PHIL 328 - Kierkegaard: Philosophy, Literature, Film

R, 4 credits. A1 (2017-2018).

A critical examination of key texts from Kierkegaard’s authorship (“Either/Or,” “Fear and Trembling,” “Philosophical Fragments,” and “The Sickness Unto Death”) that emphasizes Kierkegaard’s use of literary art to convey philosophical and theological ideas. In keeping with Kierkegaard’s emphasis on artistic imagination as a resource for philosophical understanding, we will view one or more films in connection with each of Kierkegaard’s texts. The course closes with a reading of Walker Percy’s “The Moviegoer,” a novel that transposes Kierkegaard’s characters and ideas into a 20th century American context. This course can also count toward the Scandinavian studies program and the film studies program.