Great Theorists in the Rhetoric of Political and Legal Theory – The Thought of Martin Heidegger

This course explores significant themes and questions in political and legal theory through close readings of major texts of a single thinker – this term, the work of Martin Heidegger. In the format of a philosophical seminar, we shall explore the nature of law and of polity, and of our contemporary understanding of each, through a sustained encounter with Heidegger’s thought. That encounter will bring us to inquire into the nature of thinking and of human being as such, and to come to see how these decisively inform the understandings of law and polity and guide their history. We shall thereby come to reflect as well upon the place of theorists and theorizing in legal and political thought.
Please note: All students interested in taking this class -whether pre-enrolled, wait-listed, or neither – are to attend the first class meeting, at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3 in 243 Dwinelle. In planning their schedules, students should be aware that wide-ranging collective discussions, often lasting an hour or more, generally occur after the Monday class meetings. In past classes students have found these informal but intense discussions to be of substantial help in coming to terms with difficult material encountered in the course. You are therefore strongly encouraged to plan your schedule so as to be able to attend these sessions. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the course. Prior coursework in philosophy is not required; an openness to its challenges is.