The Genealogy of Ideas
Prerequisites: Enrollment in GCAS College Dublin MA Program or enroll here in the E-school.
Format: This course will have 4 pre-recorded mini-lectures, which each enrolled student or researcher can view as a way to organize their research questions.
Dates: Fall 2022
Dec 3, 10, 17, and January 7
Saturday’s at 1pm New York time
Academic Level: Year 1 MA (But anyone can participate)
Credits: 3 ECTS (but if you enroll via the E-school there are no credits). If you would like to take this course for credit please email <contact@gcas.ie>.
Instructor: Keith Faulkner, PhD
The genealogical method in philosophy was created by Nietzsche, developed by Foucault, and is implied in the works of Deleuze and Guattari. It consists of a history of ideas, not focused on original intent, but on the problems and questions that make ideas possible. Key to this notion of genealogy is the idea of “episteme,” each era has a limit of what is thinkable. Certain elements from a previous era will carry over to the next, but with a different significance. By using the genealogical method, philosophers can detect these shifts in meaning, thereby creating a way to think beyond the present-day limits of thought in order to presage the emergence of a future set of problems and questions. In short, it is a way of thinking beyond our times by reactivating the problems and questions of the past. Its critical force consists in the fact that concepts are not a matter of personal intent. It is not enough to argue about the significance of words and things in order to create a present-day consensus. Genealogy is about discovering the meaning of concepts we did not create out of nothing. Every concept has a history. Tracing the lineage of an idea offers us an alternative to the Anglo-American method of logical analysis. It is not a matter, for the genealogist, what is true. It is a matter of what can become true if we reactivate the concepts from the history of philosophy.
Required Texts: (Most of which are provided in PDF format)
Deleuze, Gilles. Nietzsche and Philosophy. Columbia University Press, 1983.
Deleuze, Gilles. Foucault. University of Minnesota Press, 1988
Foucault, Michel. Language, Counter-Memory, Practice. Cornell University Press, 1977.
Foucault, Michel. Confessions of the Flesh: The History of Sexuality, Volume 4. Knopf Doubleday, 2021.
Nietzsche, Fredrich. On the Genealogy of Morality and Other Writings. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Tazzioli, Martina (ed). Foucault and The History of the Present. Palgrave, 2015.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
Ability to understand the basic structure and appreciation for ideas at an advanced level .
Ability to engage texts and conversation critically and coherently about ideas as covered in this course.
Ability to communicate clearly and analytically about all the major subjects and figures that comprise this course
Ability to understand the social and ecological consequences of language and their uses to which humanity has employed them.
Assessments:
The student will be assessed in all aspects of this course through the following means:
Research Paper Examination 1,500 word academic research paper
Accommodations:
Please complete this form if you wish to receive academic accommodation.