as the focus of discussion, about which we will inform the group in advance. Thursday 24 June “General Introduction: Question of Method” from The Voluntary and the Involuntary, sections 1 and 2, pp3-28 Thursday 1 July The Voluntary and the Involuntary, Part I, ch1, intro and ss1-2 (on decision), pp37-66 Thursday 8 July The Voluntary and the Involuntary, Part I, ch 1, s3 and ch2, introduction and s1, subsection 1 (on motives, the body and the nature of need), pp66-93 Thursday 15 July The Voluntary and the Involuntary, Part II, ch1 (on acting and moving), pp201-30 Thursday 22 July The Voluntary and the Involuntary, Part III, ch2, s2 (on the unconscious), pp373-409 Background reading: Part III, ch1, s1 and s2, subsection 1 (on the problem and structure of consent), pp341-7 Thursday 29 July Fallible Man, Preface and ch1 (on method, the “pathétique” of misery and reflection), pp xli-xlix and 1-15 Thursday 5 August Fallible Man, ch2 (applying Kant’s transcendental synthesis), pp17-46 Thursday 12 August Fallible Man, ch3, intro and s1 (on “practical synthesis” and character), and conclusion (on the concept of fallibility), pp47-64 and pp133-46 Thursday 19 August The Symbolism of Evil, Part I, intro (on methodology for study of symbols), pp3-24 Thursday 26 August The Symbolism of Evil, Part I, ch1, ss1-3 (on symbols of defilement) and ch2, s5 (on the relation to symbols of sin) pp25-40 and pp81-99 Background reading: Part I, conclusion (on relations between symbols), pp151-7 Thursday 2 September The Symbolism of Evil, Part II, intro (on symbolic function of myth) and conclusion (“The symbol gives rise to thought”), pp161-74 and pp347-57 _____________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, or change your membership options, please visit the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents List archive: https://lists.cam.ac.uk/pipermail/phil-events/ Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email attachments. See the list information page for further details and suggested alternatives.
